Wine Country offers new adventures every day

Here’s an easy solution for Lodi visitors who don’t know where to go to sample some of the area’s wines: Pick a direction. Start driving. You’re bound to run into a winery pretty quickly.

Lodi’s landscape is specked with wineries large and small. West of the city lies vistas of lush vineyards and boutique wineries. To the east sits Vino Piazza, a wine plaza featuring nine different wineries.

And to the north is such large winemakers as Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi and the Jewel Collection.

The area’s abundance of wineries and tasting rooms has drawn the attention of visitors who normally trek to Napa and Sonoma to experience wine tasting.

“We’re seeing people from literally all over the world here,” said Mark Chandler, executive director of the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission.

Lodi doesn’t consider its vineyards and wineries as part of a “wine trail,” Chandler said. The region is more of a “wine country,” where visitors can choose their own adventures as they venture from one winery to the next.

On the city’s western edge, for example, tourists can start at the Lodi Wine and Visitor Center on 2545 W. Turner Rd., then travel west toward The Lucas Winery and Jessie’s Grove. After swinging down DeVries Road to hit Spenker Winery, they can visit Michael-David Vineyards and Van Ruiten Family Winery on West Highway 12.

Another tour could begin at the region’s largest winery, Woodbridge, on East Woodbridge Road. A quick trip down Highway 99 and onto East Turner Road will take them to Grands Amis Winery, Bokisch Vineyards and St. Amant Winery.

Following West Highway 12 will take visitors by Oak Ridge and Berghold wineries, then on to Vino Piazza, a collection of small winemakers under one roof.

Wine Country maps are available at the Wine and Visitors Center as well as at local wineries (also, see map in this publication). The city also will post 28 directional signs at intersections across the region this summer that will direct tourists to various wineries, Chandler said.

Those directions are sure to get a lot of use in the coming years as more and more people learn what Lodi’s wine country has to offer.

“People are looking for something different,” Chandler said. “Lodi is the perfect fit.”

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