Ripe for success: After tough start, local vintner hits his stride
Ryan Sherman fondly reflects on the 2010 vintage.
It was a special year. Everything fell into place.
The fruit quality was phenomenal. The weather allowed for longer hang times, giving the grapes tremendous depth and complexity, he said.
Sherman was only in his third year as a vintner with partner Russ Fields at Fields Family Wines in Lodi. The 2010 Fields Family Petite Sirah, Syrah, Tempranillo and Zinfandel still hold great significance to their creator.
“Those wines now in the bottles are remarkable specimens,” Sherman said. “I look back on those wines with a lot of pride in the sense we were only in our third vintage figuring things out and learning and paying attention to our mistakes to get better. I developed a lot more confidence in myself as a winemaker.”
Sherman has come a long way in a short time as a vintner. About 15 years ago, after a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry, Sherman joined his family’s real estate company, Sherman & Associates in Lodi. Shortly thereafter, he connected with Fields, a Sacramento-based attorney and Lodi resident whose dream was to open a winery. Sherman began making wine and in 2008, they opened Fields Family Wines on Russ Fields’ beautiful property on Woodbridge Road, which includes vineyards, two homes, the winery and tasting room and a wine studio for private tastings.
Sherman said the going was tough early, as he found his footing as a winemaker through trial and error. Since then, Sherman has built the reputation he enjoys today: a winemaker in full stride, crafting small lots of Fields Family’s acclaimed Zinfandel and Rhone varieties and branching into white wines that have received critical plaudits.
Martin Redmond, author of the ENOFYLZ Wine Blog, wrote of the 2016 Fields Family Vermentino Delu Vineyard, “This is easily the best Vermentino I’ve ever had! There’s remarkable depth, complexity and texture here.”
The 2017 Fields Family Vermentino Delu Vineyard ($21) is Sherman’s third vintage from Kevin Delu’s plot in Lodi’s Alta Mesa sub-American Viticultural Area. The Delu vineyard also sourced the 2016 Fields Family Grenache Blanc ($24). The 2017 Fields Family Grenache Blanc ($24) comes from two rows planted on Fields’ property near two rows of Vermentino beside an area planted with Mourvèdre. Behind Fields’ home stands a refurbished Tempranillo vineyard that soon will come on line. On the eastern edge of the property are nine rows of meticulously farmed Syrah, the variety that put Fields Family Wines on the map.
Vermentino and Grenache Blanc are blended 50-50 in the 2017 Elysian Fields White Blend ($21). The estate Mourvèdre and Syrah, along with Grenache from Gregg Lewis’ vineyard in Clements Hills, go into a GSM blend, the 2014 Vin Du Sol ($25). The 2014 Fields Family Tempranillo ($28) comes from Mike McCay’s Lot 13 vineyard in the Mokelumne River sub-AVA.
Sherman sourced the 2014 Fields Family Old Vine Zinfandel ($28) from the Perlegos family’s Stampede vineyard in Lodi’s Clements Hills sub-AVA, which dates to the 1920s. Sherman is expecting great things from a yet-to-be-released Zinfandel out of Tegan Passalacqua’s Kirschenmann old vine vineyard.
“It’s really, really nice,” Sherman said. “I’m real excited to have people taste it.”
Sherman also made a 2016 Cinsault (sold out) from the ancient Bechthold vineyard in Lodi, a 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon ($59) from Dr. Konrad’s vineyard on Mt. Veeder in Napa and a 2015 Pinot Noir ($42) from the Placida Vineyard in Russian River Valley.
“It takes a good six, seven, eight years to get fruit from one vineyard before you can really truly see Mother Nature’s variations and your own practices in the winery,” Sherman said. “So, now we’re well into eight years with some of the same vineyards. I know what this is going to deliver, so if we do this, then this can happen.”
Sherman has been involved in the lauded Lodi Native project since its inception with the 2012 vintage. Lodi Native’s strict protocol of minimal intervention in crafting single-vineyard, old vine Zinfandels is much in line with his philosophy at Fields Family Wines.
Sherman said running a wine program has been therapeutic, a chance to show his creative side and interact with people on an almost daily basis about two of his favorite subjects -food and wine.
“I love it,” Sherman said. “That’s the satisfaction for me are those people and those relationships and friendships. When I come to the winery, this is a chance for me to embrace a little bit of the creative side. It’s nice for me.”
Sherman and his wife, Jalynn, and their daughters Julia (17) and Sarah (14) reside in Lodi.