San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Lodi capitalizes on Mediterranean climate, soils to create unique varietals
Winemaker Susan Tipton, right, pours a tasting for a customer at Acquiesce Winery in 2019. The winery features estate grown, all white wine Rhône varietals.
If it feels like winemakers in Lodi are speaking different languages these days, they often are. That’s because the region, once known primarily for its Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon, is now growing more and more global varieties, capitalizing on its prime Mediterranean climate and soils perfect for distinctive grapes.
Winery visitors will hear what are likely unfamiliar words being bandied about — Albariño, Weissburgunder, Cinsaut, Clairette Blanche, Bourboulenc and Teroldego. These are the names of more obscure grapes originated in faraway places like Spain, Germany, Morocco, France and Italy.
And increasingly, the wines are gaining notice by professional critics, too. In this year’s San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, Lodi’s Harney Lane Winery & Vineyards won a Double Gold medal for its 2019 Albariño, a white wine made from grapes planted along the Mokelumne River. Acampo’s Acquiesce Winery & Vineyards won a Gold for its 2019 Bourboulenc, a Gold for its 2019 Clairette Blanche and Golds for both its 2018 and 2019 Belle Blanc. Estate Crush,
Details
Harney Lane Winery & Vineyard: 9010 E. Harney Lane, Lodi, 2093651900, www.harneylane.com
Acquiesce Winery & Vineyard: 22353 N. Tretheway Road, Acampo, 2093336102, www.acquiescevineyards.com
Estate Crush: 2 W. Lockeford St., Lodi, 2093687595, www.estatecrush.com
Klinker Brick Winery: 15887 N. Alpine Road, Lodi, 2093331845, www.klinkerbrickwinery.com
Stonum Vineyards: 16388 N. Alpine Road, Lodi, 2092248130, www.stonumvineyards.com
Oak Ridge Winery: 6100 E. Victor Road, Lodi, 2093694769, www.oakridgewinery.com
Visitor Center: 25 N. School St., Lodi 2093651195, www.visitlodi.com
meanwhile, won a Gold for its Lodigrown 2019 Rosé of Cinsaut, and the list of other Lodi winners goes on.
“I believe the increase in popularity of these lesserknown varietals has to do with the accessibility that the wine industry is providing,” said winemaker Joseph Smith, who works with Klinker Brick Winery in Lodi, producing signatures like a sparkling Albariño, Spanishstyle Grenache Blanc and a semisweet Vorganger Blend of Germanstyle Gewürztraminer, Rieslaner and Weissburgunder. “As a winemaker, I pride myself in creating wines outside the box, while young wine drinkers are more adventurous these
days, so there’s an audience for them.”
Albariño has been in the spotlight more in the past decade, as consumers have discovered the Spanish white wine’s traditionally refreshing citrus, peach, apricot and melon notes and a signature mineral quality.
After more than a century of farming wine grapes, the Mettler family began making their own wine with standouts like Spanishstyle Tempranillo and that awardwinning Albariño.
“We sustainably farm 120 acres of our own vineyards, certified green under the Lodi Rules sustainable viticulture program,” Harney Lane owner Kathy Mettler said.
Laura AguayoGuevara, left, and Victoria Flores wine taste at Harney Lane Winery in 2019. The winery won a Double Gold medal for its 2019 Albariño in this year’s San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
“Our grapes are then handpicked and fermented in small lots.”
For the Rhône wines produced at Acquiesce Winery, owner and winemaker Susan Tipton likes to tell the story of securing vine cuttings from the famed Château de Beaucastel of Châteauneuf du Pape, France, then planting her own for her first wine release in 2011.
“Our 18acre property is Lodi’s only winery featuring estate grown, all white wine Rhône varietals,” Tipton said. “Our climate is very similar to that of the Southern Rhône, with cool nighttime breezes from the Mokelumne River nearby giving our grapes their ripe, fruity flavors with excellent balance.”
Bourboulenc is a wine primarily grown in southern France. And Acquiesce claims to be the first winery in the U.S. to release this ancient European varietal. It’s growing in popularity for its notable natural acidity, with the Acquiesce style showcasing beeswax on the nose, orange and key lime and crisp minerality with a honeyed finish.
The winery’s Clairette Blanche is another rare varietal in California, but has been prized in France since the 1500s, noted Tipton.
“The grapes were harvested in the early morning to keep acidity at its highest, providing the vibrancy in the wine,” she said.
Acquiesce’s Gold Medal Belle Blanc is its own unique creature, as a blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Viognier, for a rich, floral wine edged with Anjou pear, apricots, almonds and honey.
Then there’s the 2020 Fiano introduced by Oak Farm Vineyards. Fiano is a highquality, whitewine grape variety used widely in southern Italy and grows well in Lodi because of similar climates. It is fresh on the palate with vibrant notes of buttered pecan, honey and lime rind.
Estate Crush is another outofthebox way to explore Lodi’s unusual wines. Operating as a tasting room combined with a boutique winery
making custom, smallproduction wines, it offers some three dozen brands and nearly 100 wines for tasting and purchase. Its own awardwinning Rosé of Cinsaut uses grapes from Lodi’s prestigious Bechthold Vineyard. Other wines you might see on the rotating list include selections like Little Star Italianstyle Barbera, Sicilianstyle Nero d’Avola and Tall House Vineyards Northern Italianstyle Teroldego.
At Lodi’s Stonum Vineyards, meanwhile, ownerswinemakers Mike and Kathy Stonum craft what they call “single vineyard wines in an Old World, minimalistic style.” While they do produce more commonly known grapes like Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Zinfandel, they also offer a somewhat unusual MJS Zinfandel Dessert Wine with just 130 cases produced for the most recent 2016 vintage. The Portstyle sipper marries notes of black cherry, milk chocolate and brown sugar, making it a distinctive dessert all on its own.
Making the interesting wines even more attractive are the typically low price points. Many Lodi vineyards have been familyowned for decades or even more than a century, keeping business costs lower than in nearby regions. Many of the top awardwinning San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition wines are sold in the $20 to $35 range. And a newly released wine, the 2020 Oak Ridge Winery sixmonthaged OZV Rosé of Primitivo can be had for just $13.
As a fourthgeneration grapegrower, Oak Ridge’s Raquel MaggioCasity notes that her property is the oldest operating winery in Lodi, founded by her greatgrandfather, Angelo Maggio, after he left his homeland Italy in 1906.
The Italianstyle Rosé of Primitivo is a “summer favorite,” she said. “Bright, crisp and balanced.” And perhaps not surprisingly, she enjoys the uncommon wine with an uncommon pairing: “Buttermilk waffles and fresh strawberries on top.”