Story Tools

Email this story | Print this story

Indexes

Today's Stories

Last 7 Days

Top Blogs

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Regional Roundup

• Public Meetings

• Correction

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? (75)
• 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)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)

ADVERTISEMENT

Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

Some 40 wineries presented their recently harvested 2009 vintage while showing off some of their older varieties during Lodi's First Sip weekend Saturday and Sunday.

Some wineries had visitors tasting the area's newest wines straight out of the barrel.

For example, a Dancing Fox employee in Downtown Lodi took some Merlot — tasting like a dessert wine — from a barrel with an instrument resembling a giant-sized syringe and poured it into a wine glass.

However, Dancing Fox owner Colleen Lewis had her older varieties available for visitors to sample. So did Lodi Wine Cellars and Grands Amis.

"You don't (normally) get to taste right out of the barrels," Lodi resident Heather Bradley said while sampling wines at Grands Amis Winery, also in Downtown Lodi. "At Vicarmont (on Locust Tree Road), the Merlot was very good out of the barrel."

Roger Nicholas, winery operations director at Grands Amis, enjoys the idea of First Sip — sampling for the first time what was just harvested during the fall — but how many people come to a wine event to taste the newest?

Nicholas decided to show visitors new wine, one-year-old wine and older varieties so that everyone knows the difference.

"I brought a (Cabernet) — I just pressed it Monday — because I didn't have any other reds this year," Nicholas said. "It's a lot more fruity off harvest. No oak is introduced to it just yet."

Grands Amis also had two red wines that had been in a barrel for a year, but not bottled.

Sandi Alderson, of Acampo, enjoys wine at Lodi Wine Cellars on Pine Street Sunday during Lodi's First Sip on Sunday. (Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel)

---

---

"You can certainly taste the progression," Nicholas said.

Meanwhile, Lodi Wine Cellars on Pine Street focused on Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Sirah from 2006 this year, said Alan MacIsaac, who sells wine for the company. Charlotte Hallum, who also works at Lodi Wine Cellars, said many people came to Lodi from out of town, including Chico. Owner Bill Stokes added that he had visitors from as far as Fallon, Nev.

Wineries also served food, and some provided live entertainment to entice people to come to their business. Dancing Fox served homemade bread and different kinds of pizza samples, and Travis Vega played soft jazz on his guitar as people sampled wine and mingled. And a boutique was set up in the back, with people selling such items as scarves, scented candles and blankets.

"It's so nice that Lodi has these nice events," Acampo resident Sandi Alderson said while drinking wine at Lodi Wine Cellars. "I think it brings people to these wineries.".

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Travis Vega strums some jazz on his guitar to entertain visitors to Dancing Fox on School Street during Lodi's First Sip on Saturday and Sunday. (Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel)