What's newFestival visitors can get taste of Lodi wines
By Greg Kane
News-Sentinel Business Editor
Wine lovers at this year’s Grape Festival will be treated to a wide array of varieties from Van Ruiten Family Winery, the festival’s first-ever featured winemaker. Enthusiasts who want to sample other local labels at the festival won’t be left in the dark, however.
Eight Lodi wineries — including Van Ruiten Family Vineyards — will be pouring their wines at the second annual Taste of the Festival event on Sept. 15. Held in the Grape Festival Pavilion from 6-9 p.m., the event features select food, entertainment and games from the festival, which kicks off its 67th year the following day.
The event is a fund raiser for both scholarship programs and the nonprofit groups participating in the grape mural contest, said Mark Armstrong, general manager of the Lodi Grape Festival and Harvest Fair. For $50 a ticket, participants can help out a good cause and try lots of great food and wine, he said.
“Our goal is really to get people to come in for a special preview,” Armstrong said. “They get an inside look at what the fair is going to be like.”
There are eight local wineries participating in this year’s tasting event: Harmony Wynelands, Vino Con Brio, Oak Ridge, Kreig’s Kellar, Klinker Brick, Berghold, Jewel and Van Ruiten. The event’s organizers hope to rotate participating wineries every year to give all the local vintners a chance to pour, Armstrong said.
“The (Grape Festival) committee went out and handpicked the wineries to pour wine,” he said. “Over three or four years, we’ll try to get everybody.”
Linda Hartzell, owner of Harmony Wynelands on Harney Lane, said she is excited about the opportunity to showcase the label’s wines. The winery recently brought home gold, silver and bronze medals form the California State Fair Wine Competition, and the chance to share that success with Lodi residents will be a nice reward.
“It’s a great opportunity for the whole Lodi area,” Hartzell said. “There are so many great wines here, and any opportunity to showcase them is a good one.”
Harmony Wynelands will be pouring its old vine zinfandel and chardonnay varieties at the event, and may pull out a few others to sample as well, Hartzell said.
Renae Matson, owner of Vino Con Brio in Lockeford, said events like Taste of the Festival give people a chance to chat about wines with the vintners themselves. That personal interaction allows people to connect to the winery in ways they hadn’t been able to before.
“Your customer gets to meet you and put a face to your wine,” Matson said. “They get to know what’s unique about your winery.”
Among the wines available form Vino Con Brio will be the winery’s pinotage variety, a medium-bodied red wine popular in South Africa. Vino Con Brio is the only local winery to produce the variety, Matson said.
The Taste of the Festival event is Sept. 15 from 6-9 p.m. Tickets are $50.
The Lodi Grape Festival and Harvest Fair runs from Thursday, Sept. 16-Sunday, Sept. 19.
For more information, call 369-2771 or visit www.grapefestival.com.
