Are you curious about what goes on “behind the scenes” in that bottle of Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel you’re enjoying?
If you’ve seen the film Sideways, you might remember the scene when the character played by Virginia Madsen takes a sip of very old wine and thinks about the people who made the wine and are no longer alive.
That scene might have been the first time that viewers really thought about where their wine was made, and who made it.
Well, imagine all the history you would “drink in” (well used pun) if you, like our little group of post-trippers from the Wine Bloggers Conference 2016 focusing on Old Vine Zinfandel wine, took a voyage to some of the oldest vineyards in Lodi to see the Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel vines.
Our guide for the Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel was the celebrated Randy Caparoso, sommelier, wine writer, and all around nice guy!
Bravely, he stood in the bus, explaining the history of the region and enticing us about the ancient vines we would soon see!
The first vineyard, Bechthold is one of the oldest vineyards in Lodi, planted in 1886. The vineyard is planted with Cinsault, and gives good yields despite its age. Owned until recently by the late Al Bechthold, it is such a valuable, prized vineyard virtually every famous winery in the area wants a section of its fruit (Turley, Randall Grahm, Michael David, Onesta, Fields’ Family, and more). Also purchasing fruit from Bechthold: Clos Saron, Scholium Project, & Odisea
Greeting us in the vineyard is Kevin Phillips of Michael David Winery/Phillips Farms, who had left the joy of splashing around in a cool pool to be with us in the vineyard on this 100+ degree day.
Interestingly, the 25 acre Bechthold vineyard produces two styles of wine depending on if the grapes are sourced from the plots near the river, where they have more access to water, or sourced from the sandy interior where the vines reach down thirty feet and more.
After tasting wine made from the Cinsault grapes made on this very soil from several of the producers, we walked down ten feet to meet Onesta Wines’ winemaker Jillian Johnson, and Fields Family Wines’ winemaker Ryan Sherman. Both Jillian and Ryan spoke about their wines, the vineyard, and poured different styles of their Cinsault wine.
We next experienced a tasting led by winegrower and vineyard owner Todd Maley (Maley Bros.) and winemaker Chad Joseph at Wegat Vineyard in Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA, on the west side. The West side is marked by loamier soils with slightly more water holding capacity. Also the temperature is slightly cooler because there is more proximity to the Delta.
Afterwards, at Mohr-Fry Ranches’ Marian’s Vineyard in Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA (South Side) we are greeted by Bruce Fry and his father Jerry Fry. Bruce cut a cluster of Tokay vines for us to taste on the bus before we descended into the luscious Zinfandel vineyard where the grapes are luscious fat and ripe, and have a few more weeks before they would be picked.
The last vineyard visit of the day is McCay Cellars Lot 13 Vineyard, where a tent has been erected for us. Here, we are greeted by McCay Cellars’ winegrower/winemaker Michael McCay and Bokisch Vineyards’ winemaker Elyse Perry who give us taste of their Old Vine Zinfandel, Carignan, and Tempranillo.
With that, we depart for Macchia Wines, where we hear a fabulous presentation about the “Lodi NativeProject,” created to highlight, in part, the unique characteristics of six single vineyards in the area (most from Lodi’s Mokelumne River appellation, all from different producers. The idea is to let the old vines speak about the terroir so the wines are all fermented with native yeasts, no new oak is allowed. No fining or filtration either.
In turn, each of the six producers stood up and presented their wines. It was remarkable how Zinfandel could be expressed so differently. And what was impressive about all the wines were their silky, elegant tannins – one does not usually think of elegant tannins and Zinfandel together.
The wines were all 2013 and were from the producers below:
Fields Family
Macchia
Maley Brothers
m2 wines
St.Amant
McCay Cellars
After the tasting, we experienced some rose and white wines before dinner and the finale of our #WBC16 experience.