When you hear Ross Schmiedt talking about the quality of wines, his family history, and sustainable grape growing — something he does all the time, with inspiring ebullience even from the confines of his wheelchair (in recent years Schmiedt has been impaired by ALS) — you soon realize that in his mind, all three things are one and the same.

First, about wine quality: You will not find a purer, less mucked up expression of Lodi AVA grown Zinfandel than the 2010 Twisted Roots 1918 Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel ($25): An unusually zesty, almost prickly-briary, yet smoothly balanced, moderately weighted style of red wine that is all about the varietal’s quivery raspberry preserve qualities, with light twists of pepper — no more, no less.