Lodi sunset in the Bokisch family's Terra Alta Vineyard

It’s not quite July; yet summer, evidently, is already in full swing, at least in The Golden State.

If you’re near a beach, life can be a peach. If you have a pool, then you’re just way cool. But if you have neither, and are relegated to life on a patio, under a shady tree or waiting for nightfall, the last thing you obviously feel like when the weather gets too-darn-hot are heavy foods and drinks.

Summer wines are ideally white not only because of their chill-ability, but also because red wines are by nature heavier because of their tannin, the component that gives wines a harder, slightly bitter, sometimes astringent taste. It’s just chemistry: red wines are fermented on their skins to extract color and tannin; whereas white wines are typically made from grapes that are pressed and separated from their skins prior to fermentation.

That's it for wine geek lessons, let’s cut to the chase. What white wines are ideal for summer sipping? A lot of folks still like their wine on the sweet side; and so bottlings like the ultra-light (just 8.5% alcohol), medium-sweet Uvaggio Lodi Moscato Dolce ($16) – crafted from the rare Moscato Giallo grape, and tasting a little like honey dripped liberally over sweetly poached, ginger spiced pears and garnished with a perfumed tropical white flower – indubitably fit the bill.

Many more wine lovers, of course, find residual sugar in their white wine to be unnecessarily filling, even annoying. The growing trend among more finicky consumers is definitely towards white wines that are not just thoroughly dry, but which also have perceptible amounts of acidity, effecting a lemony sharp or citrus fruit tartness.

Oh, there are still white wines that are finished a little fuller, rounder and softer, with a smidgen of that “buttery” or creamy texturing from barrel fermentation and aging. Two modestly crisp, artfully balanced examples of first class (i.e. as fine as any in California) quality: The 2013 Lucas Lodi Chardonnay ($25) and 2013 Harney Lane Lodi Chardonnay ($24).

Another alternative is going with a white that is technically dry, but made from grapes that are extremely fruity tasting; such as Borra Vineyards’ 2015 Markus Joey Insieme Lodi White ($19; 95% Torrontés/5% Traminette), which offers mildly tart, pungently musk and white pepper spiced honeydew melon-ish fruit in a light tasting medium body, and comes across as soft and fruity even if its scant residual sugars are below a normal threshold of perception.

But if you prefer white wines that are emphatically dry, with sleeker, lighter, more sharply etched contemporary stylings, here is a round-up of some of the finest, and most exciting, white wines produced from Lodi grown grapes today:

2015 Fields Family Clay Station Vineyard Lodi Grenache Blanc ($24) – You like acidity? The acid here is razor-sharp, yet balanced to a T in a spare, lanky, emphatically dry palate feel; with aromatic sensations driven by high toned, tropical flower perfumes and a mouth-watering core of pear-like fruit, finishing with cool, refreshing sizzle.

Viognier grapes in Acquiesce Vineyard

2015 Acquiesce, Lodi Viognier ($23) – Hankering for beach time on the Riviera with golden skinned hommes or femmes attending to your every need with towels and plying you with salade niçoise? If you’re like most of us, you’ll just have to make do with this lavender-laced herbes de Provence, lilac and lemon pepper scented white, teeming with fluid, mildly fleshy yet crisply balanced, pure fruit qualities (100% stainless steel fermented and aged – sans oak!); and which, incidentally, scooped up the “Best Viognier in California” award (on top of a “double-gold”) at the 2016 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition. We should all be so proud; especially since it saves us a plane fare to France.

2015 PRIE Lodi Vermentino ($21) – Although made from a different grape, you also find intriguingly lavender-ish, herbes de Provence-like qualities in this steely dry, light-medium bodied white wine. How is that? Vermentino is naturally an exceptionally transparent grape. When grown in France’s Corsica, for instance, it takes on a notably briny quality; not surprising since Corsica is smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean Ocean. In parts of Provence, Vermentino is known to produce white wines that taste strongly of the wild scrub that grow beside vineyards in Southern France – particularly sweet wild thyme with the resin of rosemary or sagebrush. Here in Lodi’s sandy soils, the herby notes in this wine come out as flowery – more of the sweet, violet-like notes of French lavender, as opposed to soapier qualities typifying English or Spanish varieties of lavender – along with sensations of tart peach and fresh squeezed orange. Sense of place, in other words, plays as much a part as varietal fruit character when it comes to these “new” fangled white wine varieties; especially in Lodi.

Borra's Markus Niggli harvest Mokelumne Glen Vineyards Kerner

2014 Bokisch, Terra Alta Vineyard Clements Hills-Lodi Albariño ($18) – For going on some 15 vintages, Bokisch has been the Lodi leader with this Spanish grape, and they still retain the master’s touch: beginning with a multi-faceted fascination of fragrances – flowery herbs (faintly, as it were, of lavender), peach, and orange wedges underlined by subtle tinges of musk and minerals – manifested on a medium bodied palate, coming across as lemony crisp and refreshingly edgy with citrus/stone fruit sensations.

2015 Sidebar, Mokelumne River (Lodi) Kerner ($25) – Produced by Sonoma’s Ramey Wine Cellars (famed more for world class Sonoma Coast grown Chardonnay) from Kerner (a Germanic Riesling x Trollinger grape crossing) grown by Lodi’s Mokelumne Glen Vineyards, this is a crisp edged, medium bodied white driven primarily by its steely, mineral textured composure, with wispy fragrances just brushing the nostrils with notes of citrus skin and a faintly earthy, organic nuance. If you are partial to spare, refreshing, less-is-more qualities in a white, this is the wine for you!

Forlorn Hope's Matthew Rorick presenting his Gemischter Satz

2014 Forlorn Hope, Lodi Gemischter Satz ($30) – This could qualify as absolutely the most unusual, or adventurous, white wine in the world; crafted by Matthew Rorick, one of the most “out there” winemakers in the world. Gemischter Satz translates as “mixed set” in German, and this wine goes way beyond the concept of co-fermented “field” mixes practiced all over the world: this particular white wine blend was made from no less than 48 different grape varieties, all part of Mokelumne Glen Vineyards’ German and Austrian “Collection,” located on a sloping sandy knoll on the east side of Lodi. The simplest way we can describe it is, amazing. Otherwise, as hard as it is to describe the undescribable, we’ll say it is flowery and fragrant to an extreme – the fruit perfumes penetrate the nose with laser-like brilliance – with aromatic notes suggesting kitchen spices (anise, white peppercorn, a touch of allspice and maybe others, depending upon your mental associations) on top of petrol, leafy sweet herbs and wet stones; and on the palate, its medium body (just below 13% alcohol) is dry, zesty with natural fruit acidity, silken textured, and of course, downright vivid and perplexing in its multiplicity of aroma-related sensations. In a tasting in the vineyard last month, Mr. Rorick himself told us, “It’s hard to describe this wine because when picking all these grapes together, which we foot-tread and then pressed, we were not looking for music of a solo artist, like you find in single varietal wines, but rather, music from a full choir of voices.”

And all we can add is: dang, Lodi kicks butt when it comes to white wines these days.

Torrontés grapes going into the Markus Joey Insieme white

The ideal dry rosè is scented but not overly fruity in the nose; fluid and a little fleshy in the mouth without being soft, hard or harsh with excess alcohol or tannin; and nuanced with sensory qualities other than plain fruit, like smidgens of kitchen herbs or minerals. 

In recent years, as Lodi's small community of artisanal wineries has come to fruition, we have been seeing more and more Lodi grown rosés crafted almost effortlessly to achieve these ideal qualities. Surely this cannot be a fluke. And it isn't. The reason is a set of geological circumstances which make Lodi similar in a number ways to the region where more rosé is produced than in any other part of the world: France's Provence, the source of over 1 million cases of dry pink wine each and every year.

If dry rosé is like summer captured in a glass, Provence is like perpetual summer.

Anyone who has been to Southern France has seen, smelled, felt and tasted the classic landscape, like Impressionism come to life: wall-to-wall grapes tucked between golden sun drenched towns along the azure-blue Mediterranean Sea or at the foot of chalky-white cliffs, with endless fields of lavender and sunflowers, surrounded by rugged hills covered with wild thyme, rosemary and other pungent, scrubby growth.

In fact, something like 85% of all the grapes grown in Provence is turned into dry rosés, which are drunk like water. And it’s been like that for, like, forever. The locals trace their wine grape culture back to 600 B.C. – more than two and a half millenniums ago – when Greeks bearing gifts first settled in the area around Marseille.

In his book entitled, simply, Rosé (Chronicle Books, 2005), Jeff Morgan asks Gilles Masson of the Provence Center for Rosé Research about why Southern France has always been all about rosé. Replied Masson, “It’s got to relate to our warm weather as well as various human and economic factors.”

Morgan also put the question to Olivier Ott of Provence’s renowned Domaine Ott, who said that this is just the way it always has been since “antiquity.” Most of the grapes grown in Provence are black skinned, which normally is turned into red wine. From the beginning, according to Monsieur Ott, Provence’s vignerons “didn’t ferment wines with their skins, which gave off color.” The resulting wines have always had a rosy, rather than dark and deep, hue, weight and flavor.

Here in Lodi, we do not have a culture like Provence’s, forged by over 2,500 years of viticultural practice and culinary tradition. However, what we do have in common is a classic Mediterranean climate – that combination of hot, dry summers and cool, often wet winters that wine grapes love so much.

This is why flora so easily grown in Provence is equally comfortable in Lodi, where you find more wine grapes than in any other wine region in the U.S. (now topping 110,000 acres, which is more than Napa Valley and Sonoma County combined), as well as olives, walnuts, almonds, citrus, cherry, strawberry, oaks, cypresses, et al.

To be a little more precise, here is a historic snapshot of average high and low temperatures (Fahrenheit) in Aix-en-Provence compared to Lodi during the four warmest months of the growing season:

The regions are not exactly the same; particularly because of Aix-en-Provence’s immediate proximity to the Mediterranean – many of its finest growths planted to vines almost literally spilling out into the sea – accounting for much narrower diurnal temperature shifts. More typical of California’s coastal regions (from Sonoma County down to Santa Barbara), Lodi’s day vs. night-time temperatures swing more than 30° during peak summer months.

One thing rosé lovers have always noticed about Southern French wines is their subtle fruit qualities mixed with pungent notes often described as “minerally” – a rather vague, catch-all term used to describe aromas and flavors often related to the chalky soils and wild scrub (lavender, sage, thyme, etc.) growing alongside the vines.

When you go to the Wines of Provence Web site, you find that its French authors make no bones of the fact that what distinguishes dry Provençal rosés is the strong suggestion of “Mediterranean Basin soils... its hillsides covered with wild lavender, rosemary, and thyme... reflected in the crisp flavors and zesty aromas of the rosé wines made there.” This is the “notion of place and the influence it has... a uniquely French concept, referred to as terroir.”

Classic rosé grape: Cinsaut on 130-year-old vine in Lodi's Bechthold Vineyard

Can you find similar sensations in Lodi grown rosés? Yes! But because Lodi’s rosés are grown in a more Californian Mediterranean terroir – grapes developing intensity under conditions of more extreme diurnal temperatures – there is a little more intrinsic fruitiness in a Lodi rosé compared to those of Provence. In Lodi rosés (similar to Lodi grown white wines), that thread of minerality – not uncommonly, suggesting lavender or herbes de Provence, if not a dusty loaminess – is pushed into a backdrop, but is often there nonetheless, manifested as faint notes behind sensations of cherry, strawberry, citrus, etc.

But as the French would say, c’est la vie – so it goes in life. A soft, breezy, stony Provençal rosé is the way it is because of where it is grown; and so, too, is a sharply fruited, yet dry, sometimes mildly minerally, Lodi grown rosé.

What there also is in Lodi are finer rosés than ever before, made from quite a bevy of grapes at the disposal of our vintners.

For your summer pleasure, detailed notes on what makes some of Lodi’s more outstanding dry rosés unique and unto themselves:

Jilian Johnson harvesting Becthold Vineyard Cinsaut

2014 Onesta, Bechthold Vineyard Lodi Rosé of Cinsaut ($22) – In recent years, this is has been the cream of the crop for Lodi grown dry rosé; crafted from a historic vineyard planted completely to Cinsaut – one of the major grapes of Southern France used in rosé production – way back in 1886. Much of the quality of Onesta’s rosé is directly attributable to the staggering age of these vines; and much of it to the grape itself (which exhibits a strawberry-rhubarb pie-like warmth and richness), the deep sandy loam terroir of the vineyard (contributing a subtle yet distinct herbes de Provence-like earthiness), and the skill of Onesta winemaker/owner Jillian Johnson, who has been working with these ancient vines since 2004. The lush fruit is zesty with natural acidity on the palate, adding a plump, juicy, blood-orange juiciness to the profile. By any standard – compared to anything in California or the rest of the world – a truly great rosé.

2015 St. Amant, Lodi Barbera Rosé ($18) – Why is this desert dry, deeply pink colored rosé one of the the biggest steals in the Western World? Only 70 cases of this neutral oak fermented wine were produced. It is essentially a saignée (a “bleeding” off of pink tinged juice from a larger vat, which was turned into St. Amant’s sensational red Barbera), sourced from mature east-side Lodi vines planted by Ted Leventini in 1972. This wine is also special because it is made from Barbera, a Northern Italian grape that is typically higher in acid than any of the world’s serious red wine grapes; and it is that natural acidity that drives this rosé from beginning to end – mobilizing the fresh strawberry nose and giving the perfume a rhubarb-like complexion, and then adding a lemon squeeze-like tartness to the palate that gives the red berry quality a cranberry-like spark, punctuating the wine’s fleshy, medium-full body.

2015 Bokisch, Terra Alta Vineyard Clements Hills-Lodi Rosado ($16) – 99% of this wine comes from the Grenache grape (the other 1%, Graciano), which is the workhorse variety of Southern French rosé. However, Bokisch farms a smaller cluster/berried Spanish clone of Grenache, which makes an exacting reference to it as Garnacha Rioja Baja more appropriate. Hence, this variant’s higher skin-to-juice ratio contributes directly to the citrus edged focus of this wine – not quite as soft, round or airy as classic Grenache based rosés from either Provence or California – and the aroma, while typically strawberryish, is tinged with grapefuit/citrus and rosehip tea-like nuances, with a mouth-watering, nectarine-like savoriness lightening up a medium body (12.5% alcohol).

2015 McCay, Lodi Rosé ($18) – Year-in, year-out, Mike McCay makes a transparent dry rosé that is as close to authentic Provençal style rosé – svelte, sheer as silk, discreetly tart, scented like vivid Alpine strawberry laced with faint notes of lavender and loam – as any in the Western Hemisphere. It’s not just because he’s a good winemaker (he’s good, but California has good to great winemakers coming up its yin-yang), or even because he’s fastidious (prior to native yeast fermentation, he soaks dormant pink must in a cold room for at least 30 days). It’s primarily because he sources most of this rosé from early picked Carignan from wise, wizened 109-year old vines growing in the sandiest patch of east side Lodi’s Mokelumne River appellation. A smaller proportion comes from a nearby Grenache planting, cultivated by grape-retentive grower named Phil Abba. So basically, what Mr. McCay does is make sure to pick when the grapes’ natural acidity is still high, separate the juice from the skins, and leaves well enough alone while the grapes do their thing.

Harney Lane Winery tasting room

2015 Harney Lane, Lodi Dry Rosé ($18) – The blend in this rosé is very “Lodi” – crafted from Tempranillo (this Spanish grape is another natural for the region’s Mediteranean climate) with two grapes of long-standing lineage in the Delta, Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. The nose is also very “Lodi” – a billowing, piquant-fresh generosity of raspberry fruitiness harmonized with rose petal-like floral and black tea leafy fragrances. On the palate, a medium-full body (13.9% alcohol) is kept compact and edgy by a mild grapefruity tartness, bursting in the mouth like wedges of Mandarin orange. Very Lodi, very nice.

2015 The Lucas, Lodi Zin Blossoms ($20) – As implied by the name, this deeper pink (verging on ruby red) colored, bone dry rosé is made 100% from Zinfandel; picked at lower sugars and elevated acidity, lightly crushed and left to soak overnight in a tank before pressing first thing the next morning. This aggressive action results in a fuller, firmer, denser style of rosé – a smidgen of tannin adding a meaty texture to the vibrant fruit, like spooning into the flesh of a pink grapefuit – as well as a lavish nose of sweet watermelon, with a squirt of raspberry/blueberry smoothie. The opposite, in a sense, of both tutti-fruity White Zinfandels and soft, airy styles of dry Southern French rosés; but served in the right context (think of salmon glazed with fresh blueberry, duck a l’orange, or even foie gras with a compote of strawberry and/or rhubarb), possibly a whole new adventure.

Grenache grapes in Acquiesce's estate vineyard

2015 Acquiesce, Lodi Rosé ($24) – Acquiesce owner/grower Sue Tipton has a “secret” that won’t be one anymore, once we’ve opened our big mouths: she is now achieving the freshest, most delicately balanced qualities possible in her dry rosé by gently pressing the juice of her estate grown Grenache grapes from the skins and fermenting in stainless steel tanks; and then afterwards, adjusting for color (a modestly transparent pink) simply by adding a smidgen of red wine (also made from her Grenache grapes). Listen up, all you rounders: this is not cheating. It is actually one of the smartest ways to produce rosé (virtually all the great French Champagne rosés, for instance, are fashioned this way). The result, in the Acquiesce, is a delicously chubby yet bright, crisp, upbeat rosé, shimmying like a jelly on a plate with fresh strawberry, watermelon-ish fruit; underlined by intriguingly earthy nuances, hinting at dried, woody kitchen herbs. Bravo.

2014 Estate Crush, Lodi Rosé ($14) – The variation in this medium-full bodied rosé is the use of Sangiovese, blended with Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. The Italian grape gives its own high toned red cherry/strawberry stamp to the wine, as well as a sprightly, tart edged silkiness; while the heritage grapes give a slightly grippy feel, notwithstanding a refreshingly clean, easy finish. Terrific value – especially if you’re in need of something dry, pink and a cut-above to drink by the bucket, this summer by the pool or in a tub.

Verdelho harvest in Lodi's Silvaspoons Vineyards

What do Americans eat during summer? If you go to Sunset Magazine’s latest page proclaiming Fast & Fresh Summer Meals, you find a list of over three-dozen dishes with recipes for

• Grilled cilantro and pistachio pesto shrimp skewers
• Za’atar (Middle East herbs) and lemon grilled chicken
• Grilled salmon with mustard-wine sauce
• Pasta with basil, tomatoes and feta
• Tomato orecchiette with brie and basil
• Grilled shrimp with lemon-pesto rice
• Yogurt marinated chicken kababs with Israeli couscous
• Grilled trout fillets with crunchy pine-nut lemon topping
• Crab tacos
• Zucchini fusilli

... and you get the picture – lots of white or pink meats, or just vegetables or pasta, dressed in refreshingly tart, herby and/or earthy sensations.

Silvaspoons Vineyards owner/grower Ron Silva

You know what also makes sense? That most of these dishes are ideally matched with white wines that are

• Light, dry and pure (i.e. largely unfettered by oak qualities)
• Lemony or citrusy tart (sans acid "adjustments")
• Scented with summery-fresh stone fruit qualities and/or sweet herb subtleties

Several white wine varietals naturally possess these qualities; but there is one that stands out particularly because it is made from a grape of somewhat unique (at least in California) provenance: Verdelho.

Verdelho, in fact, may be Lodi’s gift to the California wine scene, and summertime gastronomy in general. It is a grape that, in her book Guide to Wine Grapes, Jancis Robinson MW writes, is “most closely associated with the fortified wines of Madeira,” although it has done “notably well in hotter regions of Western Australia.”

Mount Pico, topping Ilha do Pico in the Portuguese Azores

Here's the skinny: the Verdelho grown in Lodi comes directly from plant material imported by Ron Silva of Lodi’s Silvaspoons Vineyards in the late 1990s. Mr. Silva found his Verdelho in Ilha do Pico – the “Island of Pico” – in amongst the Portugese Azores; 173 square miles of wind scrubbed volcano-top, located 1,079 miles off the coast of Portugal.

In the past Mr. Silva has produced several vintages of his own outstanding Verdelho under his now-defunct Alta Mesa label; but nowadays, he focuses entirely on grape growing – supplying Verdelho to a number of top artisanal producers, such as Fenestra and Las Positas in Livermore Valley (the latter, producing a gold medal winning 2015 that also garnered "Best of Class" distinctions at the 2016 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competiton).

The finest California Verdelho right now may very well be the 2014 Bokisch Vista Luna Vineyard Borden Ranch-Lodi Verdelho ($18), which comes from Bokisch Ranches’ own vineyard, which in turn supplies a number of specialty "cool kid" producers such as Forlorn Hope and Odisea. The plant material used for the Bokischs’ Verdelho, however, is also a "Silva Selection," originating from Mr. Silva’s Silvaspoons Vineyards in Lodi’s Alta Mesa Viticultural Area via U.C. Davis' Foundation Plant Services (where it is identified as Verdelho FPS 06; from Galt, at the north end of the Lodi AVA).

On the Bokisch Vineyards Web site, you read that “Verdelho is like the mist of the sea.” Let your imagination digest that. Here’s what we find in Bokisch’s 2014 Verdelho: maybe a faint hint of briny ocean mist; but primarily a beautifully pure fragrance of Meyer lemon mixed with Key lime pie, tinged with a sweet green herbiness suggesting leafy lemon balm. On the palate, the wine is bone dry and medium-full in body; yet coming across as light in its feel, a lemon/lime tartness, and more unctuous than sharp in its silky texture. Your mouth waters for summery dishes.

In a conversation with Mr. Silva, we are told: “I was inspired to plant Verdelho after a visit to Pico. I was there to see where my grandfather was born. When driving around the island I came across a sign that said ‘Zone of the Verdelho’ - in Portuguese, of course. I was intrigued. Looking around, I saw vineyards surrounded by a rat’s maze of black basalt rock walls – everywhere you go on Pico you see these walls, built to protect vines, and fig trees, from the stiff winds and constant spray of sea salt coming off the Atlantic.

Basalt rock walls and volcanic soil in Pico's "Zone of the Verdelho"

“Long story short, somehow a few cuttings snuck into my suitcase, I don’t know how. I got them home, and when I began planting Silvaspoons, the Verdelho was among the first to go into the ground, in a block right behind my house, and later in another block on Mingo Rd.”

Silva now cultivates some 350 acres of wine grapes. Grapes like Zinfandel and Petite Sirah pay the bills, but a good 12 acres are devoted to Verdelho as well as other lesser known Portuguese grapes; notably, the black skinned Tourgia Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz (a.k.a. Tempranillo), Souzão, Tinto Cão, Alvarelhão, and Trincadeira. This amounts to a true labor of love, since Silva often needs to get on the phone to persuade vintners to sample his Portuguese varieties.

“But when you walk around and look at the vineyard,” says Silva, “you can see why it's worth the trouble. The Portuguese varieties grow beautifully here in Lodi. The fruit quality is outrageously good.”

Admits Silva, “I also confess that it’s satisfying because it’s part of my heritage. My grandfather came to California with the first wave of Portuguese immigrants, around 1910. We started out in Hayward, but I came to Lodi about 40 years ago. You look at the sky and feel the wind coming in from the Delta, and you realize why so many other Portuguese families came directly to Galt – it looks just like Portugal!”

Verdelho harvest in Bokisch Ranches' Vista Luna Vineyard

(photo courtesy of John Curley Photography)

Lodi is, like, weird. That is to say, this sprawling wine region (by far the largest in the U.S., with over 110,000 acres of planted wine grapes, and counting...) is led by an organization of grape growers and wineries collectively known as the Lodi Winegrape Commission.

Pursuant to the State of California Department of Food & Agriculture's Marketing Act of 1937, winegrape commissions are funded by annual assessments of the gross value of winegrape crops. In the case of Lodi, every commercial grape grower within California Grape Crush District 11 is compelled to join. While mandated programs like this are not a choice thing, each grower recognizes the shared benefits of marketing and promotion of the region’s grapes, the viticultural research and sustainable grape growing (i.e. Lodi Rules) programs, exposure of wines and the region as a destination through aggressive media and consumer campaigns, and ultimately, profitability for all.

But what is so odd about the Lodi Winegrape Commission? For one, the fact that it is also combination of grape growers (over 750 of them) and wineries (around 80 total) working closely together. In just about every other wine region in America, you have growers, and you have wineries; but for some reason, these groups barely talk to each other, much less sit down to actually plan and execute serious campaigns together.

Two generations of leading Lodi growers: Mohr-Fry's Jerry (forefront) and Bruce Fry (John Curley Photography)

Most of California’s wine regions not only have separate organizations for growers and vintners, the wineries themselves are usually divided into separate camps, either sub-regionally or for reasons of politics (since not everyone gets along with everyone, wineries end up picking and choosing their own separate organizations to join, if any at all).

But why? Primarily because farmers are only interested in selling their grapes, whereas wineries are interested in selling their wines. This makes sense, and explains the fundamental divisiveness. It is the reason why, in virtually all other wine regions, growers and vintners do not collaborate; even if many growers belong to vintners’ groups, and many vintners belong to growers’ groups.

Not so in Lodi. In fact, the Lodi Winegrape Commission has recently come to call itself LoCA; which stands for Lodi, CA, but can also mean, well, “crazy” because, since 1991, this organization has continuously operated under a premise that would be considered daft anywhere else – that winemakers and farmers actually share common interests and goals.

Make no mistake, though, the LoCA priority is still to continue the expansion of the Lodi wine grape growing industry. Nonetheless, the Lodi Winegrape Commission’s grower-members are very much cognizant of the fact that the key to achieving this goal is by promoting the actual wines produced from said grapes. The logic being, the more people love Lodi wines, the more grapes wineries will need to buy to produce Lodi wines.

Lodi Wine & Visitor Center

You might think, isn’t this like putting a cart before a horse? Well, not if you acknowledge the fact that without a cart a horse has nothing to pull. That is why, in Lodi, the parade is all about the cart and the horse. These Lodi people – LoCA!

2016, as it were, marks 25 years of unprecedented success for the Lodi Winegrape Commission. During the 1990s it was known as the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission, but the organization and its mission has remained the same through thick and thin. Officially, in a nut shell: To serve the common interests of all Lodi Crush District 11 winegrape producers and to enhance the profitability of winegrape production through promotion, research, and education.

One of the Commission’s first priorities – something most Lodi wine lovers will probably not recall – was simply to get wineries to put “Lodi” on the label. But in the early to mid-1990s, it was extremely rare to see that on a bottle, despite the fact that the Lodi Viticultural Area was officially established in 1986.

In fact, during the Commission's early years you could just as well have called its first Executive Director Mark Chandler (who served for 20 years) “Badger-in-Chief.” Somebody had to travel up and down the state to push, prod, beg or cajole wineries to affix the Lodi appellation on their bottlings grown in Lodi. But at the time there was nothing more important: you cannot even begin to get consumers and wineries to appreciate Lodi grapes when they do not even know when a wine comes from Lodi.

Visiting restaurant sommeliers experiencing 2015 harvest in Lodi's Mohr-Fry Ranches (John Curley Photography)

Chandler, as locals know, has recently gone on to other things – he is now Lodi City’s appointed Mayor. Recently Mayor Chandler reminded us, “When the Commission started in 1991 there were just 8 wineries in the area.” There were also fewer than 600 growers, cultivating a little less than 50,000 acres of wine grapes.

In a June 1997 article in the Los Angeles Times, Chandler expressed the predominant concern of Lodi growers at the time – that of persuading more wineries outside the Lodi region to consider utilizing Lodi grapes. Chandler was quoted to say, “Lodi used to be considered jug wine country... but over the past decade, Napa and Sonoma wineries have come here in growing numbers because they recognize the quality of our grapes. We were the best-kept secret in the business."

Here in 2016, companies based outside of Lodi – particularly giant multi-brand companies such as E. & J. Gallo, Constellation Brands, Bronco and Trinchero Family Estates – still take the lion’s share of Lodi grown grapes. But Lodi’s image today is actually carved out by Lodi’s own wineries; many of them longtime growers who made the decision to take destiny into their own hands by spinning their own grapes into vinous gold. Homegrown wineries like Michael David, Klinker Brick, LangeTwins Family and Mettler Family now produce wines distributed in most states of the Union, as well as in foreign countries across the Atlantic and Pacific.

LangeTwins Family's Charlene Lange (John Curley Photography)

Smaller specialty wineries, producing less than 15,000 cases a year, often grab the most press in print publications and among the growing number of online bloggers, as well as accolades in high profile competitions in which Lodi wines go toe-to-toe with wines from other regions, often coming out on “top.” Wineries like Acquiesce, Bokisch, Borra, Fields Family, Harney Lane, The Lucas, m2, Macchia, McCay, Oak Farm and Peirano are among those that have been consistently high performing, further enhancing the region’s reputation as a “premium” wine region and, thus, helping to increase the value of Lodi grapes.

Hence, in recent years Lodi has also been able to attract more and more small, premium winemakers from outside the region, adding to Lodi’s prestige. Producers like Tierra Divina (REDS and !ZAZIN) and Turley Wine Cellars have been sourcing Lodi grapes since the 1990s, and Jeff Runquist and Fenestra since the early 2000s. In more recent years, “cool kid” brands like Forlorn Hope, Neyers, Odisea/Cochon, The Scholium Project, Precedent, Onesta, Bedrock, David Ramey’s Sidebar and Couloir’s Straight Line have all contributed to a cutting-edge image of the region with bottlings bearing either the Lodi appellation or names of special Lodi vineyards. More big things from small packages

Total end-result after 25 years of Lodi Winegrape Commission efforts: more than double the acreage of premium wine grapes in the Lodi Viticultural Area, and more than eight times the number of wineries established within the region itself. Everybody wants to get into the act.

Stuart Spencer: Lodi Winegrape Commission Program Director and St. Amant owner/winemaker (John Curley Photography)

In December 2015 the California Department of Food & Agriculture announced that the latest referendum on the Lodi Winegrape Commission – which is put to vote every 5 years – passed with 90.2% of the region’s growers voting in favor of continuation. That’s not just a vote of confidence, it’s an unequivocal landslide. 

“It’s an exciting time in Lodi’s history,” Stuart Spencer, the Lodi Winegrape Commission’s Program Manager, was just quoted to say. "Along with the recent recognition (in case you missed it: Lodi being proclaimed Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s 2015 Wine Region of the Year) and a deeply-rooted winegrowing heritage that pre-dates Prohibition, Lodi's authenticity and diversity make the region uniquely positioned to move to the forefront of the industry, attracting a new generation of wine drinkers and winegrape buyers eager for high quality and experimental varieties at competitive prices."

Happy 25th Birthday to the Lodi Winegrape Commission, and job-well-done!

Michael David co-owner David Phillips pouring his family's iconic Earthquake Zinfandel (John Curley Photography)

Popular erudite blogger Elaine Brown (wakawakawinereviews) spreadng the word on Torrontés grown in Lodi by Silvaspoons Vineyards' Ron Silva (right)

Next month on August 11 through 13, 2016, Lodi wine country will be invaded by several hundred online wine scribes gathering for the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference. This will be a “9th Annual” – earlier Wine Bloggers Conferences, starting in 2008, happening in places like Santa Rosa, Portland, Walla Walla, New York’s Finger Lakes, Charlottesville in Virginia, and Penticton in British Columbia, Canada.

Wine blogging, winefolly.com once posted in 2013, has got to be “the world’s drunkest job.” But like Julie (Powell) in Julie & Julia, wine bloggers tend to be unremittingly passionate in their pursuit of the fermented grape; and forever hopeful that they, too, may someday wear the golden fleece accorded best selling authors or internationally acclaimed journalists. Indeed, some (albeit precious few) have managed to don some coat or another.

But mostly, these dedicated followers of vinous fashion perform a function, wrought by the internet age, involving the dispensing of knowledge and enthusiasm in a wine world that not too long ago was dominated exclusively by just a handful of periodicals and the few authors who seem to retain a stranglehold on all major book contracts (ever notice that the titles in book store wine sections are all authored by the same handful of writers?). Wine bloggers have democratized wine appreciation, which is a good thing. Power to the wine peeps.

Frequent Lodi visitor and widely read blogger Fred Swan (norcalwine.com) speaking at Lodi ZinFest

Nonetheless, as winefolly.com quotes Zachary Sussman, one of the more widely read combination-wine blogger/print journalists, as saying: “I’ve found that most people harbor a rather romantic notion of what it means to be a wine writer, as if it involves leading some posh and fancy lifestyle where you’re always jetting off to Tuscany. Usually, it’s just me in my underwear, drinking two-day-old Riesling in front of the computer screen with a takeout carton of Chinese.”

If anything, the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference comes at an interesting time in the blogging world; when some of the better known (and industry affiliated) bloggers, such as Tom Wark and Steve Heimoff, have recently speculated that wine blogging is in something of a state of death throes. Or, at very least, steadily disappearing into the maw of that gigantic entropy called social media: an ultimate state of disorderly uniformities if there ever was one – where wine information sharing is increasingly being dispensed in smaller, quicker, sugar coated communal pills such as Facebook or Instagram, or else label scanning applications like Delectable and Vivino.

Is it? Other popular bloggers, like 1winedude’s Joe Roberts, do not think that the precipitous dip in Google tracked visits to wine blog sites necessarily indicates that blogging is “dead.” Roberts has speculated, “I think that wine blogging has matured and slowed down a bit, chiefly because its most visible and influential members are getting older; they’ve more responsibilities, less time to blog, etc.”

Award winning blogger Joe Roberts (1winedude.com) sizes up ancient Lodi grown Tokay

Roberts himself blogs as furiously as ever, undeterred by recent changes in his own personal life. Still, signs of many others finally “growing up” and moving on with their lives – six or seven years removed from the once-heady heights of wine blogs' popularity – are clearly visible in sites either abandoned or updated just once or twice over the past year. Dallas Wine Chick's Melanie Ofenloch recently posted an accounting of her year thus far, telling her readers:

“A journey is defined as the passage or progress from one stage to another... In December, I left my job as Chief Marketing Officer for a software company.... My goal was to finally exhale, spend time with the family and enjoy the ability to have some funded time to decide what I want to be when I grew up... Little did I know where that journey would take me.”

Ofenloch, as it were, has continued to regularly chronicle her life of wine, taking her followers on recent escapades through Sonoma, Napa Valley, and Paso Robles, while finding the time to move into a new home closer to her kids’ school and start up a new job as a technology marketing consultant. Oh, so that’s what wine bloggers do in real life...

That said, this is the official schedule of what will be happening at the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference, mostly taking place in Lodi’s Hutchins Street Square (unless noted otherwise):

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10

2:00 PM – Arriving bloggers picked up at Sacramento International Airport and whisked away to Pre-Conference Excursions in several wine regions (in Lodi, bloggers will walk through vines and meet winegrowers showcasing “Experimental and Ancient Vines”)

Super-cool winemaker Tegan Passalacqua (Turley Wine Cellars) farming his own east-side Lodi planting (Kirschenmann Vineyard)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11

4:00 PM - Drop Off at Host Hotels from Pre-Conference Excursions

6:00–8:30 PM - Registration and Lodi Opening Reception

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12

8:00–9:00 AM - Registration

9:00 AM - Opening & Welcome

9:10 AM - Keynote Address by Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson

9:55 AM - History of Grape Growing and Winemaking in Lodi: A talk on how Lodi became a pre-eminent wine region; moderated by Mark Chandler (Lodi City Mayor and former Executive Director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission), with panelists Aaron Lange (LangeTwins Family Vineyards Manager and Vice Chair of California Association of Winegrape Growers), Kevin Phillips (Michael David Winery/Phillips Farms Vice President of Operations), and Markus Bokisch (Bokisch Vineyards Owner/Grower).

11:00 AM - The Truth About Viticulture Panel: Moderated by Stuart Spencer (Program Director of Lodi Winegrape Commission and St. Amant Winery Owner/Grower/Winemaker), with panelists Tegan Passalacqua (Turley Wine Cellars Director of Winemaking), Stan Grant (Viticulturist, Progressive Viticulture), and Chris Storm (Viticulturist, Vino Farms).

Oak Farms' Chad Joseph sampling popular blogger Thea Dwelle (lusciouslushes.com) on Barbera from barrel

11:55 AM - Lunch and Expo (including the new Writers Corner)

1:45 PM Wine - One of three Wine Discovery Sessions, including sessions hosted by

• U.C. Davis : U.C. Davis alumnus Loyal Miner discusses Clarksburg Viticultural Area and Miner’s Leap family estate.
• Visit Oakland
• Consorzio Italia diVini & Sapori

3:00 PM - Live Wine Blogging (White & Rosé): The Wine Bloggers Conference’s pre-eminent event, in which 25 winemakers have five minutes each to pour their wine, present their story, and answer questions from a table of bloggers. At the end of five minutes, winemakers will rotate to a new table. Bloggers will analyze and describe their impressions live via social media or their blogs.

4:00–8:30 PM - Excursions into Lodi Wine Country: Eight different excursions going to eight different Lodi winery/estates; each excursion to include hands-on winery or vineyard activities, tastings, and dinner.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13

9:15–10:15 AM - Breakout Sessions, including

• Advanced Social Media for the Wine Industry: Beth Peluse (Zephyr Adventures) and Maria Frangieh (wine industry digital marketing consultant) discuss their favorite social media platforms and how to utilize them to promote blogs and Web sites.
• Traffic Analysis – Dan Morris and Rachel Martin of Blogging Concentrated discuss data usage such as Google’s Search Console, BrainstormTools, and Facebook Insightsto increase traffic and revenue.
• Wine Samples: Marisa Indelicato (Fox Run Vineyards), Frank Morgan (Drink What YOU Like), Rebecca Gomez Farrel (The Gourmez) and Chris O’Gorman (Rodney Strong Vineyards ) discuss the intricate, often indelicate dance involving procurement of bottle samples from the wine industry.

thedrunkencyclist.com's Jeff Kralik (center, back) with other visiting bloggers and Lodi Native winemakers

10:30–11:30 AM - Breakout Sessions, including

• Social Media Platforms: Beth Peluse (Zephyr Adventures) and Maria Frangieh (wine industry digital marketing consultant discuss Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Periscope, the four hottest photo and video social media platforms on the internet, and best practices and tips and tricks of the trade for building community and audience.
• Climate Change: Michael Fagin (West Cost Weather LLC) discusses how climate change in United States wine regions will impact the major wine growing regions of Washington, Oregon, California, and New York, and how the industry is adjusting.
• Monetization: Dan Morris and Rachel Martin of Blogging Concentrated discuss earning a respectable income through blogging with use of Ad Networks, Adsense, Affiliate programs, display ads, product sales and by becoming a paid consultant.

1:00–2:00 PM - Wine Discovery Sessions, including

• Discovery Session : Wine Educator May Matta-Aliah DWS presents Au Natural Alsace: The leadership role taken by France’s Alsace region in Organic, Biodynamic and Sustainable Wines, sponsored by Wines of Alsace.
• Discovery Session: Yealands Family Wines Winemaker Tamra Kelly-Washington leads a tasting/discussion of the world’s first carboNZeroCertTM certified winery, located in Marlborough, New Zealand’s extremely windy, cold, coastal Awatere Valley.

2:15–3:15 PM - Wine Blog Award Winners Panel: Five winners of the 2016 Wine Blog Awards tell their stories; including Sophie Thorpe from Berry Bros. & Rudd, Mary Cressler from Vindulge, Jill Barth from l’Occasion, Susan Manfull and Jerry Clark from Provence WineZine, and moderator Sujinder Juneja from Town Hall Brands.

Lodi grower/winemaker Mike McCay spills the wine (photo courtesy of Gabrielle Lurie, San Francisco Chronicle)

3:15–4:15 PM Live Wine Blogging (Red Wines): The Wine Bloggers Conference’s pre-eminent event, in which 25 winemakers have five minutes each to pour their wine, present their story, and answer questions from a table of bloggers. At the end of five minutes, winemakers will rotate to a new table. Bloggers will analyze and describe their impressions live via social media or their blogs.

4:30–5:30 PM - From Passion to Pro – Getting Paid to Write About Wine: Moderator Randy Caparoso (LoCA's lodiwine.com and The SOMM Journal Editor Editor-at-Large) discusses how to make the jump from personal blogging to paid wine journalism, while sharing secrets of their success, with panelists Jameson Fink (Wine Enthusiast Magazine) and Deborah Parker Wong (The Tasting Panel Magazine and Consorzio Italia diVini & Sapori).

5:30-7:00 PM - Wines of the World Receptions featuring Wines of Alsace from France, Yealands Family Wines from New Zealand, and wines from the Consorzio Italia diVini & Sapori from Italy.

7:00–9:00 PM - Dinner with LoCA (Wines of Lodi)

9:00 –9:30 PM - Wine Blog Awards Presentation: Presentation of 2016 Wine Blog Award winners will be presented their awards.

Visiting wine professionals talking wine with longtime Lodi grower Steve Borra (left) in his Gill Creek Vineyard

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14

9:30 – 10:30 AM - Breakout Sessions, including

• The Big Jump – Austin Beeman (of Understanding Wine, former Ohio wine retailer and Bonny Doon Director of Marketing) discussws why wineries are “desperately seeking” the skills of wine bloggers.
• Increase Your Audience & Engagement: Mary Cressler and Sean Martin of Vindulge discuss going from social media groups to television producers, freelancing to working with other media sites, and finding ways to promote your blog and increase your community engagement.

10:45 – 11:45 AM - Blogger Reports: Five-minute reports shared by fellow bloggers describing what they are doing to contribute to the world of wine blogging.

11:45 AM – 12:00 PM - Conference Closing

12:15 PM – Departure for Post-Conference Excursions to Ironstone Vineyards in Calaveras, and in Lodi (an exploration of Lodi’s “Heritage Vineyards and Ancient Vines”

This past spring, brixchicks.com's Liza Swift (left) and lusciouslushes.com's Thea Dwelle (right) visiting Liz and Markus Bokisch in their renowned Terra Alta Vineyard in Lodi's Clements Hills AVA

It may be summer, but that doesn't mean every wine aficionado is reaching for white or pink wines. Red wine lovers are red wine lovers, and they're not going to let little things like 90-degree temperatures keep them from enjoying their preference.

Oh, they may make little adjustments, like going to slightly lighter reds; or easing up a little bit on red meat consumption (unless they're manning an outdoor grill). Be as it may, it is as good a time as any to revisit the notion of consuming red wine with fish. Not everyone, of course, has caught up with this.

But seriously, enjoying red wine with fish is not nearly as strange as it may seem. Fact of the matter is, there are many instances when a red wine tastes better with a seafood dish of some sort than any white wine or rosé. Why? Because as much as white wines with fish and red wines with red meat makes sense, not all seafood dishes are the same, and not all wines – reds, whites, pinks or sparklers – are either.

The idea of red wine with fish, in other words, is contextual – dependent upon the kind of seafood you’re eating, and the kind of wine at your disposal. But if you happen to prefer red wine over any other type of wine, it might be a good idea to think about how and when red wines do go great with seafoods.

Back in the 1989, in fact, two wine professionals by the name of David Rosengarten and Joshua Wesson actually published a book called Red Wine with Fish - The New Art of Matching Wine with Food (now sadly out of print), based on the premise that all wines and foods find ideal matches in two basic ways:

Similarities - When there are similar taste sensations in both a dish and a wine (examples: when the buttery sauce in a fish dish is enhanced by the a buttery texture of a barrel fermented white wine).

Contrasts - When sensations in a wine contrast with sensations in a dish to positive effect (example: when the sweetness in a white wine balances the saltiness of a dish like ham, cured sausage, or briny shellfish).

Wine and food matching, it is always good to remember, involves the same natural instinct you  apply to all matters of aesthetics. You appreciate, for example, when violins in a musical score are played in harmony with similar instruments such as violas, cellos and double basses, while also played in contrast with woodwinds, drums and keyboards. Or when you dress in a morning: a black top, which can be worn with matching black heels along with a white skirt for contrast.

Our palates work in the same way as how we please our other senses: a scoop of vanilla ice cream is enjoyed with similar sweet sensations you get in bananas, chocolate syrup or a cherry, in contrast with sprinklings of slightly bitter nuts or the airy texture of whipped cream. Use of similar as well as contrasting food sensations that compliment each other is how we all put together our sandwiches for lunch or salads for dinner. It is what we teach, in more artful or original fashion, to young chefs in culinary schools to make our restaurant experiences more exciting.

So when thinking about how to enjoy red wines with seafood dishes, here are some basic concepts to mentally keep on file:

• Since more than anything, it is the bitter or hard tannin components common to red wine that are obstacles to matching fish or shellfish (a contrast that can be excessive contrast, like ketchup on ice cream), you turn to red wines that have very soft, rounded tannins, and leave the red wines with stronger, bitter tannins for fattier foods like red meat.

• Since almost all fish and shellfish are complimented by wines with some degree of contrasting acidity or tartness, it makes sense that red wines with a little more acid zestiness than other red wines will compliment a seafood dish; which means reds made from certain grapes that are naturally a little higher in acidity, or slightly lighter reds made from grapes picked a little earlier when sugars are lower and acids are higher.

The natural acidity in grapes like Sorelle Vineyards' Sangiovese play a key role in matching red with with fish

• Since red wines are indeed best with meatier dishes, it makes sense that meatier types of fish, with more fat and/or textural qualities, are easier to match with red wines.

• Since many of the dishes we put together are sums of their parts – seafoods combined with seasonings, spices, vegetables, stocks, sauces, etc. – it follows that we can increase the chances of successful red wine and fish matching by utilizing ingredients and techniques that are very conducive to the taste of red wine (like the taste of bacon, beef stock, onions, more pungent herbs or slightly bitter vegetables, etc.).

• Since red wines, by nature (i.e. fermented with skins, as opposed to whites which are not), are more complex than white wines, you can go one step further in your food preparation by consciously utilizing ingredients with some degree of umami; that is to say, “delicious,” high amino acid related components such as what you naturally find in mushrooms, soy sauce, sea vegetables, vine ripened tomatoes, stock reductions, aged cheeses like Parmigiano, etc.

That said, here are some specific red wine friendly foods we have known and enjoyed very well:

All tuna all the time

Seared rare or prepared raw (i.e. variations of sashimi, tartare or Hawaiian style poke), the higher grades of Pacific ‘ahi tuna are the seafood lovers’ “steak.” Because of its red fleshed, high fat meatiness, tuna is one of those fishes that 99% of the time are better matched with red wines than with whites, no matter how you eat it. The best matches? Red wines with soft tannin and expressive fruit qualities.

The meatiness of Pacific tuna and high umami sensations of soy sauce, onions and sesame oil all combine to produce a dish far better suited to soft yet zesty red wines than to any whites

Pinot Noir is an ideal match for tuna. While Lodi’s warm Mediterranean climate terroir is not usually associated with Pinot Noir, the fact of the matter is that there are about 2,000 acres of the grape grown in the region, primarily for big wineries and to supplement specialty coastal producers. But when you find a Lodi appellation Pinot Noir, it is usually a very light, soft, fruit forward (lots of cherry-berry) and uncomplicated red – maybe not a Romanée-Conti or Williams Selyem, but still a delicious match for red fleshed tuna. Better Lodi grown examples include Ripken Vineyards, The Lucas Winery, Van Ruiten Family, and bottlings under Peltier Winery’s Hybrid or Oak Ridge Winery’s Old Soul labels.

Some Lodi producers, such as Mike McCay of McCay Cellars, are of the belief that “Lodi’s Pinot Noir” may very well be red wines made from the Grenache grape. McCay’s Lodi Grenache, in fact, is strikingly Pinot Noir-ish in its zesty edged exuberance of cherry-like perfume and earthy/dusty, dried herb spice, with an intrinsic peppery note that is more typically “Grenache” than Pinot-like. In a similar vein, the Oak Farm Grenache as well as Bokisch Vineyards’ Garnacha  both come across as soft, zippy, and eminently red tuna-ready.

But wait, there’s more: Lodi grown reds crafted from Cinsaut – particularly those from Lodi’s oldest heritage planting, the acclaimed Bechthold Vineyard (planted in 1886) – are also very soft in tannin, with a zippy, magical red berry profile often compared to strawberry-rhubarb pie. Top producers include Fields Family, McCay Cellars, Estate Crush, Onesta Wines, Turley Wine Cellars, and Michael David Winery – we wouldn’t suggest any one of these Cinsauts over the other because, across the board, they are all round, fleshy, smooth and brilliantly perfumed red wines, all capable of making red tuna dishes seem like the most natural red wine with fish match in the world.

Charred or smoky salmon

Cooked salmon might retain its pink color, and tends to be a little less meaty and slightly stronger in the taste of fish oils than tuna, but it still falls within the category of fish dishes that are usually better matched with red wines than whites. Especially when you apply preparations resulting in more aggressive sensations – like smoking, wood roasting or grilling, as well as crusting with pungent herbs and/or peppercorns – which can give you striking notes of similarity to the taste of red wines that are finished with perceptible degrees of slightly smoky oak qualities from barrel aging.

Is varietal red Grenache the "Pinot Noir" of Lodi?

The Native American style of open-fire cedar plank roasted salmon, for instance, practically screams for a slightly smoky, handsomely oak-aged red wine (re a cedar plank salmon recipe for home). Pinot Noir, which is commonly aged in well toasted French oak barrels, is the obvious choice, but in our experience, wood smoked salmon has proven surprisingly amenable to even red wines of sturdier tannin substance. In Napa Valley, for instance, it’s not unusual to see some of the more finesse style Cabernet Sauvignons served with smoky wood roasted salmon.

But if Cabernet Sauvignon and salmon is going a little too far for you (Napa folks have been known to serve Cabernet Sauvignon with peppercorn or chile pepper spiced fresh fruit soups, for Pete’s sake), we have our own natural red wine match in plentitude: Lodi’s zesty yet soft, fruit forward, mildly peppery spiced and often earthy/loam nuanced styles of Zinfandel. You don’t have to go far to find examples that have the ease of tannin and nuanced smokiness that fit with a smoky, grill charred or herb/peppercorn crusted salmon dish like a hand in glove: Michael David’s ubiquitous, smoke and autumn spiced 7 Deadly Zins, for one; and many of the smoothly oaked, value priced ($10-$20) offerings of Lodi based wineries such as LangeTwins Family, Jessie’s Grove’s Earth, Zin & Fire, Peirano Estate, Klinker Brick, Van Ruiten Family, or Oak Ridge. You may find an even finer salmon match in more smoothly styled premium priced Lodi Zinfandels ($20-$40) by producers like Estate Crush’s Stellina, Mettler Family, Harney Lane, Heritage Oak, St. Amant, Fields Family, McCay, Oak Farm, or Bokisch’s Tizona – really, more than we can shake a stick at!

But there is still another ideal choice for smoky, herby or peppery salmon: Sangiovese – a red wine varietal native to Italy that is usually sleek in tannin, with a slightly zestier natural acidity than most Zinfandels. Sorelle, Jeremy Wine Co., and Macchia are all producers of first class, subtlely oak influenced Lodi grown Sangiovese making an easy match for salmon, whether off the grill, out of a smoker, oven roasted or pan fried.

Oysters any way

At the Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York’s Grand Central Station, they’ll tell you that a soft, zippy Pinot Noir or French Beaujolais is just as good a match for raw oysters as a sharply dry Sauvignon Blanc. This might not work for you, but if it does it’s because of umami factors: the way that savory, high amino acid components in oysters mingle with the taste of softer tannin, spice, smoke, mineral and earth nuanced red wines such as Pinot Noir, as well as Grenache, Cinsaut, Carignan, Sangiovese, or easier drinking styles of Zinfandel.

Oysters on the grill at Borra Vineyards

But if you’re skeptical, try this at home: simply grill them in the shell, cup-side down and covered (doesn’t take more than 2, 3 minutes before they start to open up, and ready to be pried and consumed), and you will find that smoky sensations in both oak-influenced red wines and bivalves working in delicious synchronicity, with umami sensations working overtime. But whether you’re consuming oysters by themselves, baked in any number of ways (with anything from chopped smoky bacon to sweet-spicy salsas), or added to stews, rice or pasta dishes, the point is that umami-rich oysters are strong enough to be perfectly natural, maybe even preferable, with smooth styles of barrel-aged reds.

Mussels

Like oysters, strongly earthy mussels – even when stewed as it usually is in seafood stock and white wine – are one of those seafoods that open up to either crisp dry whites (offering contrasting notes of acidity) or softly textured reds (offering similarities of earth tones). An interesting thing to try is juxtaposing the two wine types, the white served chilled and the red served slightly chilled (60 minutes in the fridge), and you’ll see how Wesson and Rosengarten’s principles of similarity and contrast work in two different ways.

One particularly surprising match: suave, rounded red wines made from the Tempranillo grape, which tend to have more of a dusty suede-like texture when grown in Lodi's sandy Mediterranean terroir (in other parts of the West Coast, Tempranillo can be quite big with tannin). Lodi's lanky, loose limbed style of Tempranillo (better ones produced by Bokisch Vineyards, Harney Lane, Fields Family,McCay, m2, Peirano, and Riaza) has a way of expressing earth toned complexities in the context of dishes utilizing mussels; not too much different than what  happens when Tempranillo is tasted with gamey lamb.

Lodi's multi-award winning Addy Grant (Addy's Paella) cooking up an aromatic storm

Charred scallops

One of the signature dishes of San Francisco chef Traci Des Jardins is scallops pieced together with aromatic truffled mash potatoes. She’s also not opposed to browning in butter with smoked bacon and Brussel sprouts, or any which way that arouses the senses through the nose. In fact, whenever scallops are flash charred and scented with earth tones and umami driven sensations they become dishes best suited to smooth styles of red wine rather than whites. And when scallops are combined with winey balsamic syrups, cured meats like prosciutto or earthy vegetables like spinach or mushrooms, they are all the more likely to taste better with a scented Pinot Noir, a soft and fleshy Grenache, a fragrant Cinsaut, or an easy drinking Zinfandel.

Mixed seafood dishes

Two of the most famous ways of mixing fish and shellfish together in one skillet are in dishes like bouillabaisse (originating in Southern France) or cioppino (the San Francisco favorite originating from emigrants of Genovese-Italian descent) – the former fused together by saffron, one of the earthiest and most elemental of spices, and the latter laced with sweet/sharp tomatoes and winey broths that effortlessly fuse with the natural fruit sensations of red wines.

Pungent threads of saffron knit seafood dishes to red wines

Then there are the endless variations of paella – rice dishes also based on saffron and cooking in earthy seafood stocks. Whenever you combine seafoods in these classic ways you are essentially piling on a plethora of high umami components – the one taste sensation that sings most sweetly with soft, multifaceted forms of red wine. Both saffron and tomatoes only intensify the need.

Finally, there is crawfish, that universally beloved freshwater crustacean: in the recipes that evolved in Louisiana – particularly étoufée and jambalaya – strongly skewed towards red wine friendly ingredients like chopped onions, bell peppers and celery (the Cajun-Creole “holy trinity”), along with umami-rich tomatoes, earthy okra, pungent scallions, and layers upon layers of spices and seasonings that demand the complexity of red, rather than white, wines. The most reliable match? Probably an all-American red wine like Lodi grown Zinfandel, with its typically jammy fruitiness that smooths over strong seasonings, while the wine’s natural cracked peppercorn spiciness strikes surprisingly (always!) delectable notes of similarity with peppery Cajun-Creole spices.

So if you love red wine but don’t want to serve yourself slabs of red meat every night of the summer, stick to the modern day tried-and-true: red wine with fish.

Source of amazing red wine for fish: Lodi's Bechthold Vineyard Cinsaut

Zinfandel cluster from 127-year old vines in Jessie's Grove's Royal Tee Vineyard

What is terroir, and why is everyone talking about it?

When writing about why Lodi was chosen as their 2015 Wine Region of the Year, Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s Jim Gordon cited a number of achievements; including how the region has recently achieved “parity with better-known coastal regions,” yet how “grapes and wine were already in Lodi’s DNA before the current era... (when) the first major vineyard was planted in 1852.”

One of the things Mr. Gordon also noted was the “naked style Zinfandels" produced by the Lodi Native project. The good thing about the Lodi Native Zinfandels, San Francisco Chronicle’s Jill Robinson recently wrote, is that they “highlight terroir, along with Lodi’s heritage Zinfandel plantings and growers.” The Lodi Native winemakers have been putting together a series of “single-vineyard Zinfandels,” added Christopher Null in his DRINKHACKER blog, “with the intent of showcasing Lodi’s terroir.”

The Frugal Wine Snob’s Carolyn Blakesleet writes, “The idea (of the Lodi Native project) was to allow the terroir-driven fruit to speak for itself, with different voices depending on its vineyard of origin, similar to other great wine regions of the world.”

The term "terroir," or so it seems, is increasingly being used in the same sentence as "Lodi."

Yet it is still true that when the vast majority of Americans are buying wine, terroir-related priorities rarely come to mind. We are more concerned about the brand or producer, the grape or “varietal” make-up, and maybe a little about where a wine comes from (Napa Valley, Lodi, Walla Walla Valley, Finger Lakes, etc.).

115-year-old Marian's Vineyard Zinfandel in sandy loam of Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA

That’s because this is exactly how American wines are packaged and sold – by brand, varietal, and appellation or “place.” Plus the fact that about 69% of wines sold in the U.S. are grown and produced domestically – and so most of us are accustomed to appreciating wine in the American way.

Premium quality wines from Europe, on the other hand, are primarily sold by place, or “origin,” first; and secondly, by producer or brand. There are varietal identifications on the labels of a few types of European wines – such as Albariño from Spain, Barbera from Italy, Riesling from Germany, etc. – but those are a distinct minority of the imports we see on our shelves.

When you buy a Mâcon-Villages or Vosne-Romanée from France, for instance, there is nothing on the label that says these wines are made from Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. It is not because the French are snobs about the fact that “you’re supposed to know” this stuff. It is because there are laws on the books in France – enforced by a bureau of Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) – that say you cannot bottle a wine as Mâcon-Villages unless it is made purely from Chardonnay; and the same for a Vosne-Romanée which is always made from Pinot Noir.

France’s AOC laws – similar to wine laws in countries like Germany, Italy, and Spain – are, in fact, based primarily on the premise of terroir: the idea that that the single most important factor defining the character and quality of a wine is the place where it is grown. In European countries, appellations are defined by designated regions, sub-regions, villages, and for the highest quality wines, by individual vineyards.

"Terroir is a concept widely used by the French," writes U.C. Davis Professor Emeritus Deborah L. Elliott-Fisk, "to express what American viticulturists see as ecosystem, both concepts incorporating geographic site, topography, soil and subsoil as factors interacting with climate on vine growth.... For vineyards, 'climate' in a general sense has been shown to be an important factor influencing fruit composition and wine 'quality'..."

Fine grained Tokay sandy loam dominating Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA

Terroir, by this definition, is the sum of a specific ecosystem’s natural, physical factors – including slope, aspect, elevation, latitude, rainfall, temperature, wind, etc. – that have an impact on how vines and grapes grow, and ultimately on the sensory attributes of wines made from those vines and grapes. Which is why terroir, if "captured" in a bottle, is often simply summarized as “sense of place.”

Not that Europeans don’t recognize the fact that the labors of growers and decisions of winemakers also have a huge impact on subsequent wines. They know that fine wines don’t produce themselves. Like Americans, Europeans are aware that they can take grapes from widely known appellations and, through manipulations in the vineyard and winery, turn them into wines barely recognizable in terms of terroir. Many mass-market French, Italian, Spanish and German wines are produced like this.

But generally speaking, as noted in The Oxford Companion to Wine (Oxford University Press), fidelity to terroir reflects “philosophical and commercial differences between Old World and New World approaches to wine.” In European countries there is more of a conscious effort to handle wines sourced from the best vineyards with the objective of minimizing winemaker “signatures,” and maximizing qualities associated with terroirs, coming through in subsequent wines. The opposite, as it were, of most wines produced outside of Europe.

What the “taste” of terroir is not, despite the word’s inference, is aromas and flavors derived directly from soil types. Chardonnay based white wines from the Chablis region in France, for instance, often have lean, minerally flavors; but that doesn’t mean the flavors come directly from minerals in the chalky soils of Chablis. It is not possible to uptake flavors of rocks through vine roots and into ripening grapes.

The same for Sonoma County grown Chardonnays, which often taste lush, like pineapples and tropical citrus fruits. This does not mean there are tropical fruits or pineapple growing in the ground beneath Sonoma vines that somehow end up in wines. If anything, it is the cold climatic growing conditions of Chablis that make Chardonnays from that region predisposed towards minerally flavors; and the warmer, sun soaked conditions of Sonoma that produce such lush, fruit driven Chardonnays.

Soucie Vineyard, source of some of Lodi's most terroir-driven Zinfandels

The vast majority of California wines, however, are not crafted to achieve a sensory sense of place. Most American consumers, critics and wine professionals in the restaurant or retail trade tend to value qualities like “varietal” intensity, while wineries strive to achieve markers capturing consistent brand or “house” styles. Generally speaking, we expect our Rombauer Chardonnays to taste as much like “Rombauer Chardonnay” as possible, vintage after vintage. If not, Rombauer Chardonnay lovers might riot, which could get ugly.

And whether a Pinot Noir comes from Santa Barbara’s Santa Maria Valley, Sonoma’s Russian River Valley, or Oregon’s Willamette Valley, most of us want our finest Pinot Noirs to capture our ideal conceptions of “Pinot Noir," not the taste of vineyards in Santa Maria Valley, Russian River Valley or Willamette Valley. Because of that, it can be difficult for even "experts" to tell the difference between many top-rated Santa Maria Valley, Russian River Valley and Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs in blind tastings. The commercial reality in the wine market is that Pinot Noirs are designed to capture varietal and brand styles first, regardless of wide ranging appellations or terroirs.

This is in stark contrast to, say, the French, who want their Chardonnay based whites from Chablis to taste tart and minerally like a good Chablis should; their Chardonnays from Meursault to taste fuller and meatier like classic Meursault, and Chardonnays from Puligny-Montrachet to taste sharp yet extravagantly high fruit toned in the way that has made Puligny-Montrachets famous. French wine lovers do not seek varietal sameness or intensity. Neither do they “rate” wines from Chablis higher than Meursault, or vice-versa. More than anything, the idea of French AOC wines is to capture typicité. The more a Chablis tastes like a Chablis and a Meursault like Meursault, the higher the perceived quality. 

Of course, Lodi is not France. Why should we care about terroir related distinctions here? For the same reasons why it means something in places like France, Germany, Italy or Spain: because the more a region’s unique, natural attributes are known and appreciated, the higher the value placed on that region’s vineyards and grapes. Here in California, Napa Valley has already attained something of a cachet, especially for its long track record of excellent Cabernet Sauvignons, not unlike many of Europe’s more prestigious regions. But there are many prestigious wine regions in Europe, and there can be many more regions of prestige here in California. It is a matter of cultivating identities, particularly based upon histories of terroir-driven wines that speak to tangible qualities of regions or vineyards, not so much winemaking.

Ancient vines on Lodi's west side

For Lodi, an elevated cachet will come once growers and winemakers begin to consistently demonstrate what makes Lodi special – unique, distinctive vineyards manifested in unique, distinctive wines. Not, mind you, vineyards and wines that are “better” than Napa Valley's. Rather, more along the lines of reaching a point when it is widely known that: the best Napa Valley wines are grown in Napa Valley, and the best Lodi wines are grown in Lodi.

Lodi, for instance, is already known as a Zinfandel “capitol.” But why stop at that? Why be satisfied with producing Zinfandels that are just as good or comparable to Zinfandels from Napa Valley, Sonoma or Amador County? To increase the value and prestige of Lodi grown Zinfandel, it is more effective to produce Zinfandels with terroir-associated tastes expressing what can be grown only in Lodi, and nowhere else. Hence, projects like Lodi Native; where the objective is to produce Zinfandels that taste as much as possible like Zinfandel grown in some of Lodi's individual heritage vineyards, as opposed to Zinfandels that taste like “Zinfandel,” which could come from anywhere.

One caveat: There are some New World viticulturists who are convinced that the entire notion of terroir is overrated; very possibly mythical; or that natural attributes of regions or vineyards are of far less consequence to subsequent wines than winegrower decisions, especially those entailing sound science and technical innovation. in his recently published Terroir and other Myths of Winegrowing, for instance, Mark A. Matthews argues that terroir is, at its root, a marketing ploy, contrived to perpetuate the superiority of established vineyards over newer plantings with just as much potential. Fair enough. But you need not swallow that entire pill.

Here is what we know: In Lodi, our wine grape growers take a back seat to few others when it comes to science, innovation and sustainable values. It is not for nothing, for instance, that the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) recently named Jerry and Bruce Fry's Mohr-Fry Ranches their 2016 Grower of the Year. At the same time, the Frys would count themselves among many other Lodi growers who, for nearly or over 100 years, have always known that vines like Zinfandel and Tokay grow far more productively in Tokay series sandy loam soils close to the winding Mokelumne River than in pockets of gravelly or sandy clay loam (such as the San Joaquin soil series dominating Lodi's Jahant AVA). In many places in Lodi these soil variations are found on properties located within just a few feet of each other. Walk a few feet to see a beautifully growing Zinfandel plant, and walk a few feet further to see a Zinfandel struggling to produce quality fruit. The reason, simply, is differences in terroir – not anything the most skilled growers, like the Frys, could ever do anything about.

Mohr-Fry Ranches' Bruce Fry

Since 2012 Lodi Native winemakers have been conclusively demonstrating that, through the prism of minimalist winemaking, there are consistent, and predictable, aromatic, structural and flavor related distinctions between Zinfandels growing in vineyards such as Soucie, Wegat, TruLux/Pescador, Marian’s, Lot 13 and others – despite threads of similar sandy loam soil, and the sharing of the exact same Mediterranean climate and vintage conditions. Terroir may be old school; but it is a real and prevalent factor in how wines end up tasting, no matter what anybody says.

Lodi, in fact, is now quickly becoming known for the quality of white wines possible in the region’s sandy soils and Mediterranean climate. Vintners are already producing extremely appealing, critically acclaimed white wines from Mediterranean varieties such as Albariño, Viognier, Verdelho, Vermentino and Grenache Blanc. For similar terroir-related reasons, someday other white wine varieties of Mediterranean origin may (or should!) be successfully planted in Lodi: top quality green skinned grapes such as Inzolia (a.k.a. Ansonica), Cortese, Greco, Falanghina, Grechetto, Friulano (a.k.a. Sauvignon Vert), Arneis, Garganega, Fiano, Biancolella, or Glera (a.k.a. Prosecco) from Italy; Parellada or Macabeu from Spain; Assyrtiko or Moschofilero from Greece; Loureira or Treixadura from Portugal, or any number of others that could thrive in our dry-summer temperate terroirs...

Grapes known to produce delicious white wines that could also become incomparably Lodi. Or as Bonny Doon’s Randall Graham once put it, “to thine own terroir be true” (re How I Survived My U.C. Davis Education in Been Doon So Long, University California Press).

Which is why the work of Lodi based wineries is so important. While the giant producers buying most of Lodi’s grapes to churn out much of the country's value priced wines will continue to play an essential role in our wine grape economy, it is our own, smaller scaled, homegrown winemakers who will hold much of Lodi’s future in their hands: by continuing to define what makes Lodi unique among all other wine regions of the world, through their innovative, hand crafted wines...

And by doing so, continuing to define the taste of Lodi’s terroir.

Petite Sirah grown in the San Joaquin series sandy clay loam of Lodi's Jahant AVA

Zinfandel during July veraison in Harney Lane Winery's Lizzy James Vineyard

The objective of Vitis, or grape vines, from their very beginning – speculated as dating back over a million years ago, based upon evidence of fossilized leaves and seeds – has always been the same as that of humankind: to bear fruit and multiply.

The almost miraculous changes we see in black skinned varieties of Vitis vinifera – the European species of vines always known to produce the finest wines – during the month of July in the Northern Hemisphere is a reflection of that basic objective. 

Iconic ancient 115-year-old Marian's Vineyard Zinfandel during July veraison

At the beginning of the month individual berries are still going through a phase of berry cell division and cell expansion: while firm and green with chlorophyll, berries are growing into their maximum size, while their organic acid content is at its highest. The plant, in this phase, is still in its mama-bear mode – protective of its tender seeds as it builds a tough, acidic wall of pulp around them, the fruit still unedible to hungry animals.

Then suddenly, usually early in the month of July, something clicks: grapes enter their period known as veraison – taken from the French word véraison, in reference to “change of color” – when chlorophyll content begins to recede, and skins dramatically change from green to red, violet, blue to black colors.

Sorelle Vineyards Sangiovese during July veraison

As the multi-colored stage of veraison unfolds, grapes soften and sugars begin to accumulate, while acids steadily decline and cell division grinds to a halt. It is as if the plant has suddenly decided that it needs to begin to make itself more attractive to possible suitors; as the fruit transitions from green, herby, sour tastes to, eventually, a sweet, aromatic, luscious fruitiness. The softening skins of black skinned grapes begin to develop more flavonoid phenolics, adding to the fruit's edibility; and it is these phenolics that account for most of the aromas, flavors and sensory textures eventually expressed in a fermented red wine.

Bechthold Vineyard Cinsaut (Lodi's oldest vines, planted in 1886) just completing veraison at the end of July

In short, the grapes are suddenly saying, “take me!” In the wild, birds, deer, bears, and other animals would be there to pounce, the moment grapes reach a threshold where the taste of sweet fruitiness predominates over acidic sharpness (in vineyards beside natural corridors today, measures like nets, fences and raptors are utilized to discourage illicit munching). In the natural course of things, mature seeds would be excreted through animal waste, spread hither and yon where new vines can pop up. This is how varieties of Vitis managed to endure, and evolve, through hundreds of thousands of years, even through ages when the earth was buried mostly under ice.

Schmierer Vineyard Zinfandel during early July veraison

Winegrowers and winemakers, however, soon learned that it is best to wait a good 30 to 45 days after black skinned wine grapes go through veraison, to give clusters more time to develop optimal flavors; a window usually arriving in September or October, when sugar content climbs closer to 25% of grape volume – a percentage that translates into wines of 12% to 15% alcohol.

CLR Farms Syrah (east side of Lodi) during July veraison

During its evolution over millenniums, Vitis vinifera eventually mutated from dioecious (divided between male and female plants) to hermaphrodite (i.e. self-pollinating) vines; a characteristic that would become highly advantageous to the earliest enterprising grape growers, once they discovered that the natural yeast flora found on grape skins miraculously produce a delicious alcoholic beverage when put in contact with grape sugars. Unlike the way wild dioecious grape vines went forth and multiplied, it is possible to establish generations of self-pollinating vines as planted cuttings; thus assuring more predictable consistency of fruit and wine types.

Meanwhile, those of us who live in wine regions north of the equator can still enjoy the beautiful sights of veraison in July. It is like the visually stimulating start of a wine lover’s Christmas – we can hardly wait unwrap the pleasures to come!

Silvaspoons Vineyards Tinta Roriz (a.k.a. Tempranillo) during July veraison

Neyers Vineyards' Tadeo Borchardt with cobbled stones of Bokisch Ranches' Vista Luna Vineyard

Yesterday (August 2, 2016), walking through the trellised rows of Bokisch Ranches’ Vista Luna Vineyard, Neyers Vineyards winemaker Tadeo Borchardt plucked berries off a couple dozen Zinfandel clusters for analysis back in his winery, located a good 90 minutes' drive away, just east of St. Helena in Napa County.

Vista Luna Vineyard is located in Lodi’s Borden Ranch Viticultural Area; a sub-region consisting of rolling hills of reddish, rocky, shallow soils over a clay pan, at 200 to 250-ft elevations. This, in essence, represents the slightly elevated lower-low foot-slopes of the Sierra Foothills; in dramatic contrast to the fine, silty sandy loam and nearly flat topography of the more historic Mokelumne River AVA surrounding the City of Lodi, no higher than 50-100-ft., and with nary a rock or even speck of gravel to be found.

“Looks like veraison (i.e. seasonal change of grape skin colors from green to blue-ish purple) is just about complete,” Borchardt commented, “and the grapes are already starting to taste sweet.” Taking a cluster into his hand, Borchardt added, “Considering that they just went through a little heat wave, the grapes are looking great – see, no signs of sunburn, no wrinkling.

“Most of the clusters are hanging nice and loose because of a little bit of shot berry – these little green jacks you see in between the ripening berries that failed to set because of a weather event this past spring. These little green berries will drop out when going through the destemmer.”

Loose, typically small Vista Luna Vineyard Zinfandel cluster, with green "shot berry" jacks

On a few vines Borchardt made note of some clusters with full sized berries that were either a pale green, a pink or weak red color. “These clusters with low color,” says Borchardt, “will not produce good wine, so we’ll go through the block and clip them all off before the picking crew eventually comes through. Whatever pink berried clusters get into the picking bins, we’ll sort out at the winery before they get to the destemmer.

“Markus’s (Bokisch) crew also does 3 AM hand picking, which is good because the grapes can get to us at the winery at a good, cool temperature, first thing in the morning. But the problem with night picking is that visibility is not the best, and so a lot of these weak colored clusters get into the bins. And so in recent vintages, we’ve asked them to stick to morning picking, so at least there’s a little more light for them to see which clusters to leave on the vine.”

When asked to compare Zinfandel coming off Bokisch’s hillside Borden Ranch planting to Zinfandels from much older vineyards (largely between 40 and over 100 years old) grown on the west and east sides of Lodi City, Borchardt commented, “We’ve been producing Zinfandel from Vista Luna since the vineyard’s first crop, in 2009, and we’ve been thrilled with it.”

Bending down to pick up some of big, chunky cobbled stones making up half the soil, Borchardt added, “This is what Vista Luna is all about – beautiful pink and blue quartz stones, sort of like Lodi’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I’ve made Zinfandel from Tegan’s (Passalacqua) Kirschenmann Vineyard, which is more of your classic, old vine Lodi planting (vines dating back to 1915) – making a Zinfandel with beautiful aromatic complexity, and a little finer in texture than what we get in Vista Luna.

Neyers winemaker Tadeo Borchardt collecting berry samples in Vista Luna Vineyard

“But it’s these rocks that give these much younger Zinfandel vines (planted in 2006) in Vista Luna its own complexity. We’ll drop a little fruit, but vineyard never sets much more than 3 to 3 and half tons per acre. Clusters and berries are never fat, and the acid is always high enough to keep the wine fresh, adding to the vineyard’s own dense yet fine texture, without the chunky tannin you might find in Zinfandels from other regions. That’s the distinctive character Borden Ranch’s rocky soil gives you."

Following our vineyard walk, Mr. Borchardt sat down in Downtown Lodi’s School Street Bistro with Tim Holdener of Lodi’s Macchia Wines to compare bottlings of Vista Luna Vineyard reds. Holdener bottles his Vista Luna grapes as Primitivo, since Vista Luna is planted to a clonal variant that is genetically identical to Zinfandel. Notes comparing Neyers' and Macchia's 2014s:

2014 Neyers, Vista Luna Vineyard Borden Ranch (Lodi) Zinfandel ($24) – Compact, pert, prettily perfumed blueberry/raspberry aroma with faint cedary note (not really an oak aroma, since Neyers ages his Vista Luna strictly in well used, neutral tasting French oak barrels); velvety, medium full body (14.3% alcohol) with the zesty blue and red berry flavors humming with a fine, gentle, upbeat, syncopated rhythm on the palate.

2014 Macchia, Meticulous Vista Luna Vineyard Lodi Primitivo ($28) – Deeper color and nose than the Neyers – the blueberry/black cherry aroma taking on a lush, jammy quality – and considerably bigger on the palate (16.3% alcohol). While dense, broad, and sweetened by more aggressive oak (one-third new barrels; all hybrids, with American oak staves and toasted French oak heads) and glycerol of higher alcohol fermentation, still a velvety, balanced, buoyant feel, even if done in an ultra-ripe style.

Commented Mr. Holdener, “I call this wine ‘Meticulous’ because of the way Markus (Bokisch) farms it. This is as meticulous a vineyard as you will ever see – the canopies (on trellis wires) are always perfect, leaves pulled to expose the fruit, and pretty much perfect clusters coming to the winery.

“However,” adds Holdener, “2014 was a year in which everything ripened at once. We had Zinfandel, Barbera, and even Petite Sirah coming in, all at the same time. We can handle that, but it’s challenging for a small winery. But we couldn’t get our Vista Luna fruit picked until a week after Neyers and Turley (Wine Cellars), and so our sugars shot up, the fermenting bins soaked in to at least 26° Brix (i.e. sugar reading). Like all winemakers, I don’t deliberately try to make a higher alcohol wine, especially for a wine we look to bottle as Primitivo; but in some years, circumstances work out that way.”

Mr. Borchardt added his two cents; saying, “We got in our fruit closer to 23.5°, 24°, which is where we usually like to end up, and so we didn’t need to add water to lower the alcohol in 2014. Still, we never pick by sugar or acid readings. We’re more concerned about the appearance of the fruit, and the canopy is very telling as well. We look at dimpling in the grapes, or yellowing or stress in the leaves, and weather is always another factor when we finally make decisions to pick.

“In 2015, we got the grapes in at slightly higher Brix, so the wine ended up maybe about .2% higher in alcohol, but when you taste it next to the 2014 you can see the two vintages are almost like twins, although you may like one over the other." Re:

2015 Neyers, Vista Luna Vineyard Borden Ranch Zinfandel ($24) – Ready for its August 2016 release (the 2014 Neyers is sold out); rich purplish red robe and slightly riper toned (yet not jammy, and not even close to “raisiny”) red fruit (raspberry towards plump cherry) array of fruit qualities in the nose; very pure, bright and fresh (not a hint of obvious oak); slightly weightier in the mouth than the 2014, but predominantly round, fleshy, velvety in feel.

Neyers' Tadeo Borchardt and Bokisch Ranches' Markus Bokisch in Vista Luna Vineyard

When asked how he achieves such a fresh, puristic fruit style of Zinfandel, Mr. Borchardt explained: “A lot of it is the vineyard, but it’s also our approach in the winery. For instance, we’ve tried open-top fermenting and punching down the caps (the standard approach to Zinfandel production in California), but when we compared those to Zinfandel we fermented in closed-top, 5-ton fermentors with pump-overs – coming out in a very gently sprinkle over the cap to avoid breaking stems (which can increase bitter or astringent tannin content) – we found that we liked the closed-tops much better. You also seem to retain more of the fresh fruit aromas and flavors with closed-top fermentors.”

We also asked Borchardt how Zinfandel is initially handled in the winery: “We sort, and then destem – all the berries remain whole, or with skins just slightly broken – and then cold-soak in tanks for 5 days. Like all our wines (Neyers is also acclaimed for its Chardonnay, organic/estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and several red Rhône varietals sourced from multiple regions, including Lodi), we ferment strictly with native yeast (i.e. without the use of cultured yeasts, which is the industry standard because they usually yield more predictable, efficient fermentations), so we don’t sulfur until wines finish malo (-lactic fermentation).

Markus Bokisch, Tadeo Borchardt and Macchia's Tim Holdener in Vista Luna Vineyard

“To get fermentations started following their cold soak, someone steps into the tank with bare feet to break up a few skins, and off it goes. Native yeast fermentations of Zinfandel usually take 17 to 20 days; which is easy, in comparison to, say, our barrel fermented Chardonnays, which sometimes can take until May the following year to completely finish native yeast fermentation.

“Our Zinfandel goes straight to barrel following fermentation; and as you know, we don’t like oak, so the French barrels that we used are completely used up before coming into contact with our Zinfandel, imparting no flavor of their own. Finally, we never fine or filter our wines.

“Some of these ways of doing things might sound risky to other winemakers. But really, it’s the only way Neyers has every done it. In fact, it’s the only way I knew even before coming to Neyers in 2004, when I took over the winemaking from Ehren Jordan (now, the winemaker/owner of his own Failla Wines). I thought all wines are supposed to be fermented on native yeast and bottled unfiltered!”

Panorama of Vista Luna Vineyard, showing cobble and quartz inundated shallow clay pan of Lodi's Borden Ranch AVA

Enduringly healthy, nimble 115-year-old Zinfandel in Lodi's Marian's Vineyard (July 2016)

Starting this week (Wednesday, August 10) and for 4 days thereafter, over 300 online wine journalists and distinguished speakers will be gathering here in Lodi for the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference.

Lodi wines and grapes, of course, won’t be the conference's only topics of discussion; but they will be the major ones. So in expectation, for the benefit of our visiting bloggers, here are 12 basic things they might want to keep in mind about Lodi Viticultural Area as they dive deeper into specifics and start their live adventures in the vineyards and wineries...

1. Lodi – incorporated as a city in 1906 – has remained a staunchly agricultural community since it was first settled along the banks of the Mokelumne River in 1846 (for a fun intro, re 1906, when Lodi became a City and quit its lowdown ways, or A history of Lodi winegrowing).

2. People do get “stuck” in Lodi. According to the last official census, the population of the City of Lodi is 63,338. Compare that to the population of the state capital of Sacramento (479,676) immediately to the north, Stockton (298,118) to the south, or even Modesto (204,933) just south of Stockton.

Cycling through Lodi Wine Country (photo courtesy of Gabrielle Lurie Photography)

2.  Sacramento and Stockton are both deep-water seaport towns, which explains the neighboring cities’ more significant growth following the Gold Rush (post-1848-1855). It also explains Lodi’s classic Mediterranean climate; due to its immediate proximity to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and moderating breezes from San Francisco Bay flowing through the Carquinez Strait, the sole outlet through the coastal mountains to the northern section of the Central Valley.

3. Vitis vinifera, or the European family of fine wine grapes, is king in the Lodi Viticultural Area (table grape and raisin production is near-negligible in Lodi); although almonds and walnuts are nearly as important, with a variety of fruits, olives and dairy also playing major roles.

4. Lodi’s wine grape acreage now tops 110,000 acres, the most in the U.S. Let’s put that in perspective by looking at the totals planted in other major American wine regions:

• Lodi – 110,000 acres
• Washington – 48,000 acres
• Oregon – 27,390 acres
• New York – 10,000 acres
• Napa County – 45,000 acres
• Sonoma County – 60,000 acres
• Paso Robles – 26,000 acres
• Santa Barbara County – 16,600 acres

Ripken Vineyards barn (photo courtesy of Gabrielle Lurie)

5.  Wine regions similar to the Lodi Viticultural Area in average growing season temperatures include Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley in Sonoma County, the area between St. Helena and Calistoga in Napa Valley, most of Paso Robles, and the eastern half of Santa Barbara’s Santa Ynez Valley. For a snapshot, compare the average high and low temperatures (in Fahrenheit) of these regions during the month of August, when black skinned grapes are ripening post-veraison:

• Lodi – 90°/54°
• St. Helena, Napa Valley – 89°/55°
• Calistoga, Napa Valley – 91°/52°
• Healdsburg, Sonoma County – 88°/54°
• Paso Robles – 93°/53°
• Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara – 92°/52°

The differences? Lodi experiences slightly less extreme diurnal swings than the Central Coast wine regions, and less fog (hence, clearer days, more sunlight) than North Coast wine regions. To a large extent, this accounts for the comparatively softer structure (by dint of less phenolic content) and flowery fruit qualities of red wines grown in Lodi, and the fragrant yet crisply balanced qualities of Lodi whites and dry rosés.

Late winter pruning in Clements Hills' Stampede Vineyard (photo courtesy of Gabrielle Lurie)

6. Lodi was approved as an American Viticultural Area in 1986. Of Lodi's 7 official sub-appellations, just over 40% are in the historic region surrounding the City of Lodi, the Mokelumne River AVA (first vineyards planted in 1852). Most of the growth over the past 25 years has taken place in the Jahant, Clements Hills, Borden Ranch, Alta Mesa, Sloughhouse and Cosumnes River appellations (all these AVAs, identified primarily by soil and topographic differentiations, approved in 2006) to the north of the Mokelumne River, and in the lower foothills of the Sierras to the east.

7. It’s crazy (or “LoCA”), but there are over 100 varieties of wine grapes grown in Lodi; although the most commercially significant varieties are what you would expect (the major commercial California varietals), given the region’s longtime role as a supplier of value priced wines. To put things in perspective, here are the 2014 USDA statistics for total acres of California’s most widely planted wine grapes in Lodi, compared to Napa County and Sonoma County:

Chardonnay

• Lodi – 13,448 acres
• Sonoma County – 15,658 acres
• Napa County – 7,238 acres

Cabernet Sauvignon

• Lodi – 13,423 acres
• Sonoma County – 12,130 acres
• Napa County – 19,894 acres

Merlot

• Lodi – 7,920 acres
• Sonoma County – 5,495 acres
• Napa County – 5,734 acres

Pinot Noir in Lodi's Arbor Vineyards

Pinot Noir

• Lodi -2,912 acres
• Sonoma County – 12,516 acres
• Napa County – 2,914 acres

Zinfandel

• Lodi – 17,873 acres
• Sonoma County – 5,260 acres
• Napa County – 1,497 acres

8. Lodi’s oldest continuously cultivated vineyard is the Bechthold Vineyard – 25 acres of Cinsaut, of all things! – planted by Joseph Spenker in 1886, and owned and farmed by Mr. Spenker’s descendants ever since (although Michael David Winery’s agricultural arm, Phillips Farms, is now contracted to farm this vineyard). In 2015 the California State Fair named Bechthold Vineyard the California Vineyard of the Year.

Thirsty cyclists in Lodi (photo courtesy of Gabrielle Lurie Photography)

9. Lodi’s oldest Zinfandel planting is the Royal Tee Vineyard; planted in 1889 and also owned by the Spenker family (today, farmed by Greg Burns of Jessie’s Grove Winery). Royal Tee is an old fashioned mixed field of about 75% Zinfandel, with a balance of Carignan, Mission, Tokay and Black Prince (a.k.a. Rose of Peru). This vineyard is unique for Lodi because, for commercial purposes, virtually all of Lodi’s other Zinfandel plantings dating back to the 1890s and the first half of the last century have been farmed pretty much as single variety plantings (with some vineyards having, at the most, 1% or 2% odd varieties, mostly as accidental plantings).

10. Because almost all of Lodi’s “old vine” vineyards (pre-1965) are planted in the deep Tokay sandy loam (consistent to 30 to 50 feet or more) of the Mokelumne River and Clements Hills appellations (in the latter, just a few spots near the Mokelumne River), most of the older plantings are own-rooted (i.e. not grafted on phylloxera-resistant rootstocks). The Rous Vineyard (planted in 1909) is Lodi’s oldest Zinfandel planting of record on St. George (Vitis rupestris) rootstock, and produces magnificent single-vineyard bottlings for a handful of specialty producers. Most Lodi vineyards over 55 years old are Zinfandel; although there is a dwindling number of ancient vine blocks devoted to Carignan, Grenache, or Alicante Bouschet. To get down and dirty, re The Mokelumne River Area part 1, part 2 and part 3; or In Lodi, to thine own terroir be true.

100-year-old, own-rooted Zinfandel in Lodi's Soucie Vineyard (photo courtesy of Gabrielle Lurie)

11. The “latest” coming out of Lodi Wine Country? The recent evidence for the thinking that Lodi’s terroirs may actually be best suited for white wine varieties (re Acquiesce answers question, is Lodi best for white wines?) Most certainly, green skinned Mediterranean varieties such as Albariño, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Verdelho, and Vermentino are physiological naturals to the region’s moderate climate and sandy soils, yielding wines of intrinsically crisp acid balance and flowery perfumes. In the future, look for more white wine grapes of Italian or Greek origin to join the growing list of Southern French and Spanish varieties already chalking up numerous Golds, Double-Golds and Best of Shows in competitions, and showing an appeal and quality too obvious for the growing number of online wine journalists to ignore. Consumers, in fact, are buying and drinking up Lodi’s new fangled whites faster than Lodi’s specialty producers can produce them! (Why does it often seem that consumers are far out in front of media, both mainstream and in the blogging world?)

12. Your 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference sponsors, the Lodi Winegrape Commission (a.k.a. LoCA), is an organization of over 750 growers plus about 80 winery/members. If it seems like Lodi is the most “together” wine region in the U.S. – nearly all growers and wine producers working in synch to put out the word about Lodi wines and grapes – that’s because it is. This type of harmony rarely exists elsewhere because, in the wine industry, grape growers and wine producers rarely have the same agenda (farmers are focused on selling grapes and marketing entire regions, and winemakers just their individual wines). In Lodi, however, grape growers are cognizant of the fact that to promote grapes, you need to increase appreciation of wines made from those grapes. Wineries are 100% onboard because with an organization consisting of such a large number of growers contributing to a significant operating budget, it makes sense to go with the flow. For more on this, re Lodi Winegrape Commission marks 25 years of unprecedented success. And hence...

Welcome to Lodi!

(photo courtesy of Gabrielle Lurie)

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Wine blogger experiencing break-of-dawn Viognier picking in Lodi's Phillips Farms

The 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference (August 10-14, 2016) has come and gone through sleepy ol' Lodi Wine Country like the digital tornado it was: nearly 300 wine blogging demons, plus a couple dozen wine industry professionals attending as speakers or observers (wine blogging as a marketing medium, after all, is an animal of a different stripe).

It went well, if we say so ourselves. But don’t take our word for it. Here is a photo log, along with insights from a number of those in attendance...

Happy wine bloggers at #WBC16 entrance: Steve Edwards, Christine Campbell, Joshua Decolongon, Sujinder Juneja, Leeann Froese, Dave Nershi and Donita Dyer (photo courtesy of Donita Dyer)

We’ve said it time and again: Lodi is nothing if not authentic. – Robyn Scott, Wine Bloggers Conference blogger

Courtney Cochran enjoying McCay Lodi Grenache at the source, in Abba Vineyard

WBC in Lodi was incredibly memorable, from the hospitality and enthusiasm of the winegrowers and vintners to the warmth, camaraderie and curiosity of the bloggers. I think what was most impressive was the variety and quality of the wines coming out of the region – it blew my mind and left me eager to return to Lodi! As a wine nerd, anywhere I can taste Bacchus, Zweigelt, Albariño and Graciano (alternative varietal wines) expertly grown within a few hundred yards of each other – within that lovely bend in the Mokelumne River – is a total star in my book. Big thanks to the conference organizers and to everyone from Lodi who made the event such a terrific experience. Looks like Lodi really does rule. – Courtney Cochran, Fetzer Vineyards Public Relations Director

Wine bloggers "speed-tasting" with Lodi vintners in Hutchins Street Square

While much of Lodi is big business, there is this emerging Lodi, consisting of farmers. They are collaborating and celebrating their sense of place, creating estate and single vineyard wines that truly shine. These are the wines that are very much worth the trip to the region to seek out, and then, to go a step further, to actually get “behind the label” with: where you meet the passionate people who produce them. – Leeann Froese of Town Hall Brands (Vancouver, British Columbia)

lusciouslushes.com's Thea Dwelle (left) getting on her speed-tasting

I think Lodi Wine did a KICK-BUTT job... and remember, I do shows for a living, and speak at trade shows several times a year in the entertainment industry. How much better could you have done? Other than adding expensive PA, lighting, plus live flames, smoke or fog effects, you (the LoCA staff) played the top of the game. My POV...

My first trip to the Lodi AVA was for #WBC16. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew Lodi would surprise me. And from the start of the pre-conference event, I was surprised. We met some of the nicest, most talented, and down-to-earth grape farmers and winemakers who are doing tremendous work. I don't say that lightly. I only can say that having tasted over a hundred Lodi wines and from really being impressed by them.

The Lodi Winegrape Commission and local wineries who were involved gave the wine media their everything; bringing us into their shops, homes and places of work, from their fields and into their private blending and barrel rooms. They hosted us better than many people treat family! They worked incredibly long hours to provide tons of informative, powerful sessions and up-close and personal opportunities, along with tastings of their latest, greatest, and the rare cellar treasures. – Jim van Bergen of JVB Uncorked

Wine bloggers riding working harvester at sunset in Lodi's Harney Lane estate

As a first-time participant to the conference, I was impressed with the diversity attendees who came from all over the world with varying backgrounds and a mutual deep love of wine. And as a first time visitor to Lodi, I was equally impressed with the diversity in varietals grown there and the deep passion each grower has for their vineyard and for the Lodi community. – Alexandra O’Gorman, Director of Communications, Ramey Wine Cellars

Following early morning Viognier harvest, group shot with "Freakshow" host, Michael David's 6th generation grower Kevin Phillips (center, red)

I first discovered Lodi was a lot more than about Zinfandel during a research visit in 2008, and after subsequent visits over the past eight years. The region’s wines continue to exceed expectations for quality and value. Lodi’s historic old vine vineyards are its treasure; and the success of Lodi’s Iberian varieties and the warm, heartfelt welcome extended by the region’s growers and vintners point to the region’s strengths and future.

I also came away from the conference with a very positive and more accurate impression of the wine blogging community. When I polled the 98 attendees of my Discovery Session about two thirds of the audience had some level of Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) certification. I spoke with a least a dozen bloggers who were either pursuing Diploma, the highest level of certification WSET offers, or preparing to enter the program and there were many Diplomas (DWSETs) in attendance. When writers who are passionate about wine up their game by pursuing a rigorous training program like WSET and seek out professional development at the Wine Bloggers Conference, it’s a huge win for everyone. - Deborah Parker Wong DWSET, WBC speaker and Northern California Editor of The Tasting Panel Magazine

Lovin' the smell of Lodi Viognier in the morning in Michael David's Phillips Farms

At (Lodi’s) Corner Scone Bakery, picking up pastries for an early morning panel, we felt the warmth and welcome from the Lodi community most strongly. Everyone wanted to know which local winemakers were speaking, and they answered every name we gave with a story.

I expected to try a ton of zinfandel coming to Lodi but only sampled about a half dozen all weekend! The wineries clearly wanted to show off what else they could do well, pouring a lot of Sémillon, Cabernet Franc, and Barbera. - Becca Gomez Farrell of thegourmez.com

Fantabulous Spanish inspired lunch in Bokisch Ranches' Terra Alta Vineyard

I found myself drawn to white wines while in Lodi, and not just because of the heat. Albariño, Vermentino, and Grenache Blanc? Yes, I enjoyed all three! Then I shifted gears to experience Zinfandels from the Lodi Native project (native yeast fermented, minimalist Zinfandels crafted from heritage single-vineyard sites). I was impressed with the spirit and guidelines behind the wines, as well as the candor from winemakers regarding their initial qualms and reservations. Finally, I love me some old, gnarled vines and getting to check out vineyards like Bechthold (ancient vine Cinsaut, planted in 1886) was a real treat. - Jameson Fink, Digital Editor of Wine Enthusiast Magazine and his own blog, Jameson Fink - Wine Without Worry®.

Onesta owner/winemaker Jillian Johnson field-tasting bloggers on her ancient vine Cinsaut in Lodi's Bechthold Vineyard

One thing I enjoyed about Lodi and the conference (the pre-conference in particular) was the emphasis on the oddballs and outcasts. While I enjoy a Lodi Zinfandel that tastes like it could bench press 400 pounds of oak, I feel like there's magic in that tiny fringe percentage of weird stuff, like the region's interpretation of grapes like Picpoul, Souzão, or Zweigelt - stuff you might not otherwise find in more mainstream wine regions of California. - Vancouver, British Columbia's Joshua Decolongon, WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) graduate and author of his own Josh Likes Wine blog

Liquid refreshments at Harney Lane's al fresco dinner (photo courtesy of Michelle Williams)

It’s easy to get lost in the sheer production capacity in Lodi, but to have the opportunity to meet the people – the farmers, the multi-generation family members, and listen to their stories and the passion they put into their work, and translate it into the diverse array of quality wines I had the chance to taste – that was a pretty remarkable experience! The variety in styles from Rhône to Bordeaux and the microclimates opened my eyes to the specificity that is going into the region's growth in quality. - Mary Cressler, who writes the Vindulge Wine-Food-Travel blog.

Craig Rous explaining ancient vine Zinfandel viticulture in his Rous Vineyard (planted in 1909)

Having collected wines for 40 years and driven past Lodi over 1,000 times for skiing, camping, seeing relatives, I was "re-schooled" on the value and quality of Lodi wines during the course of the week. Particularly at LangeTwins Family’s winery; as well as several other wineries producing wines of amazing character, noteworthy to be purchased. I have a fairly extensive, mostly high-end cellar, so I couldn't believe the price points of Lodi wines! - Michael Kelly, who authors the California Wines & Wineries blog

Kerner grapes and bird's nest found in Lodi's Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (planted to 48 German and Austrian varieties)

LoCA did a great job hosting WBC16. I came with the goal of better understanding Lodi AVA and left with a wealth of knowledge and was pleasantly surprised by the breadth and depth of wine produced in the region.

#WBC16 has been illuminating... First, the wine industry potential here has no limit. The terroir is capable of producing interesting enough wines to support a solid run at the premium wines category... Multi-generational wine growing families dominate large swaths of the region, bringing a focus on farming science to the local wine industry and its identity. - Tempe, AZ’s Douglas Levin of The Wine DOCG

Michelle Williams doing sugar reading (Brix) of ripening Grenache through refractometer in Abba Vineyard

After participating in several Lodi virtual tastings I had come to love Lodi from afar: especially the unique wines produced from the Mokelumne Glen Vineyards, the historic Lizzy James Vineyard Zinfandel (by Harney Lane Winery), Sue Tipton's crazy idea to start a winery producing all white unoaked varietals (Acquiesce Winery), the sense of adventure in the Lodi Native project, and the strong camaraderie and stewardship shared among the entire Lodi wine community, which translated right through our live stream videos.

What I discovered during my five days in Lodi, from the pre-excursion, to the Lodi winemaker panel discussions, Lodi winemakers pouring their wines at the speed-tastings, and ending with the Lodi winemakers playing sommelier at the Saturday night banquet is that not only is the sense of stewardship and camaraderie truly authentic, but there is also a true love of community that extends to visitors as well. Lodi not only is a first class wine producing region crafting a wide variety of wines, it is an open community, welcoming all with a warm smile, a delicious meal, and great glasses of wine. – Michelle Williams of Rockin Red Blog

Baby 'Ez hand-pickin'  Zinfandel at the WBC Opening Reception at Mohr-Fry Ranches

I fell in love with Lodi wines made from Rhône and Spanish grape varieties. What was even more impressive for me however, was visiting Lodi’s historic vineyards and spending time with winemakers involved in the Lodi Native Zinfandel project. - Sharon Parsons of the spaswinefood blog.

The LoCA staff, who literally did *everything* during the #WBC16 week

I was so humbled to learn that it was the Lodi Wine Commission who did all the unglamorous work of cleaning dirty wine glasses and serving the main dinner. None of us expected that kind of care. - Austin Beeman, Director of Strategy at Cutting Edge Selections

LangeTwins Family's Aaron Lange wooing bloggers during WBC speed-tasting

Lodi News-Sentinel's Sara Jane Pohlman on “wine speed dating” at the Wine Bloggers Conference:

The best word to describe Kirst Hall on Friday afternoon was hectic. Spread across 19 round tables, 295 wine bloggers wrote tweets, posted Instagram photos, typed notes and recorded videos as winemakers from the Lodi area and beyond poured wine and shared their stories.

“This is live wine blogging,” said Allan Wright, owner of Zephyr Adventures, which organized the event.

Wright says to think of it like speed dating. Ladies stay seated, while men spend five or so minutes at each table before moving to the next. In this case, the bloggers are ladies waiting to be wooed, and the winemakers are looking to impress.

Tweeting and tasting during WBC speed-tasting

Each winery kept their stash of wine bottles on a long low table along the edge of the room. They circled around to each of the tasting tables throughout the one-hour event. Several Lodi wineries were pouring, including LangeTwins, Michael David Winery, Klinker Brick Winery, Kenefick Ranch and Harney Lane Winery.

The tasting tables were much more packed, with a bucket to dump wine, water bottles, wine glasses and a slew of electronic devices. Bloggers used laptops, tablets, cell phones, voice recorders and video cameras to record their impressions of each wine...

Group shot with Harney Lane owner/growers Jorja and Kyle Lerner (far left)

Lodi character: Peirano Estate owner/grower Lance Randolph

Special night for bloggers at Harney Lane Winery

LoCA Vineyard Liaison Stephanie Bolton field-tasting in Rous Vineyard

Lodi icons: Jerry and Bruce Fry of Mohr-Fry Ranches (among 115-year-old Marian's Vineyard Zinfandel vines)

Picpoul Blanc in Acquiesce estate

The force is with #WBC16 in Lodi (photo courtesy of Mary Cressler)

Among 130-year-old Bechthold Vineyard Cinsaut vines, Fields Family's Ryan Sherman tastes bloggers on his Bechthold Vineyard Lodi Cinsaut

Sexy, sultry Graciano in Bokisch Ranches' Las Cerezas Vineyard

In The Lucas Winery's classic 83-year-old Zinstar Vineyard, WBC speakers Deborah Parker Wong and Mary Orlin (winefashionista.com) toasting the Lodi moment

A Lodi "string-of-lights-kind-of-night" in The Lucas Winery's ZinStar Vineyard (photo and quote courtesy of Courtney Cochran)

Harney Lane estate mechanical harvester driver

Wall-to-wall Grenache in Abba Vineyard

Break-of-dawn blogger-Viognier-picking crew in Michael David's Phillips Farms

Michael David honcho taking a break from weekend swim-time with his kids to show bloggers Lodi's landmark Bechthold Vineyard (own-rooted Cinsaut planted in 1886!)

Bloggers do Viognier picking in Phillips Farms

Macchia winemaker/owner Tim Holdener leading field tasting of Rous Vineyard Lodi Zinfandel

At Klinker Brick Winery post-dinner party: DJ Chris Sawyer (The Sommelier Files) and Kimberley Noelle Charles (Charles Communications Associates) gettin' serious about their vinyl

Bokisch Ranches owner/grower Markus Bokisch explaining bench-grafting of Picpoul-on-Viognier-on-101-14-roostock in his Terra Alta Vineyard (Lodi's Clements Hills AVA)

The essence of Lodi: 114-year-old, own-rooted Zinfandel in Mohr-Fry Ranches' classic Marian's Vineyard

Lodi Native project (native yeast fermented heritage vineyard Zinfandels) vintners: Todd Maley (Maley Bros.), Mike McCay (McCay Cellars), Layne Montgomery (m2), Tim Holdener (Macchia, Chad Joseph (Maley Bros.), Stuart Spencer (St. Amant), and Ryan Sherman (Fields Family)

In Abba Vineyard, Mike McCay and Phil Abba talkin' Grenache viticulture

One last, delicious close-up of ancient vine Lodi Zinfandel (Marian's Vineyard, planted in 1901)

LangeTwins Family's Joe Lange introducing wine bloggers to the 2014 LangeTwins Family Nero d'Avola during the speed tasting at the recent Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi

The future of California red wine is here. Imagine the taste of the plumpest, drippiest, shimmeringly red, mid-summer Bing cherry filled out with a belt of tannin strapping the tongue like soft Italian leather, and zapped by completely natural, zesty, fresh fruit acidity.

Also imagine that this red wine is neither light nor heavy in body; but rather, a bouncy, moderately weighted 13% alcohol. A red wine with the type of fluid, food friendly drinkability that grandpa and grandma keep muttering about when talking about the “good ol’ days” when wines didn’t give you a headache, even after a jug was emptied in one sitting... by just two or three people.

That pretty much describes the 2014 LangeTwins Family Lodi Nero d’Avola ($20), grown by this longtime San Joaquin Valley clan (farming in the Lodi Viticultural Area since the 1870s!) in a 3.62-acre block of their Red Tail Vineyard. The grape variety Nero d’Avola, as Italian wine lovers know, is native to Sicily. Up until recently it was utilized by Italians to add color to their red wine blends (there's a reason why the grape's name translates as "the black grape of Avola"); but in recent years, it has become alta moda as a dependably sturdy – often opaque, black-ruby colored – varietal import. Rustic yet riveting.

Now, before you get too excited, there’s also minor glitch to this exciting story: According to Aaron Lange, Director of Vineyard Operations for LangeFamily Vineyards, “We actually pulled the vines out last year because we discovered that our original source of wood was full of LR3 (a dysthymic leafroll virus) and Red Blotch.”

Since the original planting was also located alongside a new Zinfandel planting into which they did not want this infection to spread, adds Lange, “We opted to take the hit early and replant (in May 2016) with clean stock. On the plus side, we now know that Nero d’Avola is a fantastic varietal for us in Lodi region so we are confident in our replanting!”

Short story shorter: there will be a brief period, once the 2014 is sold out, when the Langes will have zero Nero d’Avola to sell while waiting for the replantings to come to fruition. But rest-assured, the Lange family will continue to play a major part in Lodi’s inexorable march towards bolstering the region’s growing reputation for cutting-edge winegrowing.

Says LangeTwins Family winemaker David Akiyoshi, “We’re loving Nero d’Avola because it fits perfectly into Lodi’s Italian heritage, associated in the past with families like the Mondavis (see our previous LoCA post, The old Mondavi home in Lodi is still an artistic hub). Originating in Sicily, it is also an ideal grape for Lodi’s Mediterranean climate. It demonstrates that the region can produce red wines of wonderful, pleasing fruit qualities, without needing to be big or brash. We can grow Nero d’Avola to complete ripeness without the pyrazines (i.e. green, vegetal flavors), and without having to wait for high sugars, which turns into higher alcohols.”

LangeTwins Family winemaker David Akiyoshi

That said, Mr. Akiyoshi elaborates, “Nero d’Avola is not a wine that we need to over-make. It does quite well aged strictly in neutral wood (previously used French and oak barrels). The oak character in the wine stays in the background – subtle, yet supportive.”

Although Sicilian imports of Nero d’Avola have been known to be extremely dark and densely textured, so far in Lodi the varietal has not demonstrated this over-the-top character. “The acid and tannin is plentiful,” says Akiyoshi, “but the wine does not enter into the realm of extreme extraction like Bordeaux reds (i.e. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot, etc.). Our Nero d’Avola has a notable tension of acid and tannin, which give a nice mid-palate and depth. It finishes bright with fruit, and light on its feet, which makes it ideal for food (think pastas or meats with herby, zesty red tomato sauces).

“Above all,” adds Akiyoshi, “it does not ‘copy’ other varietals. It is totally unique, and bodes well for Lodi’s Mediterranean climate and sandy soils.”

Consequently, says Akiyoshi, the LangeTwins Family is going several steps further with other black skinned Italian grapes. “We’ve already done well with Sangiovese, which produces an ideal dry style rosé for us. In the future you can look for other Italian style varietal reds, like Montepulciano and Aglianico.

“The reason I like these new grapes is that in the past California has always tried to pigeonhole appellations with varieties. In Lodi we can do so much more. We can expand consumers’ palate with a broader range of wines, rather than the standard world of Cabernet and Pinot.”

Nero d'Avola (photo courtesy of vinidaino.it)

2016 Zinfandel harvest in Harney Lane's Lizzy James Vineyard

You may have heard: so far the 2016 wine grape harvest in the Lodi Viticultural Area has been early, it has been late, and it has been normal. The crop has been bigger than usual, and also smaller. So which is it?

All of the above, of course. What’s “normal” is that you hearing conflicting reports because it all depends on which grapes and which sites winegrowers are speaking about when giving their assessments.

What is also normal is that growers and winemakers are speaking joyously about the quality of the 2016 grapes thus far. Of course they are, they’re wine producers. Barring natural disasters like biblical floods and Death Valley heat waves – which almost never happens during Lodi’s dependably dry summers and moderate Mediterranean falls – vintners will always drink from cups half-full.

July 27, 2016: start of Phillips Farms' table wine harvest (Bare Ranch Chardonnay)

McCay Cellars winemaker/owner/grower Mike McCay may have put things best. On Tuesday (August 23) he told us over his cellphone, while driving from vineyard to vineyard: “I describe 2016 as ‘get ready.’ Meaning, this year upside down is downside up. We normally pick Rous Vineyard (Craig Rous’s 117-year-old Zinfandel planting on the east side of town) in September, but this year we picked it last weekend (August 20). Yet grapes were fully mature and ready – picked at 23.8° Brix (i.e. sugar reading), soaking up to 26.5° in the winery.

“It’s an interesting year because some vineyards are behind on flavors and some advanced, and reds and whites are mixed up for no rhyme or reason. For instance, two weeks ago I tasted some Grenache Blanc in the field and seriously thought I would have them picked by now. As of today, we’re still waiting to pick it. Total acidities and pH are all over the place, depending on the grape and site. If anything, it will be a ‘winemaker’s year’ – if you really know your vineyards and spend a lot of time in them and know when to pick for flavor, you’ll do great. If not, you’ll be thrown for a loop.”

Harney Lane's Kyle Lerner with his early August Albariño pick

Yesterday we also spoke to Harney Lane Winery owner/grower Kyle Lerner, while standing in his Lizzy James Vineyard (east-side Zinfandel originally planted in 1904) at 7 AM, watching his crew cherry-pick the center of the block, in a beach-sand-like swale where they have traditionally yielded the highest quality. “I’m excited,” said Lerner, “we’ve been tasting these grapes develop very early this year. The grape conditions are amazing, the fruit is very healthy, despite the fact that this is the earliest we’ve every picked this vineyard.”

When asked why Zinfandel has been pushing ahead of schedule in 2016, Lerner simply said, “I don’t know. As farmers, we can only do so much. Indications earlier in the season didn’t dictate us coming in so early – we had expected grapes to come in at a normal time. I think it has more to do with the general health of the vines this year. Lots of rain, above average rain, probably helped set these old vines in a good position, and allowed them to do what they do, which is ripen at their own pace.”

Ancient Lizzy James Vineyard Zinfandel (next to young vine) moments before being picked

On July 27, 2016 Phillips Farms (Michael David Winery’s agricultural arm) picked their first table grapes, Chardonnay at their Bare Ranch, on Lodi’s west side. At the time, VP of Operations Kevin Phillips told us, “We’re two weeks earlier than last year, and sugar (23.4 Brix) is also slightly higher, which is primarily due to a lighter crop.”

Earlier this week Mr. Phillips changed his tune slightly; telling us, “Crop has been bigger than expected, ripening quickly and early. Now we are expecting harvest to finish by early October... fast and furious!”

Chris Storm, the Viticulturist of Lodi’s Vino Farms, which manages over 15,000 acres of wine grapes in San Joaquin Valley and the North Coast, told us: “Our early estimates were that the crop would be big, and we didn’t completely believe the estimates. We should have trusted the numbers. Despite the shatter (incidence of unpollinated berries, lightening cluster sizes), crop size has been more than compensated by larger berries and shoulders (on the grape clusters).”

Just-picked Primitivo (a Zinfandel variant) in Oak Farm Vineyards

Bruce Fry, the VP of Operations for another one of Lodi’s major growers, Mohr-Fry Ranches, told us, “Year after year we expect beautiful quality fruit here in Lodi, and the 2016 vintage looks no different – lots of clean fruit with no botrytis (i.e. bunch rot), and maybe a couple days earlier than last year.”

Mohr-Fry Ranches President Jerry Fry added: “To date, harvest weather has been great this year – warm days and cooling in the evening, just the way Lodi is supposed to be. Our diurnal change (i.e. warm days/cool nights) is what really gives the red grapes their color intensity and flavors. In 2016 it’s warm enough to develop good Brix levels, yet not so warm to flatten the flavors of the white grapes. The crop size appears to be about normal. Old vine Zinfandels are looking superb.

Indicative of conflicting reports due to site specificity, Borra Vineyards winemaker Markus Niggli tells us: “We see an early harvest again, especially for reds. Still, Zinfandel (from their Gill Creek Ranch in Lodi’s Clements Hills AVA) will be slightly later for us than last year. But we started to pick great quality Merlot on Monday (August 22), and Viognier at the same time. Overall, we’re seeing more bunch weights due to wetter, wet winter has helped to recover some of the vineyards canopy. Fruit set is still below normal, but in good balance. Finally, we are anticipating an early year again for Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.

Phillips Farms Viognier, moments before harvest

Bokisch Ranches is one of Lodi’s more unusual growers, farming some 3,000 acres in no less than five of Lodi’s appellations; including the lower Foothills of Borden Ranch, Clements Hills and Sloughhouse. Bokisch Vineyards winemaker Elyse Perry has been very pleased with the 2016 vintage thus far; telling us: “Flavors are fantastic, with a really nice balance of acid in both whites and reds. The 2016 harvest started for us on August 1 when we harvested our Verdelho from the Vista Luna Vineyard (Borden Ranch AVA), which is a few days later than the last two years. Thankfully, it isn’t as fast and furious as last year, with white varieties coming in at a nice, even pace over the past three weeks. We’ll be finished with white varieties on Saturday (August 27), and our first red grapes, Zinfandel, were harvested on Wednesday (August 24).” 

Bokisch Ranches owner/grower Markus Bokisch adds: “On the vineyard side, many of the white varieties were nicely balanced with regard to their crop load. This was especially true of the Albariño.  The reds have been a little more challenging. Those who thinned early will be rewarded with well-balanced fruit. Those who have waited too long may experience issues with their wines.  The Zinfandels have cropped heavily across all of Lodi. Again, those who controlled their yields early on will be in great shape.”

This week's Zinfandel harvest in 112-year-old Lizzy James Vineyard

Chad Joseph, the winemaker for Harney Lane Winery as well as Oak Farm Vineyards, tells us: “2016 has been another early starting harvest. We've received some really great white varieties like Albariño, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, and we've gotten a few Zinfandels in from the lower yielding vineyards. Things are starting to slow down a little bit with some cooler weather coming in, and so we are looking forward to some good, steady ripening weather. I'm very excited so far!”

Dan Panella, the General Manager and co-owner of Oak Farm Vineyards, threw in his two cents: “The fruit that we are seeing this year is coming in tasting great. Analysis numbers are quite nice, and the fruit has been free of defects. The only difficult thing is logistics since several different varietals (Chardonnay, Albariño, Zinfandel as well as Primitivo) having been getting ripe at the same time.”

Brett Koth, whose family owns and farms Mokelumne Glen Vineyards – 48 varieties of German and Austrian grapes! – tells us that a large portion of their “German Collection” was picked by Forlorn Hope Wines on Monday, August 8, and that they expect to pick Kerner for Borra Vineyards’ Markus label this Saturday (August 27). “Two things about this year,” says Koth: “crop is heavier than last year thanks to no hail damage this year, and timing is about the same as last year to slightly later than 2015.”

Winemaker Chad Joseph at Oak Farm Vineyards

Fields Family winemaker/co-owner Ryan Sherman gives us this perspective on 2016: “2015 was a drought year, producing less fruit. 2016 seems to be an average crop level to slightly above with a robust canopy. Last year was the earliest year on record for harvest for several people, but this year has been only 7-10 days later. The grapes are physiologically more mature at a lower Brix – perhaps a chance for us to achieve a little more richness and elegance!”

Aaron Lange, Director of Vineyard Operations for LangeTwins Family Winery & Vineyards, has also confirmed that both whites and reds have been maturing at the same time, and that “quality so far has been excellent! Yields are around average for most blocks. and a select few blocks are coming in average-plus. We just harvested for our Sangiovese rosé last night (Monday, August 22), and the color looked spectacular in the hopper at LangeTwins Winery. Merlots starting next week, and I expect most of our Lodi-appellation whites to be done by the end of the month.”

Finally, Bob Colarossi, who receives grapes from all over the Lodi appellation at his Estate Crush facility in Downtown Lodi, tells us: “From Albariño to Sauvignon Blanc and Mouvèdre to Zinfandel, so far this harvest's fruit quality is looking really good. We've noticed heavier yields than usual on the whites. And just today (Tuesday, August 23) we pressed Cinsaut Rosé from the Bechthold Vineyard (ancient west-side vines, planted in 1886), and the fruit was beautiful. We also are pressing the Stellina Zinfandel (the Colarossi family’s own property on Lucas Rd., on Lodi’s west-side, picked early last week) today; it's deep, dark, rich and spicy!"

2016 Zinfandel harvest at dawn's early light in Lizzy James Vineyard

In Lodi's Mokelumne Glen Vineyards: 2016 Kerner grapes, producing one of California's most cutting-edge wines

Among the most "surprising" things cited by visiting wine bloggers during this past month's Wine Bloggers Conference (i.e. #WBC16, August 11-14, 2016) is the fact that there are over 100 varieties of European wine grapes (Vitis vinifera) grown in the Lodi Viticultural Area.

Lost among the dozens of positive blogs posted since #WBC16 has been this salient fact: it should not be much of a surprise. Vitis vinifera, after all, originated in the Mediterranean Basin, and Lodi's climate is squarely Mediterranean, as is most of the rest of California's coastal wine regions (for a comparison of regional temperatures, also see How warm, or cool, is Lodi?). Lodi is a home away from home for classic European varieties.

Needless to say, the vinous urban myth that Lodi is some kind of ungodly desert, where fine wine grapes (presumably) cannot possibly ripen before raisining on the vine, accounts for much of this collective surprise. Growers and winemakers in Lodi have long been cognizant of this perception. Indeed, one of the reasons why the Lodi Winegrape Commission was formed in 1991 was precisely to counter this misinformation (see Lodi Winegrape Commission marks 25 years of unprecendented success).

Another one of Lodi's cutting-edge varietals: Verdejo, grown by Bokisch Vineyards

#WBC16, as it were, went a long way towards disproving the misperception that Lodi is too hot for classic winegrowing simply by offering visiting wine journalists tastes of wines crafted from numerous grapes, familiar and unfamiliar, that are fresh, light, fragrant, and balanced with all the natural fruit acidity in the world.

Typical of the blogger reactions was The Fermented Fruit's Ryan O'Hara's declaration: "As it turns out that there was more than my share of excitement awaiting me in Lodi, in the form of proving my preconceived notions about Lodi wine completely wrong!" (writer's bolds).

Talk-A-Vino's Anatoli Levine gushed: "You know what – now I’m afraid to bore you away with all this 'acidity and restrained fruit,' but this was the trait of literally every Lodi wine I had an opportunity to taste – there were no fruit bombs, there were no hot wines, there were delicious, well made world-class wines, made with love and care. I just have to tell you this, as it was really an overarching impression over the three days of tasting, so now I will [try to] avoid repeating myself all the time." And on and on...

Case closed.

So for now, in the interest of furnishing further visual documentation for those online journalists just beginning to wrap their just-blown-minds around this epiphany, the following is a photographic rendering of those 100+ wine grapes now flourishing in Lodi. From A to Z...

Aglianico; Mettler Family Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Albalonga (Riesling x Silvaner); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Albariño; Terra Alta Vineyard, Bokisch Ranches (Clements Hills AVA)

Alicante Bouschet; Mohr-Fry Ranches (Mokelumne River AVA)

Alvarelhão; Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

Arnsburger (Riesling clones 88 x 64); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne Glen AVA)

Bacchus; (Silvaner x Riesling) x Riesling; Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Barbera; Leventini Vineyard (Jahant AVA)

Bastardo (a.k.a. Trousseau Noir); Ripken Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Black Prince (a.k.a. Rose of Peru); Jessie's Grove (Mokelumne River AVA)

Blauer Portugieser; Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Blaufränkisch (a.k.a. Lemberger; Blauer Limberger); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Cabernet Franc (a.k.a. Bouchet); Keith Watts Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Cabernet Sauvignon; Phillips Farms (Mokelumne River AVA)

Carignan (a.k.a. Cariñena); Rauser Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Carménère (a.k.a. Grande Vidure); Phillips Farms (Mokelumne River AVA)

Carmine; (Cabernet Sauvignon x Carignan) x Merlot; Ripken Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Charbono (a.k.a. Douce Noir; Bonarda; Corbeau); Pasos Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA) 

Chardonnay, FPS 17; Bare Ranch, Phillips Farms (Mokelumne River AVA)

Chenin Blanc (a.k.a. Pineau de la Loire); Cresci Vineyard (Alta Mesa AVA)

Cinsaut (a.k.a. Black Malvoisie); Bechthold Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Colombard (a.k.a. French Colombard); Delta Packing (Mokelumne River AVA)

Counoise; Guard Road, Ripken Vineyards (Lodi AVA)

Dolcetto; Celle Vineyard (Lodi AVA) 

Dornfelder (Blauer Portugieser x Blaufränkisch); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Ehrenfelser (Riesling x Silvaner); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Faberrebe; Pinot Blanc x Müller-Thurgau (Riesling x Madeleine Royale); Mokelumne River Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Forta; Silvaner x Madeleine Angevine (Madeleine Royale x Précoce de Malingre); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Freuburgunder (a.k.a. Pinot Noir Precoce); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Garnacha Rioja Baja (a.k.a. Grenache Noir; Cannonau); Terra Alta Vineyard, Bokisch Ranches (Clements Hills AVA)

Grenache Noir (a.k.a. Garnacha; Cannonau); Acquiesce Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Grenache Noir (a.k.a. Garnacha; Cannonau), Caldwell clone; Lewis Vineyard (Clements Hill Vineyard)

Grenache Blanc (Garnacha Blanca); Acquiesce Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Gewürztraminer; Mokelulumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA) 

Graciano; Las Cerezas Vineyard, Bokisch Ranches (Mokelumne River AVA)

Grignolino; Ripken Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA) 

Grüner Veltliner; Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Gutedel (a.k.a. Chasselas; Fendant); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Huxelrebe; Gutedel x Courtiller Musqué (a.k.a. Muscat Précoce de Saumur); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA) 

Kanzler; Müller-Thurgau (Riesling x Madeleine Royale) x Silvaner; Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Kerner (Trollinger x Riesling); Mokelumne Glen Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Malbec (a.k.a.  Auxerrois); Ripken Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Marsanne; Guard Road, Ripken Vineyards (Lodi AVA)

Marzemino; Hux Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Merlot; Vicarmont Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Mission (a.k.a. Listan Prieto); Jessie's Grove (Mokelumne River AVA)

Montepulciano Abruzzo; Ripken Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Morio Muscat (Silvaner x Pinot Blanc); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Moscato Giallo (a.k.a. Yellow Muscat); Bella Vigna Vineyard (Alta Mesa AVA)

Mourvèdre; Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

Müller-Thurgau (Riesling x Madeleine Royale); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Muscat Canelli (a.k.a. Muscat Blanc; Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains); Vino Farms (Sloughhouse AVA)

Muscat Orange; Vino Farms (Sloughhouse AVA)

Nebbiolo; Lewis Vineyard (Clements Hills AVA)

Nero d'Avola; LangeTwins Family Vineyards; Jahant AVA

Noblessa; Madeleine Angevine (Circe x Madeleine Royale) x Silvaner; Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Optima; (Riesling x Silvaner) x Müller-Thurgau (Riesling x Madeleine Royale); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Oraniensteiner (Riesling x Silvaner); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Perle; Gewürztraminer x Müller-Thurgau (Riesling x Madeleine Royale); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Petit Verdot; Elk Vineyard, Round Valley Ranches (Jahant AVA)

Petite Sirah (a.k.a. Durif); Syrah x Peloursin; Phillips Farms (Mokelumne River AVA)

Pinot Gris (a.k.a. Pinot Grigio; Grauburgunder; Ruländer); Mettler Family Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Pinot Noir (a.k.a. Spätburgunder; Blauburgunder); Mohr-Fry Ranches (Mokelumne River AVA)

Pinotage (Pinot Noir x Cinsaut); Mettler Family Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Piquepoul (a.k.a. Picpoul Blanc); Acquiesce Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Primitivo (a.k.a. Zinfandel); Mettler & Son, Harney Lane Winery (Mokelumne River AVA)

Regent; (Silvaner x Müller-Thurgau) x Chambourcin; Mokelumne Glen Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Rieslaner (Silvaner x Riesling); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Riesling (Geisenheim, Clone 239); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Riesling (Neustadt, Clone 90); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Rotberger (Trollinger x Riesling); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Roter Traminer (a.k.a. Savagnin Rose); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Roter Veltliner (a.k.a. Roter Muskateller); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Roussanne; Guard Road, Ripken Vineyards (Lodi AVA)

Sangiovese; Sorelle Vineyards (Lodi AVA)

Sauvignon Blanc (a.k.a. Fumé Blanc); Mohr-Fry Ranches (Mokelumne River AVA)

Sauvignon Musqué (a.k.a. Sauvignon Blanc; Fumé Blanc); LangeTwins Family Vineyards (Jahant AVA)

Scheurebe (Riesling x unknown); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Schönburger; Pinot Noir x (Chasselas x Muscat Hamburg); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Schwarzriesling (a.k.a. Pinot Meunier); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Sémillon; Vino Farms (Sloughhouse AVA)

Siegerrebe; Madeleine Angevine (Madeleine Royale x Précoce de Malingre) x Gewürztraminer; Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Silvaner (a.k.a. Sylvaner); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Sirius; Bacchus ([Silvaner x Riesling] x Müller-Thurgau [Riesling x Madeleine Royale]) x Seyve Villard 12-375; Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Souzão; Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

St. Laurent; Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Saint-Macaire; Ripken Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Sultana (a.k.a. Thompson Seedless); Jessie's Grove (Mokelumne River AVA)

Symphony (Muscat of Alexandria x Grenache Gris); Phillips Farms (Mokelumne River AVA)

Syrah; Abba Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Shiraz (a.k.a. Syrah); Mettler Family Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Tannat; Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

Tempranillo Ribera del Duero (a.k.a. Tinta Roriz); Liberty Oaks Vineyard, Bokisch Ranches (Jahant AVA)

Tinto de Toro (a.k.a. Tempranillo); Ripken Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Tinto Fino (a.k.a. Tempranillo); Guard Road, Ripken Vineyards (Lodi AVA)

Teroldego; Pacific Rim, Peltier Station (Mokelumne River AVA)

Tinta Cão; Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

Tokay (a.k.a. Flame Tokay; Ahmer Bou'Amer); Mohr-Fry Ranches (Mokelumne River AVA)

Torrontés; Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

Touriga Francesa; Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

Touriga Nacional; Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

Traminer (a.k.a. Savagnin); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA

Trincadeira (a.k.a. Tinta Amarela); Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

Trollinger (a.k.a. Schiava); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Verdelho; Silvaspoons Vineyards (Alta Mesa AVA)

Vermentino (a.k.a. Rolle; Pigato; Favorita); Bella Vigna Vineyard (Alta Mesa AVA)

Viognier; Vino Farms (Alta Mesa AVA)

Viognier neuf du Pape; Guard Road, Ripken Vineyards (Lodi AVA)

Weissburgunder (a.k.a. Pinot Blanc; Klevner); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Würzer; Gewürztraminer x Müller-Thurgau (Riesling x Madeleine Royale); Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Zinfandel; Soucie Vineyard (Mokelumne River AVA)

Zweigelt; Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (Mokelumne River AVA)

Pristine 2016 Pinotage in Mettler Family's home vineyard

One of the finest examples of Pinotage – a crossing of Vitis vinifera varieties (Pinot Noir x Cinsaut) originally bred in South Africa by a Stellenbosch University Professor of Viticulture named Abraham Izak Perold in 1925 – is grown right here in Lodi, California.

The 2014 Mettler Family Lodi Pinotage ($25) is a deeply pigmented (purplish ruby), broadly sculpted, yet round, luscious, richly textured red wine; teeming with brambly, berry pie-like fruit qualities, and supported by subtle toasty, cedary oak, moderate tannins, and an upbeat, contemporary feel.

In that sense, this wine is undecidedly un-Pinotage-like. Why is that? This varietal has been called many things – not all of it good.

“There’s plenty of Pinotage that tastes like old socks,” British wine critic Olly Smith recently wrote, “but there are also ace examples that are among the finest wines...”  “The main charge levelled against Pinotage,” Tim Atkin MW has written in Decanter, “is that it smells of amyl or isoamyl acetate, otherwise known as nail polish remover – or banana if you’re being more polite.“

According to James Halliday, Australia’s most widely read wine writer, opinions of Pinotage even in South Africa, where it still commands one of the country’s highest grape prices, “have long been polarized.” Prestigious South African winemakers such as Vergelegen’s André van Rensburg are said to believe that Pinotage has no place in a respectable vineyard.

It has also been suggested that Pinotage may simply be unfashionable. Oz Clarke has suggested that part of some South African winemakers' disdain for Pinotage stems from the fact that it's a distinctly New World wine in an era where the trend in the South African industry is towards wines of more European influenced qualities.

The strength of the Mettlers’ Pinotage is that it avoids the common pitfalls of the grape. Lodi’s warm yet steady Mediterranean climate allows it to ripen beyond any green or herbaceous qualities that only exacerbate any acetate-like tendencies; and the region’s cool nights keep the grape’s acidity and fruit profile fresh and focused. Restrained flourishes of French oak sweeten the potpourri of bright sensations.

Mettler Family patriarch Larry Mettler

The Mettlers have been farming their 4 acres of Pinotage alongside their tasting room on the east side of Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA since 2011. The vines were originally planted by Dr. Mike and Renee Matson; producing one of this couple's specialties under the now-defunct Vino Con Brio label.

According to Larry Mettler, the owner/grower descended from three previous generations of this branch of the Mettler family, who first arrived in Lodi in 1899, “Mettler Family Vineyards is truly a family operation, not just a name.” Mr. Mettler’s wife Charlene still calls many of the shots (including the family’s original decision, in 1998, to transition from growers to winery owners). Their daughters Kim Mettler-Eells (General Manager) and Kelli Mettler-Costamagna (Tasting Room Manager) are deeply involved in the business; as is their son Adam Mettler (Winemaker) and Kim’s husband Jason Eells (Manager of the Mettler Family’s Arbor Vineyards).

But as everyone in the wine industry knows, it takes more than legacies or tradition to achieve top quality. It also takes ceaseless dedication to innovation and peerless skill level, which this family has in spades. Kudos to the Mettlers for staying the course for 117 years; and today, contributing further to Lodi’s growing reputation for cutting-edge varietals!

Fourth and fifth generations of the Mettler family

Every weekend in Jessie's Grove Winery, Wanda Woock Bechthold shares the 150-year-old history of her family's vineyards in Lodi

A lot of Lodi’s recent redefinition as a wine region of some prestige has to do with its tangible treasures. A plethora of ancient vine plantings, for instance: scores of 50 to over 100-year-old plantings of Zinfandel, Carignan, Cinsaut, Grenache, or even mangled, unkempt patches of the once-popular Tokay grape, easily viewed alongside the road as visitors sail through the vineyards, skipping the light fandango between wineries.

But Lodi’s treasures are also indubitably found among its growers and winemakers. For example, visitors to many of Lodi’s wineries – such as LangeTwins Family, Mettler Family, Harney Lane, Borra Vineyards, or Klinker Brick – will invariably find themselves conversing with fourth or fifth generation Lodi natives, whose families first began farming in the region as far back as the 1800s. Contrast this with wineries in even the most established coastal regions of California, where ownership rarely survives a second generation.

Jessie's Grove founder Joseph Spenker with his young bride Anna in 1870

On the west side of the City of Lodi, many a first-time visitor is startled by the sight of a dignified, impeccably composed, white haired woman sitting alone on the patio behind the tasting room of Jessie’s Grove Winery. She is there every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, virtually without fail.

When you approach her, that momentary thought that you may be looking at a ghost – especially if you caught a glimpse of the painting of her in the Jessie’s Grove tasting room, built out of a +150-year old, white-washed timber-frame shed (that is, constructed prior to the invention of nails, by the art of precisely fitted joints and pegs) – instantly vanishes once she looks into your eyes and smiles, and invites you to sit by her side and enjoy your glass of Zinfandel in the shade, cooled off by the afternoon Delta breeze, against the backdrop of an open field of native grass and ancient oaks.

Jessie's Grove's Greg Burns, harvesting his family's Royal Tee Vineyard (Zinfandel planted by Joseph Spenker in 1889)

This is when you meet Wanda Woock Bechthold, the owner (along with her son, Greg Burns) of Jessie’s Grove Winery; and in fact, the owner of the 350 acres of vineyards (plus the 32 acres of indigenous valley oaks bisecting the east side of the property) surrounding the winery.

At age 85, Ms. Bechthold looks forward to her weekend conversations with visitors, and revels in newfound friendships. This past Saturday she spoke about a pair of young couples visiting from the East Coast she had met earlier in the afternoon; saying, “They were so sweet, I was disappointed to learn that they weren’t from here (California) – I wanted to pack them up and take them home with me!”

Bechthold lends her name to one of Lodi’s most storied vinous treasures, the Bechthold Vineyard – 25 acres of Cinsaut, now leased to (and organically farmed by) Michael David Winery’s Phillips Farms. A gleaming 20-pound “Golden Bear” trophy sits on the kitchen counter of Ms. Bechthold’s home alongside the oak grove; bestowed upon her by the California State Fair in 2014, when Bechthold Vineyard was named the California Vineyard of the Year.

The iron willed Jessie Spenker

Bechthold Vineyard was originally planted by Ms. Bechthold’s great-grandfather, Joseph Spenker, in 1886; 18 years after he first established his square-mile (640 acres) Spenker Ranch. Spenker was a German emigrant who originally came to California to strike it rich in the gold mines of Mother Lode country. After his claim near Murphys in Calaveras County proved to be worth less than the horse that he traded it for, Spenker hitched a ride on a wagon down to the Stockton area with just 27 cents in his pocket, found a job on a farm, and eventually scraped up enough cash (mostly by hauling dry goods up into the foothills to sell to miners at hefty markups) to buy his Lodi property. A classic American story.

In 2004 Ms. Bechthold published a book – Jessie’s Grove: One Hundred Years In the San Joaquin Valley (Woock Publications) – chronicling the Spenker family’s history, and chock-full of magnificent old photos of Joseph Spenker, his wife Anna and their children Otto and Jessie (many of the photos taken by Otto, who was quite the talented camera-bug). Sadly, the book is out of print, and is now a collector’s item (used copies are currently selling online for $337 to $600, and mint-copies for as much as $5,404).

Wanda Bechthold talking with visitors at Jessie's Grove

In one chapter of her book, Bechthold writes about how her great-grandfather transitioned from wheat, alfalfa and watermelons to wine and table grapes, after meeting Stockton’s William West in 1885:

William West started one of the first commercial wineries in California (in 1858), two miles north of Stockton. He named it El Pinal after the (pine) grove he planted in front of his nursery.

West talked to Joseph about the winery and showed him all the different cuttings he had available. Joseph was interested. West told him the popular grapes now were Madeline, Black Hamburg, Sweetwater, Black Ferra, and Emperor. Another variety he had available was... called Black Malvoisier. Joseph had heard about the grape and purchased enough vines for 20 acres. He established his first vineyard north of the oak grove, which placed it in the middle, or heart, of the ranch.

Like many of Lodi’s farmers, grapes soon became the Spenker family’s top commodity; especially after the table grape Tokay became highly coveted in the 1890s and early 1900s; and later during Prohibition (1920-1933) when wine grapes like Zinfandel suddenly came into huge demand, once wine lovers across the country realized that they needed to make their own wine at home if they wished to partake in any fruits of the vine.

127-year-old Flame Tokay in Jessie's Grove's Royal Tee Vineyard

Joseph Spenker's daughter Jessie was born in 1875, and known for her iron will; taking over management of the farm in 1929 after her older brother Otto proved to be less than up to the task. It was Jessie who held the family business together through thick and thin, while preserving the oak grove as Joseph Spenker always intended; reversing the direction taken by Otto, who by then had sold off a quarter of the property in the north-west corner as a result of ill advised investments. Much of the oral history that Wanda Woock Bechthold shares today were passed down to her directly from her grandmother Jessie. 

For over 117 years the family faithfully cultivated Joseph Spenker's original block of grapes. Problem was, there was never nearly as much demand for grapes called “Black Malvoisier” as there was for varieties such as Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignan, or even Alicante Bouschet. Al Bechthold, the local rancher who married Wanda Woock in the mid-1970s, farmed these arcane (or so everyone thought) grapes up until 2008, when he could no longer mount a tractor. Mr. Bechthold, who passed away in 2014, often said, “In some years, it cost more to farm those grapes than what we were selling them for.”

It wasn’t until 2003 – after a conversation with Ms. Bechthold prompted U.C. Davis Program Director and Outreach Specialist Kay Bogart to initiate analysis of leaf samples – that the grapes were finally identified as Cinsaut, a black skinned Southern French grape in great demand in California. Suddenly, top wineries such as Bonny Doon Vineyard and Turley Wine Cellars were knocking on the Bechtholds’ door, looking to buy as much of these grapes as they could get. At long last, the Bechthold Vineyard grapes are being sold at prices befitting their phenomenal rarity and hitherto unappreciated quality.

Jessie's Grove's timber-frame tasting room

Today, wineries such as Onesta and The Scholium Project produce silken textured, bone-dry rosés, as fine as any in the world, out of the Bechthold Vineyard Cinsaut. The red wines from the vineyard tend to be soft yet sumptuous – like magically liquefied, kitchen spice nuanced strawberry-rhubarb pie. The finest examples are made by Turley as well as Onesta, and Lodi’s Michael David, McCay, Fields Family, and Estate Crush.

For wine lovers thirsting for more knowledge of Lodi’s rich and intriguing history, there is no better place to start than a visit on any Saturday or Sunday afternoon to Jessie's Grove Winery, where Wanda Woock Bechthold is happy to greet you, and beckons you to sit down and share a glass over stories about her family and the early days of Lodi.

“Al and I were married for 38 years,” she told us this past weekend. “I miss him dearly, and I know he’s waiting for me in heaven. I’ve led a long, wonderful life, but you can bet that I am going to keep telling our story as long as anyone cares to listen.

“It’s a great story, a love story, full of romance, mystery, and,” she adds, lowering her voice and raising an eyebrow, “even some scandal, if you wanna hear it. And everyone should, if you want to learn about Lodi!”

For over 100 years, known only as "Black Malvoisier": 2016 Bechthold Vineyard Cinsaut

Chris Storm and his daughter in their ancient vine Carignan vineyard

Carignan has always been prized as a black skinned blending grape in wine regions like Southern France, Spain and California. But in relatively rare instances, it makes a deep, sumptuous varietal red wine when bottled on its own; especially when vinified from old to ancient vines (50 to over 100 years old) in special regions such as Montpeyroux or Saint-Chinian in France’s Languedoc-Roussillon, Montsant or Priorat in Spain, or Lodi or Contra Costa in California.

Lodi’s latest entry? The 2015 MK (Michael Klouda) Lodi Carignane ($26): an inky dark red wine that positively gushes in aromatic black cherry/wild berry fruit; deep, broad, sturdy and velvety in the mouth; full bodied (14.15% alcohol) without being heavy and ponderous, and brightly fruited without being jammy or raisiny. In short, phenomenal as a pure, unfettered (i.e. not over-oaked or manipulated) rendering of the grape; and phenomenal as an expression of where it’s grown; which happens to be a postage-stamp sized vineyard located just north of Acampo Rd. on the west side of Lodi’s sandy-loamy Mokelumne River AVA.

Michael Klouda with his 2015 vintages

MK Wines owner Michael Klouda is one of Lodi’s more hands-on (yet hands-off) artisanal winemakers. He crafts small batches of wine for the challenge and pleasure, while working full-time for Michael David Winery’s Phillips Farms as a Viticulturist.

According to Mr. Klouda, “I only made 50 cases of this wine – splitting the entirety of a vineyard owned by Chris Storm with another winemaker, Rick Taylor at Riaza Wines. The vineyard is less than an acre is size. We might have gotten more out of it if not for the fact that the vineyard was dry farmed, and the clusters were radically smaller than what we usually see in Lodi Carignan, with berry sizes smaller than my thumb nail.”

In a follow-up conversation in the vineyard with Chris Storm – who holds down a particularly huge day job as lead Viticulturist for Vino Farms, one of Lodi’s largest growers – we learned that this block of head-trained Carignan came with a home that he and his wife Jana purchased four years ago. “My guess is that the vines were planted in the mid-‘60s, which make them about 50 years old. As you can see, there really are no indications that they were grafted, and so we can surmise that the vines are own-rooted.”

Carignan cluster on Lodi old vine

Added Storm, “Typical of a lot of old vine plantings of Carignan in Lodi, this vineyard used to be part of a 4-acre block. We couldn’t afford to take the entire 4 acres, and so the other 3 acres were sold to another grower, who promptly pulled the vines and planted some trellised Petite Sirah in their place.

“In 2015 we couldn’t get more than half-a-ton each to Michael and Rick, and the vineyard didn’t produce much more than that this year. This explains the intensity of Michael’s wine – the berries were more like little black BBs. The vines used to be furrow-irrigated. So when we first moved in the vines were over-cropped and the canopies so out of control that we couldn’t get the fruit to sugar up – and so we ended up selling them to make juice on the bulk market.”

One of the reasons why the 2015 Michael Klouda is destined to remain one of the most unusual expressions of California Carignan is because of the circumstances surrounding the Chris Storm Vineyard. ”The past two years,” Storm admits, “we probably overstressed the vines by dry farming them. But I just laid down some irrigation lines salvaged from one of our other vineyards. Next year the vines will get a little bit of a drink. Eventually we should be able to get the bunches back a little closer to normal size, but we’ll continue to limit production by thinning the fruit.”

Carignan, in fact, is better known around the world as an exceptionally high yielding grape; which is why it once ruled the wine world.

In what way? For more than a couple decades up until the 1980s, it was the most widely planted grape of any color in California – a basic component of generic jug wines sold as “Burgundy.” Once American consumer preferences transitioned to varietal wines, Carignan’s goose was cooked; and grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir became the state's top varieties.

The story is similar in France, where it hit a high point in popularity in 1988, accounting for about 420,000 total acres (consider that in all of California today, total wine grape acreage is just over 600,000), mostly in the vast expanse of Southern France. Merlot, for the record, is the variety that now surpasses Carignan as the most widely planted grape in France.

In Spain, where the grape is also known as Cariñena or (in Rioja) Mazuelo, Carignan has also always been a major player. Spain currently has about 17,000 acres of Carignan planted (half of what it was just 20 years ago).

In California, plantings of Carignan now hover around 2,500 acres; a big drop from the 28,000 or so acres planted in the state during the 1970s.

Head-trained, spur-pruned Carignan in Chris Storm Vineyard

With such a history, it is natural to ask the question: why so much Carignan in the first place? Even in its heyday in California, it was extremely rare to see Carignan bottled as a varietal red. 40 or 50 years ago, there may have been fewer acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay in California vineyards, but there were far more varietal bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay than Carignan.

Yet although Carignan has never been considered an ultra-premium varietal, there are reasons why winegrowers have always liked it. For one, it is always a high yielding grape everywhere it is grown (the Chris Storm Vineyard, lately, being an extreme exception), and it is easily grown as a free-standing, head-trained, spur-pruned plant (doesn’t require trellising).

But often overlooked, or underappreciated, is the sheer quality of wines produced from Carignan. No, it is not Cabernet Sauvignon, and a far cry from Pinot Noir. But winemakers have always known that good quality Carignan, particularly from ancient vine plantings, can retain exceptional natural acidity – the component that makes all wines taste fresh and lively – on top of consistently deep color, fairly sturdy (and only occasionally overbearing) tannin, and brightly focused aromas and flavors unique unto their own, particularly in the red fruit spectrum (cherry, cranberry, strawberry, etc.).

Finally, in scattered little pockets of France and California, bottlings of Carignan have been known to retain terroir related transparency; that is, unique sensations quietly echoing dried herby or earthy aromas and flavors associated with vineyard sources (re Lodi grown bottlings by McCay Cellars or Klinker Brick).

In other words, whether you find a varietal labeled Carignan from France or one of California’s heritage vineyards, do not automatically dismiss or pass it up. Like the 2015 MK, Carignan can make some of the most interesting wines you will ever experience.

Chris Storm Vineyard old vine Carignan

Viñedos Aurora Petite Sirah harvest in morning sun rising over Clements Hills

Since 2006 the Lodi Viticultural Area has been sub-divided by 7 more American Viticultural Areas, primarily on the basis of differentiated soils and topographies. You may ask, why is this so – is not the understanding of Lodi wines and vineyards complicated enough?

Apparently. Heck, there are major wine publications that still don’t know Lodi exists. It’s hard for narrow, stubbornly entrenched media pundits and wine world cognoscenti to wrap their heads around the idea that there are places on the West Coast other than, say, Napa Valley and Sonoma County that produce regionally defined wines of world class quality, unique unto their own. But that's another matter.

There are reasons why growers and winemakers look at Lodi as being a sum of different parts. Most of Lodi's growth as a wine region over the past 25 years has been outside the original area surrounding the City of Lodi, which is defined by an extremely deep sandy loam (i.e. Tokay Series) soil on a visibly flat, lower elevation (0 to 150-ft.) plain. This historic area – where the vast majority of Lodi’s old ancient vine plantings (50 to over 100 years old) are located – is officially recognized as the Mokelumne River Viticultural Area.

Viñedos Aurora of Petite Sirah growing in in yellowish-red clay soil of Clements Hills

In significant contrast to Mokelumne River is Clements Hills, located just east of Lodi City and the tiny one-saloon town of Victor; when the topography suddenly transitions into rolling hills of 200 to 400-ft. elevation. Soils become a visibly red (or yellowish red) clay loam of volcanic origin, which are gravelly or cobbled, and less vigorous on the hilltops; notwithstanding tiny pockets of sandy-clay-loam closer to where the Mokelumne River winds through the hills (between the towns of Lockeford and Clements).

You need look no further than at the soils in the photographs taken during this past Saturday’s (September 17, 2016) picking of the Anaya family’s Viñedos Aurora Petite Sirah grapes – farmed by four second-generation Mexican-American brothers – in a vineyard that sits on middle-elevation Clements Hills slopes, where the soil is particularly reddish. Similar types of clay soils are found in much of the counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake; and in fact, the soil series found on the Anayas’ home vineyard is classified as Redding Clay, because it is most common in Tehama County, just south of Redding in Northern California.

Gerardo Espinosa pouring black-purplish red Viñedos Aurora Petite Sirah

The difference between wines grown in Clements Hills and the more historic Mokelumne River Viticultural Areas can also be gleaned in a sniff and sip of the 2010 Viñedos Aurora Lodi Petite Sirah ($21), produced entirely from the Anaya brothers’ Clements Hills planting. Even after 6 years in the bottle, the wine is a deep, opaque purplish red color. The nose is not nearly as overtly flowery or fruit driven as most Lodi Petite Sirahs grown in the Mokelumne River AVA; but rather, more of concentrated black fruits (plum, blackberry), with whiffs of compost-like loam. On the palate, the wine is dense and full with muscular tannin, with an edginess of natural acidity that pushes out the sweet-peppercorn spice qualities associated with the grape.

The Viñedos Aurora Petite Sirah, in fact, personifies why growers such as Bokisch Vineyards’ Markus Bokisch, Keith Watts, John and Ralph Graffigna, Jonathan Wetmore (Round Valley Ranches), as well as Randall and Brad Lange (LangeTwins Family Winery & Vineyards) began planting in Clements Hills in the first place: for the deeper (in terms of both color and aromas and flavors), more densely phenolic (i.e. tannin and other sensations contributing to mouth-feel) styles of wine possible there – in contrast to the more gentle, flowery styles of wine that tend to be produced in Mokelumne River's sandy loams.

Clements Hills’ lower-Sierra Nevada foothill-type soils contribute to these differences in wine profiles. In the past, in fact, Markus Bokisch has also cited slight differences in diurnal temperatures as another factor distinguishing Clements Hills from areas closer to the City of Lodi. In an Appellation America interview he is quoted: “... the warm days concentrate the flavors of the wines and serve to balance the tannin. Another characteristic that is often overlooked is that the Clements Hills enjoy some of the coolest nights of any Lodi AVA, which allows the grapes to retain their acidity and also provides further balance to the robust tannic and flavor profiles.”

Without a doubt, Bokisch’s observations are major reason why grapes from his Terra Alta Vineyard as well as from Vista Luna Vineyard in the Borden Ranch AVA (just north of Clements Hills, on clay slopes even more strongly dominated by cobble and boulders) have been in such demand among the industry. Some 50 wineries, large and small, buy fruit from Bokisch Ranches.

Winemaker Gerardo Espinosa with Viñedos Aurora Petite Sirah cluster and his uncle, co-owner/grower Ramon Anaya

The Bokisch Vineyards brand itself, of course, is known for its Spanish and Portuguese varietals, which find their varietal characteristics heightened by these hillside terroirs. “At this point in time,” Mr. Bokisch has commented, “we are focusing more on our farming techniques to exhibit varietal integrity than anything we do in the cellar... The public has come to appreciate Lodi’s ability to create truly world-class wines in a plethora of varieties. It can only get better from here.”

In respect to Viñedos Aurora: as grape suppliers themselves, the Anaya family has recently expanded their plantings to 90 total acres, adding varieties such as Albariño, Tempranillo, Malbec and Petit Verdot to their portfolio (their original planting consists of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah). At this writing, Viñedos Aurora winemaker/partner Gerardo Espinosa is contemplating a bottling of the family’s first Malbec/Petit Verdot blend, which is tasting hugely promising in the barrel – a black colored, ponderously deep red wine that is also billowing with exotic, hibiscus-like floral notes typical of Malbec, something rarely expressed as strongly in California vineyards (there is a reason why Malbec does phenomenally well in the mountain slopes of Argentina).

Free-running Viñedos Aurora chickens pecking at red Clements Hills soil in early morning sun

Mr. Espinosa also tells us that Viñedos Aurora as a business has been going through changes since the recent closing of their Downtown Lodi tasting room (Viñedos Aurora at Pamplona Tapas). “We are looking at several other possible Downtown locations for a tasting room, where we can continue to offer our wines tasted with tapas.” Meanwhile, wines can be ordered online, and appointments to visit their winemaking facility and barrel room (in a Pine St. warehouse east of the Downtown Lodi railroad tracks) can be arranged by contacting Mr. Espinosa through the Viñedos Aurora Web site.

Espinosa has also taken on a new partner, and the two of them are seriously considering combining talents (by day, Espinosa is an architectural designer with a prestigious Stockton firm) to transform their warehouse space into a tasting room/kitchen showroom.

Things are looking good for Viñedos Aurora. But make no mistake: the reason is because this steadily evolving wine company is not just another made-up brand. It is vineyard-driven. When it comes to fine wine, quality always begins in the vineyard, and the Anaya family definitely has the goods.

Some more photos of the Viñedos Aurora 2016 Petite Sirah harvest:

Classic, full-sized Petite Sirah cluster, just picked in Clements Hils' Viñedos Aurora

Viñedos Aurora Petite Sirah harvest in glow of rising sun

Viñedos Aurora co-owner/grower Armando Anaya

2016 Viñedos Aurora Petite Sirah in picker's box

Viñedos Aurora co-owner/grower Gerardo Anaya

Classic single-eared Petite Sirah in Viñedos Aurora at optimal ripeness, with slightly dimpled skins

Viñedos Aurora's Armando and Ramon Anaya picking their 2016 Petite Sirah

2016 Viñedos Aurora Petite Sirah harvest in Clements Hills

Drava Wines' Steve and William Carson, in their tasting room festooned with flags of Croatia and Slovenia

The brothers at Drava Wines, one of Lodi’s latest wineries, are not only making deftly crafted small lot wines, well worth checking out. They also bring a worldly flair to the Lodi wine scene

This coming Saturday (September 24, 2016) William Carson – who co-owns Drava Wines with his older brother Steve Carson – will be boarding a plane for a long flight to Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia. His mission: to do the honors of being the person to cut off the first 2016 cluster from the single oldest grape vine in the world (also documented in The Guinness Book of Records), located right alongside the River Drava, at the center of this ancient city.

Drava Wines bottlings with their Zastava car logo labels

Why Mr. Carson, and not a winemaker or dignitary already living in Slovenia? Because despite the fact that Drava Wines belongs to Lodi wine country, the brothers Carson are already big – make that, downright huge – in Slovenia. Not that much more than a handful of people in Slovenia have even tasted their Lodi grown wines. It’s mostly because of a Slovenian newspaper article published this past June 2016, publicizing the fact that the Carsons had established a winery named after the country’s beloved riverway, the Drava.

Plus the fact that the Carson brothers are bottling wines with a logo depicting an old fashioned Serbian car called the Zastava, which remains a sentimental symbol of old Yugoslavia – the former country broken up into smaller independent countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) in the early 1990s.

Drava Wines' William Carson with framed Slovenian article on their Lodi winery

If you visit Drava Wines’ newly opened tasting room and winemaking facility at 1378 Turner Rd. (located between the McCay Cellars and Twisted Oak tasting rooms), you can view a framed copy of this Slovenian newspaper article yourself; with its headline proclaiming (in Slovenian, of course), “From California with Stajerska (i.e. Slovenian) Inspiration.”

The picking of the world's oldest vine takes place next week Monday. “It is just one vine,” says Mr. Carson, “producing just enough grapes to make a few liters of a red wine. The wine that is made is strictly ceremonial, handed out to just a few important people, like heads of states. The grape variety is Zametna Crnina. It is by no means one of Slovenia’s more important varieties, but the Slovenians are proud of the fact that it is the oldest vine in the world – planted about 450 years ago... a national treasure.”

The Carsons, for the record, are not of Slovenian descent. They are Colorado Front Range born and raised. The international connection comes from the fact that William Carson, who serves as Business Manager of Drava Wines, was teaching English in Slovenia when his brother Steve, the Drava Wines Winemaker, called two years ago to ask if he could join him in his new wine producing venture in Lodi.

The Lodi connection comes through Steve Carson, who was a former winemaker at Lodi’s now-defunct Vino Con Brio (a vineyard estate sold to Mettler Family Vineyards five years ago), and who had also established winemaking creds in a number of other wineries in California as well as Oregon, after attaining his degree in Viticulture & Enology at U.C. Davis (in 1996).

Drava Wines Winemaker/Co-Owner Steve Carson

“I bought a house and settled into Lodi,” Steve tells us, “but after my time at Vino Con Brio was up, I got out of the wine business, and took a good job in the biotech industry, working for Johnson & Johnson.”

But after 13 years away from grapes and fermentors, the hankering to crush grapes took over again. “I saw all the changes going on in Lodi,” says the elder Carson, “and so I pitched William about coming back to the states to start the business with me. Right now, our goal is to work with individual growers and vineyards and do different things each year to take advantage of the incredible diversity of what Lodi has to offer.”

The Carsons’ first vintage, in 2014, was custom-made in Downtown Lodi’s Estate Crush, and they produced their 2015s in another Lodi winery, before moving into their own facility on Turner Rd. this past spring.

The quality of Drava Wines? So far, so good! The current releases are mostly the result of hand-picked, hand-crafted 2-ton lots. Growth for Drava Wines is slowly-but-surely. The overall style is oak-influenced without going overboard with the woody aromas and flavors; with an emphasis on roundness, texture and perfume.

Lodi grown Pinot Gris

Our notes on what you can currently find in the Drava Wines tasting room:

2014 Drava, Lodi Pinot Gris ($19) – From a vineyard owned and farmed by Gregg Lewis (of Dancing Fox Winery) near Acampo Rd. in Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA; a whole cluster pressed, neutral barrel fermented, sur lie (i.e. contact with dead yeast cells) style of the grape, lending a subtle, creamy, toasty complexity to a brightly floral nose tinged with apricot-like fruit; silky yet mouth-filling, with round, medium-full bodied, creamy-apricot sensations.

2015 Drava, Lodi Viognier ($19) – Another white wine that should appeal to lovers of smoothly oak-influenced styles (as opposed to sharper stainless steel fermented styles of dry whites); yet still retaining fresh, flowery, honeysuckle-like varietal perfumes; on the full bodied side (alcohol in the mid-15% range), yet balanced and slightly fleshy in texture. From fruit grown by Richard “Rip” Ripken in his Guard Rd. ranch (in the Delta, west of I-5).

2014 Drava, Lodi Cabernet Franc ($26) – Cabernet Franc has been catching on with more and more wine lovers because of its rich, deep yet lighter weight qualities, recently described in another publication as the ideal “summer-into-fall” red. The Carsons hit the nail on the head with this Clements Hills-Lodi grown bottling; fashioning fragrant, almost violet-like fruit with sweet hard-spice notes (mace, allspice, and suggestions of cinnamon). On the palate, the medium-weight body (a lithe 15% alcohol) comes across as silky and fine, with mild tannin and oak qualities tucked underneath the flowery fruit. Blended with about 15% Petit Verdot.

The world's oldest vine in Maribor, Slovenia (photo from Y Wine Press)

2014 Drava, Lodi Petit Verdot ($26) – While lightened by a judicious dose of Cabernet Franc (about 15%), this Clements Hills-Lodi grown bottling is dominated by the varietal’s penchant for dark colored, dense and brawny texturing, with violet/blueberry-like notes peeking out from under a muscular, yet smoothly rounded, layer of tannin, with good, jangly acidity to boot.

2014 Drava, Lodi Maribor Reserve Red (45% Petit Verdot, 30% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc; $34) – Named for Slovenia’s historic city along the River Drava, this imaginative, red Bordeaux-inspired blend combines the sinewy muscle of Petit Verdot with the softer, sweeter-toned fruit qualities of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. “It is always interesting,” says Steve Carson, “when you put Bordeaux varieties together, the chemistry of phenolics (i.e. tannins and other compounds derived mostly from grape skins) tends to polymerize – Merlot and Cabernet Franc become sturdier, and Petit Verdot a little less so.” The result is a tightly wound yet zesty, meaty textured red wine with a vanillin, caraway-like, chocolaty richness, finishing with slightly drying tannin.

2014 Drava, Lodi Zinfandel ($26) – While many Lodi Zinfandel specialists have recently been veering towards more restrained iterations of this grape, Drava’s inaugural entry was made big (16.5% alcohol) and jammy out of necessity. “The grapes came in this way,” explains Steve Carson, “and we rolled with it.” The sensations are intense, ultra-ripe, and a little sweet with a modicum of residual sugar – your old fashioned whopper of a Zinfandel. “Not quite ‘late harvest,’” adds Carson, “but if you’re not afraid of that, you’re gonna like this wine.”

Classic vintage Zastava (from World Encylclopedia of Cars)

First, the skinny: this coming Friday/Saturday/Sunday (September 30-October 2, 2016), Bokisch Vineyards is offering a golden opportunity at their tasting room in Lodi’s Clements Hills area. Visitors will be able to taste 4 vintages of their Bokisch Vineyards Belle Colline Vineyard Monastrell; 2007 being the oldest, and 2014 the latest.

What’s the big deal? According to the winery:

Monastrell fans and newcomers to this unusual varietal, this event is for you! Monastrell is known by many names throughout Spain and France such as Mataro and Mourvèdre. With juicy flavors of dark forest fruit, mission figs and blackberry tea, this wine is one of our favorites. If you're a fan of Cabernet Sauvignon, you're bound to like Monastrell.

There is also a little vinous tragedy to this story. According to the Bokischs:

We have been sold out of our Monastrell for months and we are about to release the new 2014 vintage... This is our last vintage from beautiful Belle Colline Vineyard. The vineyard is under new ownership and will no longer be growing our beautiful Monastrell grapes. To commemorate this last vintage, we are offering a very special vertical tasting of three vintages from our library and the new 2014 vintage; all four tastes for $5. 

Markus Bokisch in his Terra Alta Vineyard (Clements Hills AVA) with visiting #WBC16 wine bloggers this past August

When tasting this vertical of Belle Colline Monastrells, the other tragedy coming to mind is that the most recent vintages clearly demonstrate that this lost planting – originally planted in 2003 on a hillside slope of red, volcanic based, gravelly clay soil typical of the Clements Hills AVA – was just beginning to come into its own: aromas, fragrances and flavor sensations becoming more and more distinct as the vines matured.

But here’s the thing about the Bokisch Monastrells: despite the winery’s allusion to Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine was never, ever a “big,” dark, powerful wine. Aromas were never effusive, and the wines’ body and tannin were never exactly like abs of steel – more like trim, svelte, and comfortably rounded.

In a way, this is why the Bokischs have never been known for its Monastrell like they have been for their Tempranillo, Grenache, or even their esoteric Graciano, which have always been brighter, bouncier, promiscuously fruit driven reds. Monastrell doesn’t flirt or pander with excess. It challenges you to come to it, not the other way round.

Belle Colline Vineyard on slopes of Clements Hills AVA (photo courtesy of Bokisch Vineyards)

Case in point: the 2014 Bokisch Belle Colline Vineyard Clements Hills-Lodi Monastrell ($23) represents a culmination of this growth's quiet evolution: red ruby color; smidgens of dried currant, fig and cherry skin in the nose, mixed in with suggestions of forest loam and twigs, parched sagebrush, and sweet kitchen herbs. On the palate, the 2014 is squarely medium-bodied, bolstered by moderate tannin, and otherwise based upon an attraction not unlike a plain white ceramic plate that allows the colors and shapes of a dish to stand out. In this wine, you can taste the skins of the Monastrell grape, with whiffs of the grassy hillside in which the vinees were grown tingling the nose.

The bad news is that after the 270-case production of 2014 Belle Colline Monastrell is sold out, this wine is no more. History. The good news is that two years ago the Bokischs planted a new block of Monastell, a.k.a. Mourvèdre; this time, in their Sheldon Hills Vineyard at the north end of the Lodi Viticultural Area, where it will be defined by the distinctly river-rock strewn soils and Delta breezes of the Sloughhouse AVA. If all goes well, there is a possibility of a 2016 Bokisch Sheldon Hills Monastrell, released some time in 2018.

Why do growers and winemakers persist in pursuing wines made from Mourvèdre, even though this grape has never had the sexiness and market success of varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, or even Syrah, Sangiovese or Tempranillo?

Lodi grown Mourvèdre (a.k.a. Monastrell, Mataro)

Spanish grown Monastrells – often from miniature, head trained vines over 50 or 75 years old – have had a modest (i.e. microscopic) appeal to American consumers since importers began combing the Iberian Peninsula for alternative products in the 1990s. 

In Southern France, however, Mourvèdre is far better known to Americans as one of the three major black skinned grapes - along with Grenache and Syrah – often blended together because of this threesome’s well known synchronicity: Grenache for its soft tannin, red fruit aroma and peppery spice; Syrah for its floral, high flying perfume and depth of fruit and phenolics; and Mourvèdre for its dense, meaty, blocky, bass-toned fruit sensations. Hence, the common parlance in New World wine marketing, “GSM.”

But when bottled on its own, as a predominant or 100% varietal, Mourvèdre can produce something with its own magic; especially when grown under favorable circumstances, which is when the grape’s intrinsically sturdy characteristics combine with distinctions peculiar to a region or vineyard. Like all of the world’s great wine grapes, Mourvèdre can exhibit a compelling transparencey.

For instance, there is a profound and mysterious red wine that comes from the South of France. This wine appellation is Bandol, named after the little Provençal city/commune called Bandol, located along the Mediterranean coast; and by law, it is made mostly from Mourvèdre (French vintners are also permitted to blend smaller proportions of Grenache and Cinsaut in Bandol).

Bottle of Provence's legendary Domaine Tempier Bandol from author's cellar

Bandol reds are typically earthy, faintly briny, yet filled with savory fruit sensations. It fills the mouth, but does not weigh heavily on it. You can enjoy it with hearty stews of red or game meats, or turn around and enjoy it just as much with brothy seafood stews (like saffron and garlic spiked bouillabaisse, or tomato laced cioppino), grilled oysters or redfish. Incidentally, perhaps more than any other American grown Mourvèdre, Bokisch's Monastrells have had a similar limber culinary versatility, although not the sinewy meatiness of the finest Bandols.

Even at its gentlest, Mourvèdre-based reds of Bandol often surprise devotees because they never seems to grow up. In fact, like Peter Pan, good Bandols seem to gets younger as they age – often deepening in color (which is odd enough) and flavor after 10 or 20 years in a bottle.

One legendary Berkeley importer (Kermit Lynch) fell so deeply in the thralls of Bandol, he purchased a home in Plan du Castellet just above the seaport of Bandol, where he has been living six months out of each year for over thirty years. Lynch’s wife, photographer Gail Skoff, is known for never allowing any wine except Bandol (particularly Bandol Rosé) to pass her lips. Seriously.

Subsequently, over the past 40 or so years there have always been a few Americans on the West Coast who have endeavored to produce Bandol inspired red wines. Not a lot, since the varietal has never managed to break out of the category of unconventional or misfit wines.

Bokisch Vineyards winemaker Elyse Perry in Lodi's Clements Hills

Wherefore “Bandol” in Lodi? Despite a common misperception, Lodi is also a coastal region; a toothsome green belt sandwiched between two inland seaport cities (Sacramento to the north, Stockton to the south). Typical of California coastal regions, Lodi’s average daily day/night growing season temperatures swing considerably more wildly (over 35° F.) than in Provence; but the climate is still distinctly Mediterranean, thus ideal for grapes like Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre.

We know from our own blind tastings – particularly in wine competitions, where wine professionals are not prejudiced by labels when drawing their conclusions – that Syrahs produced by Lodi wineries such as Michael David, Fields Family, and Klinker Brick, compare favorably with the finest grown anywhere on the West Coast. Lodi grown Grenache invariably emerges as the spiciest and most perfumed, yet (typical of Lodi) most gentle in texturing, when compared to Grenache bottlings grown in other parts of the state.

Ergo, it is not a giant leap to imagine Mourvèdre someday emerging as a varietal of some prestige. After all, consumer preferences in wine styles are in constant flux. The grape itself certainly has the chops and European history to back it up. Certain parts of California, Washington and Southern Oregon have the Mediterranean type climates and requisite stingy topographies to grow the grape well; and, in fact, there are more than a few scattered plantings around the state (notably Contra Costa, Sierra Foothills, Chalone and Lime Kiln Valley), that are already showing a little bit of the grape’s fabled magic; including its unique propensity towards terroir related transparency. Until its premature demise, Clements Hills’ Belle Colline Vineyard was certainly headed in this direction.

It can happen again in Lodi. Mediterranean grapes love this environment; although like many things in life, we'll probably need to wait for it. But for a winegrowing region that that has always thought in terms of generations, not years, the possibilities are propitious.

Liz and Markus Bokisch (right) with visiting #WBC16 wine bloggers this past August in their Terra Alta Vineyard (Clements Hills AVA)