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• Lodi Unified school's reading program has gone to the dogs

• Inmate briefly flees from custody at Stockton courthouse

• Lodi City Council approves farmers market at Lodi Lake

• DeBenedetti Park will move forward with construction

• Trustee elections could undergo a change at San Joaquin Delta College

• Only a few parts of Lodi area will be included on flood map

• Galt Planning Commission debate could go to vote

• Clarification

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

February 2nd, 2010

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Jumpers across California

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

February 1st, 2010

• Find cuddly alpacas not too far from Lodi

• Public Meetings

• Patients can expect faster, better service when Lodi Memorial Hospital's new emergency room opens

• Man killed by Amtrak train in Lodi

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (73)
• President Obama's first year (67)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future (60)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (49)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (31)

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Michael-David Winery honored for tourism efforts

Michael-David Winery began in 1984 when Don Phillips and his son Michael made a few thousand cases of Syrah, Carignan and Cabernet. David Phillips was going to the University of California, Davis at the time, and joined his father and brother after graduating.

Though they've grown steadily over the last 25 years, it wasn't until the last nine that things really began to take off. The Kettleman Lane winery, tasting room, cafe and home of Phillips Farms receives around 1,000 visitors each weekend. They've quadrupled the size of their tasting room to accommodate their guests, and now employ over 100 people on site and across the nation.

Because of their efforts in drawing the world's attention to Lodi and its wines, Michael-David Winery is being honored by Visit Lodi! as Winery of the Year at its 2009 luncheon and award ceremony on May 14.

David Phillips took a moment away to talk with Business Editor Marc Lutz about the winery and how it has bolstered tourism in Lodi.

Where in the world can people buy Michael-David wines?

All 50 states, and most every province in Canada. Currently we're selling our wine in Hong Kong, South Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden. And parts of the Caribbean.

What's the furthest someone has traveled to buy a bottle of wine directly from you?

We've had people from everywhere in the world. I know we've had people from Bangkok, Thailand. We get visitors from all 50 states, too. Just last weekend there was a group of ladies from Virginia and Texas who are all high school friends. Every year they go on a girls trip, and this year they came to Lodi and stayed at the Hampton Inn.

I said, "Why did you come to Lodi?"

"Because we love Lodi wines."

Instead of going to San Francisco or Vegas, they came to Lodi. That's the future of our tourism.

During your years in business, what's the greatest reward you've received as a winery?

There's been numerous ones, but the one that comes to mind that really set us off was, in the year 2000 we were still a tiny winery. Michael and I made a wine called Rousanne from Richard Ripken's grapes. We made 270 cases of this wine and entered it into a contest in Los Angeles. It was the Rhone Wines of the World competition, and we won best Rhone wine in the world.

Next thing you know we had radio stations calling us. At that time we were still unknown. That's when the wine was still called Phillips.

Who has been your biggest influence in the way you run your business?

Our dad, of course: "Don't buy things you can't afford." He grew up during the Depression, so he's always been very frugal. Don't get too far under water.

For me a good mentor was ... Robert Mondavi Winery, seeing the things they did right and the things they did wrong, and learning from those experiences. (Mondavi) did a lot to promote Lodi.

What does the honor of Winery of the Year mean to you?

We're happy to be recognized that we provide a service that makes people want to come here. We have a product that makes people seek out Lodi ... a product that makes people happy.

Contact Business Editor Marc Lutz at marcl@lodinews.com.