Clik here to view.
Lodi's Lange family emerges as one of California's leading specialists in...
Dropped Nero d'Avola in LangeTwins Family's Redtail Vineyard, Lodi's Jahant AVA. How does a fourth and fifth generation-operated Lodi grower with roots traced back to Germany end up as one of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Filtering out the gobbledygook to create your own vinous memory
Visiting sommelier learning about wine in its context: glass of Lodi Zinfandel, cluster of Zinfandel, and in the vineyard where the wine and clusters are grown The Lodi Wine way There are no absolutes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Will Grenache blanc become Lodi's Chardonnay someday soon?
Grenache blanc harvest in Lodi's Acquiesce Vineyards The misbegotten grape Grenache blanc, the golden-green tinted clonal variation of the black-skinned Grenache noir, is the little grape that could....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stoking the June fires with kamado grills and Zinfandel
With the first week of June under our belt, it's clear to see that spring has sprung into its customarily brightest and brashest phase. I liken the season to the words of Marge Piercy whose poem More...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A fascinating comparison of wines representing the best of Southern France...
Visiting wine scholar Andrew Mihm blind tasting six Lodi wines with six comparable wines from Southern France. This past Wednesday, June 9, Acquiesce Winery owner/grower/winemaker Sue Tipton pulled...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How women and German settlers civilized the rum-guzzling 1800s town called Lodi
German themed Lodi Grape Festival — reflecting the predominant heritage of Lodi's population — held in the 1930s under the historical Lodi Arch. Lodi Historical Society. The era of saloons and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oak barrels, part 1 — origin and usage
The ancient art of barrel coopering, practiced at Tonnellerie Ô cooperage in Benicia, California. Slow and patient barrel-aging (vs. shortcuts) This is an article about oak barrels. When and where the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oak barrels, part 2 — historical usage up until modern times
Lodi's The Lucas Winery co-owner/winemaker Heather Pyle Lucas, who utilizes strictly French grown oak for aging and barrel fermentation. Continued from Oak barrels, part 1 — origin and usage Oak...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oak barrels, part 3 — French and American silviculture and oak seasoning
Harney Lane Winery owner Kyle Lerner with fermenting Zinfandel, about to be racked into French or American oak barrels. Continued from Oak barrels, part 2 — historical usage up until modern times...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oak barrels, part 4 — Step by step visual of how barrels are coopered
At Tonnellerie Ô in Benicia, California, raised barrels are moved from fire to fire to execute the bending of oak staves into the classic shape of a Bordeaux style barrique. Continued from Oak...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Guantonios Wood Fired is revolutionizing the way we look at Lodi wines
Guantonios Chef Nick Guantone with his signature Ezzo Pepperoni Pizza First thing to know about Guantonios Wood Fired is that they are more than a little (60-seat), family-owned, wood oven pizza...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beating the heat with fresh, new California style coolers
Have ingredients, make wine coolers. It's getting hot, and I don't have to tell you — it's hotter than usual. Mother Nature is telling us something. I'm not just talking about what we can do as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Grapevines adopting July's reproductive strategy (i.e., veraison)
Transition to 2021 veraison colors in Lodi's Wegat Vineyard (Zinfandel planted in 1958). It's that time of year again, here in mid-July. Red wine grapes are in the midst of exchanging their green skin...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How varietal character and terroir became generational bones of contention
Marty Winters and Alex Pitts, co-owner/winemakers of Maître de Chai Wines, have been applying a radically different (leaner, less fruity and oaky) approach to old vine Lodi Zinfandel, reflecting a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lodi's 2021 Tour of Albariño is open to all without pre-registration
Celebrate the Spanish-Portuguese Grape Tailor-Made for Lodi In honor of International Albariño Day (officially, August 2), eight Lodi wineries will open their doors to celebrate their seventh annual...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Progress of terroir-focused, vineyard-designate wines in Lodi
Carignan harvest on the west side of Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA, where Spenker Ranch's 1900 Block is displaying distinctive, terroir-related sensory qualities in wines by minimal intervention...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The influence of Lodi Native and list of vineyard-designate wines in Lodi
McCay Cellars' Mike McCay in his newly planted home vineyard on an early, typically sun-soaked August morning in Lodi. In our previous blog post, Progress of terroir-focused, vineyard-designate wines...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Greg La Follette's latest ancient vine Lodi wines are as enigmatic as ever
Greg and Mara La Follette with ancient vine Cinsaut harvest in Lodi's Bechthold Vineyard. When I met the West Sonoma Coast-based winemaker Greg La Follette some 25 years ago, the first thing that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Putting all this wine geeky talk about “balance” to bed (once and for all!)
Three appellations where the Syrah grape is grown, producing wines of distinctively different alcohol levels, fruit profiles and sense of balance due purely to widely varying growing conditions: (from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A former New York sommelier realizes his Italian dreams... in Lodi
A New York sommelier dreams of producing the ideal American wine... in fiascos. The latest two red wine releases by former Manhattan sommelier, Patrick Cappiello, are both fulfillments of one of his...
View Article