STUCK IN LODI, AGAIN = Pt. 1

STUCK IN LODI, AGAIN

Pt. 1

OK – I’d actually never been to Lodi until this past Thanksgiving week when we visited brother Bob and sister-in-law, Nguyen, in Sacramento.  Always up for discovering new wines, we piled into their comfy refrigerator white Forrester, popped Creedence Clearwater Revival into the CD player and headed out to Lodi wine country, an area Richard and I were anxious to explore.

Our first stop… the Lodi Wine & Visitor Center for a map of the local wineries with tasting rooms and, lo and behold, we discovered the center had it’s very own tasting room: “Wines of Lodi.”  Let the “games” begin!

James was our barista, a fun, knowledgeable young guy who loved talking wine.  He told us that Wines of Lodi represented about sixty wineries and that a panel of judges, in a blind tasting, pick the best wines for the room’s wine club.

First up - the 2009 Peirano Estate The Other ($14) white blend of 65% chardonnay, 25% sauvignon blanc, and 10% viognier. Just scrumptious. Fruity, but with some vanilla keeping the wine from being “thin.” 

                                                                                                               

On to the reds.  My favorites included the 2009 Twisted Roots Cabernet Sauvignon ($23), the 2008 Ripken Vineyards Petite Sirah ($25), and two fabulous “old vine” wines… the 2009 Van Ruiten “Old Vine” Zinfandel ($23) and the 2008 Mettler Family Vineyard “Old Vine” very smoky zinfandel.                                                                                    

We could have tasted there all day, but it was time to get the map we came for and plan a winery root with James’ help.

Next stop: Harney Lane. 

Lodi Wine & Visitor 

2545 W. Turner Road

Lodi, Calif.  95242

209-365-0621