Lodi Wine Utopia

As a conscientious Lodi resident, I figured I’d better submit my suggestions for the General Plan while it is still coming together.

Completely selfishly, I’m happy to see the business and city leadership staking the future of our precious town on the wine industry.

I’m squarely in the camp of subscribers to the idea that more recognition for the quality of our local wines will improve the quantity of dollars that fourth-generation wine growers receive for grapes. That, in turn, is really the best way to maintain our unique identity and prevent us from becoming North Stockton.

A thriving School Street with a critical mass of interesting wall-to-wall stores and restaurants, along with recognized national brands and a nice hotel, circled by New York style brownstones would keep overnight guests coming back for more.

Continued access for wineries to our state-of-the-art water treatment plant at White Slough will help grow successful boutique wineries to the next level. Safe bike paths and trails to the wineries would also be nice.

Good-sized “Welcome to Lodi” signs on the east and west approaches with photo-op turnouts wouldn’t hurt in establishing our collective brand.

High-density office complexes, like Blue Shield, located on the industrial east side would encourage restaurants serving the lunch rush and give commuters ideas for spending the weekend with the family shopping and tasting the best of Lodi.

Great Wine from Disgusting Grapes

While working at one Lodi winery years ago, the winemaker rounded up the skeleton cellar crew at the end of crush to hand-pick whatever Zin was left hanging on the vines.

Having already cleaned up the crush equipment, I wasn’t too pleased to see a couple of bins of hairy grey and green grapes waiting to restart the winemaking process.

We decided to make the Zin a “Port” by adding 190 proof distilled alcohol while the yeast were still fermenting the wine, leaving it deliciously sweet.

Fortunately, this Zin dessert wine turned out pretty nicely.

For all the whining I’ve been doing about the rains botching the tail end of harvest, all this moisture has actually been a huge benefit to those producing Sauternes-style or Late Harvest white wines.

In Richard Ripken’s vineyard, for example, the good mold, Botrytis, in many years loses out to the bad Penicillium mold in his thin-skinned “Neuf-du-Pape” clone of Viognier, meaning he can make very little or none of his award-winning Late Harvest Viognier.

Fog and humidity this year, however, were ideal to allow a few early-shriveling Botrytis-infested grapes to send spores through the field, covering 100% of clusters with perfect fuzz practically overnight.

I can’t wait to drink that!

Lodi’s Spanish Maestro

The average wine drinker is familiar with Chardonnay and Merlot, but few know about Spanish varieties from Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, such as Albariño, Graciano, or even Tempranillo.

With many similarities in climate, Spanish wines are a natural fit in Lodi, which is one reason Markus and Liz Bokisch of Bokisch Vineyards decided to bet the farm on their future success.

I’ve been fortunate to get to know Markus and Liz while consulting on their wine club, and from the turnout of new guests to their bi-annual club party on Sunday, it appears their bet is paying off.

A consultant himself to vineyard owners as far as Hungary, as well as winemaker and grower, Markus is developing a following in the academic world, having been a guest lecturer on “Aroma and flavor profiles for Spanish varieties in different California terroirs“ at a symposium on the “Grapes of Iberia” held at UC Davis in May.

Just last week, Mike Dunn, a longtime wine writer for the Sacramento Bee, shined a spotlight on the Bokisch 2007 Garnacha (a.k.a. Grenache).

If you are interested in getting a feel for much of the immense detail and thought that goes into producing exciting, organically-grown wines, you ought to give Markus’ lecture a spin.

The Dreaded, Needed Rain

While underground Lodi aquifers desperately needed Monday’s bit of rain, grapes clinging to vines above ground did not need this second watering of the season.

Last Tuesday-the-13th’s drenching greatly encouraged hanging grapes to form moldy gray or white beards, similar to what you’d see on leftovers in the back of your fridge.

All these days of below-average temperatures, filled with morning fog and heavy dew with little wind, have been enough to grow quite a crop of Aspergillus and Botrytis fungi, breaking down thin-skinned grape varieties, such as Merlot, Malbec and Petite Sirah.

Cabernet Sauvignon is still hanging in many vineyards, but its thicker, tannic skin and loose clusters make it harder for the molds to do much damage.

Luckily, with what now looks like a pretty large crop, pickers can leave behind anything that looks particularly nasty, meaning that when all is said and done, 2009 will perhaps weigh out to be near average on the books.

In the winery, we’ll be adding more sulfur dioxide than usual to grapes in the stemmer-crusher to kill off unwanted organisms, leveling the playing field for desired yeasts. Unfortunately, some molds can cause a bleaching loss of color, which could result in some recently-picked grape lots making lighter wine than usual.

But aside from rot, I was surprised to hear that last Tuesday amounted to a “perfect storm” of rain-heavy leaves with tons of grapes, loose, wet dirt, and strong southerly winds that literally knocked over whole vine rows like dominoes – a depressing, almost sickening sight.

I’ve received reports of over a hundred acres of rows on their sides in the Borden Ranch area, northeast of Lodi, and near Lockeford.

The slightly tipsy, top-heavy “quad” trellis systems were part of the issue, which fan out four arms per vine on T-shaped supports, rather than the usual in-line two.

The T-supports fortunately keep the vines from completely breaking off, and with the soft, water-soaked dirt giving way and cushioning the place where each vine bent over, these plants may not suffer any permanent damage.

To get them standing straight again, a crew will need to harvest the fruit from off the ground – backbreaking work. The lighter vines will then need to be lifted up with a line of workers as long as the row, all heaving together.

2009 may therefore be remembered as an excellent-mediocre vintage, with those who picked before the rain producing the most amazing wines.

Lodi Gains on Value

I was thrilled to see a new Wines & Vines Magazine article titled, “Bright Spots for Domestic Wine Sales – Surveys look positive for tasting room sales and regions of Lodi, Paso Robles, Sonoma.”

That’s great news as we deal with pulling out of this recession.

Here are more encouraging words from the article, based on a recent survey by consumer research company Wine Opinions headed by John Gillespie and Christian Miller:

“One of the most noteworthy findings, Gillespie said, was an uptick in the amount of wine California residents are purchasing from the Lodi region. In-state sales to California residents grew ‘more so than you might expect, with more weakness on the Napa Valley side, because of [their higher] price points.’”

The survey clearly defines a, “significant barrier set at $20, with purchases below that price point much more frequent, and purchases above this price point much less frequent.”

Though we don’t like to talk in terms of competition in the wine industry, I’d venture to say Paso will be giving us a run for wine drinkers’ money.

Paso’s warm climate is similar to ours, producing potentially similar wines. And while Lodi gained 7 percentage points with high-frequency wine buyers over the past 12 months, Paso gained 30 points.

A Direct Hit

Sunday’s first-ever Treasure Island WineFest was a big hit.

The perfect-sized crowd of more than 1,500 true wine enthusiasts braved chill winds and overcast skies to sample for the first time 200 Lodi wines in a cozy tent.

Around 3pm, a loud roar of jet engines within sling-shot distance practically emptied the tent. Guests with glasses of Lodi Zin watched a diamond formation of Blue Angels soar low in front of the San Francisco skyline.

I overheard one guest say, “It doesn’t get much better than this.”

Everywhere you looked were flyers for Lodi’s Third Annual First Sip coming November 14-15. We’re hoping the success of the event will start showing up in new Web site orders and new Bay Area faces in our tasting rooms!

Meanwhile, don’t miss our School Street Stroll this Friday. Invite some of your out-of-town friends for a special-rate Wine Stroll Package on October 16 at the Hampton Inn & Suites or the brand new Holiday Inn Express.

Take them out to Woodbridge Winery for their annual Chili Cook Off the next day, and while you’re wolfing down con carne, take a refreshing sip of the 2007 Sauvignon blanc ($8) just named one of the 100 Best Buys for 2009 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

(You can find more of my photos of the Treasure Island WineFest on my facebook page - and while you’re there, friend me up!)

Profit Panic

Here it is, the second week of October, and the word in the field is that perhaps 85 percent of Lodi’s grapes are safely on their way to becoming 2009 wines.

What’s left in the path of former typhoon Melor are what one prominent grower referred to as “My profit.”

The “all hands on deck” message went out on Sunday and Monday to try and bring in as many grapes as humanly possible to protect them from rot resulting from up to two inches of rain forecasted to drench vineyards on Tuesday.

As is typical, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and some Merlot and Zin are still hanging on vines. In other regions, such as Sonoma and the Foothills, a larger percentage is still out there.

One winemaker isn’t worried: “That will save me having to add water.” In other words, the vines will naturally dilute some already high grape sugars, resulting in alcohol levels that yeast can ferment properly.

However, most people forget that with rain comes slippery mud, making use of tractors or harvesters in the fields almost impossible.

If drying winds and warmer temperatures can improve conditions before another band of rain hits next week, 2009 could still be a vintage of excellent quality for all varieties.

Red Anti-Virus

Can’t wait to the end of the month for the H1N1 vaccine? Perhaps you should pour yourself a glass or two of a Lodi Zin!

According to a new study, published in the July issue of the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, and written-up in the Wine Spectator, that hard-to-pronounce compound, Resveratrol, found in red wines may stop viruses from reproducing.

A single virus snaps onto one of the cells in your lung, for example, then injects its viral DNA which goes to work replicating itself and hijacking the cell to manufacture more viruses.

In some way not yet understood, Resveratrol interferes with replication of viral DNA, keeping your lung cell from becoming a breeder of more viruses, which means you stay healthy.

The researchers were working with a virus that causes easily-measured tumors in mice. Tumors that were arrested began growing again when Resveratrol was withheld for four hours, allowing them to help establish the effectiveness of the compound.

Since viruses are being linked to cancers, these discoveries could lead the way to potential cures.

The only trouble is that this study is using concentrations of Resveratrol equal to much more wine that you’d be able to drink in a day!

Crush Empire

Believe it or not, there’s a custom-crush empire being built in our own backyard, owned by the Rippey family based in Acampo.

This week, father and son Dennis and Tyson Rippey begin crushing at their brand-new Carneros Vintners custom crush winery located on Stage Gulch Road near Sonoma.

Their 52,000-square-foot facility is permitted to handle up to a million gallons of wine per year, but they’ll start with about 1,000 tons of 2009 fruit.

In 1991, the Rippeys purchased the old Urgon Winery, which happened to be Lodi’s very first winery to be bonded in 1900, later known as the Turner Winery. Located on the crucial main rail line in Acampo on Woodbridge Road, the Rippeys renamed the winery Lodi Vintners and increased capacity from a million gallons up to six million today.

The empire was christened The Vintners Group and plans to eventually produce three million gallons of wine in Carneros. According to the Press Democrat, they are, “scouting for opportunities to acquire wineries suitable for custom-processing in Napa Valley, the Central Coast and potentially other West Coast states.”

If you see the Rippey name down in Mexico, don’t be surprised, Dennis owns a pub there being fitted with a wine bar by Tyson.

Caffeine Fix

Most people I know in the wine business don’t drink much, if any, wine in the wee hours of the morning. Many don’t even drink wine every day, which may come as a shock to some of you.

There is one beverage that most do drink every day: coffee.

I would argue that the old expression, “It takes a lot of beer to make good wine,” pales in comparison to the huge amount of coffee it takes to make good wine.

The cellar crew would give me strange looks when I declined a morning carafe, revealing that the secret to my spunkiness is a big pot of oatmeal every morning. However, over the years I gave in to the addictive temptations of a hot cup of something with a shot of espresso.

During these last few lean years, my winery partner, Nick Sikeotis and I used to enjoy using the excuse of heading out to the vineyards to justify splurging for a Starbucks non-fat latte and triple-shot mocha in a kiddie cup.

A couple of my client wineries regularly offer me their own money-saving, Nespresso-machine-made espressos, tempting me with the same marketing skills learned by selling wine.

Get ready for the latest winery job: winebarista!

(Photo shows Leonard Cicerello of Lodi Wines doing a head-to-head comparison of a couple of riffs on Nespressos made in the cellar at Borra Vineyards.)