Zinfandel
Lodi, California
- Vintage: 2007
- Appellation: Lodi, California
- Grape: Zinfandel
- Alcohol by volume: 14.5%
- Release date: February 1, 2009
Taste: Lodi is to Zinfandel what Napa is to Cabernet. Lodi zins are big, powerful wines with great depth and complexity. This wine comes from vineyards with not just old vines but ancient vines, some 100 years old. The vines are low yield but provide fruit of excellent quality. There is dark fruit on the nose and a beautiful, intense dark-berry flavor on the palate. This wine has all the depth and complexity you'd expect. It is produced for us by one of California's most respected winemakers.
Region: Lodi was originally a 49,000-acre Spanish land grant acquired by Captain Charles Weber during the California Gold Rush in the mid-1800s. Now known as the Lodi appellation, Weber's land grant became the first area winery after Weber, together with his friend George West, supplemented his local wild vines with 40 varieties brought from Boston. They named their land "El Pinal Winery." At this same time, the first Zinfandel grapes in the state were planted by Agoston Haraszthy, the grandfather of California viticulture. By the 1890s, area growers discovered that Zinfandel thrived in the local soil, and in 1986 the Lodi appellation was officially recognized as an American Viticulture Area. Today the Lodi area produces a premium-grape yield valued in excess of $300 million, more than that of the Sonoma and Napa regions combined, and produces both national and international award-winning wines.
The Lodi climate uniquely enjoys the cooling afternoon and evening breezes from the San Francisco Bay Delta, and with warm, dry summers and cool winters, the climate closely resembles that of the Mediterranean. Lodi is also known for producing ripe forward fruit with soft, polished tannins.
Region: Lodi was originally a 49,000-acre Spanish land grant acquired by Captain Charles Weber during the California Gold Rush in the mid-1800s. Now known as the Lodi appellation, Weber's land grant became the first area winery after Weber, together with his friend George West, supplemented his local wild vines with 40 varieties brought from Boston. They named their land "El Pinal Winery." At this same time, the first Zinfandel grapes in the state were planted by Agoston Haraszthy, the grandfather of California viticulture. By the 1890s, area growers discovered that Zinfandel thrived in the local soil, and in 1986 the Lodi appellation was officially recognized as an American Viticulture Area. Today the Lodi area produces a premium-grape yield valued in excess of $300 million, more than that of the Sonoma and Napa regions combined, and produces both national and international award-winning wines.
The Lodi climate uniquely enjoys the cooling afternoon and evening breezes from the San Francisco Bay Delta, and with warm, dry summers and cool winters, the climate closely resembles that of the Mediterranean. Lodi is also known for producing ripe forward fruit with soft, polished tannins.
