Lodi labels on display at Spring Wine Show

By Greg Kane
News-Sentinel Business Editor

Dozens of local winemakers will show off hundreds of wine tastes and varieties at the 24th annual Spring Wine Show Friday and Saturday evening at the Lodi Grape Festival Grounds.

The event features 45 wineries -- the vast majority of which come from the Lodi Appellation -- pouring everything from Barbera to Zinfandel for curious consumers. It allows local winemakers to showcase their products to the public, and also gives fledgling wine connoisseurs a chance to try out different varieties, said Mark Armstrong, general manager of the Lodi Grape Festival Grounds.

"It's a great opportunity to ask the people who actually made the wine questions," Armstrong said. "This is a crowd that wants to come and learn and try new wines."

More than 3,000 people turned out for last year's wine show, and organizers of this year's event expect that number to increase. The show is not limited to Lodians; wine lovers from across Northern California have attended past events, giving the city of Lodi and its wineries increased exposure, Armstrong said.

"It's a great experience for both our wineries and the whole area," he said.

David Lucas, owner of The Lucas Winery in Lodi, has participated in the show since it started in 1981 with less than a dozen wineries. He said the event has grown along with the local wine industry, which has increased its number of wineries from less than a dozen to more than 50 during the past 15 years.

Everything from local favorites to large wineries to hidden gems will be available for discovery at the wine show, Lucas said.

"People can taste wines that they didn't know about, that they can't find on the shelves," Lucas said. "It's a great opportunity to taste some of the fantastic wines we have here in Lodi."

The Jewel Collection winery was pouring at the 2001 wine show before it even had a building or tasting room to work out of, said Betty Hansen, vice president of consumer outreach. The winery understood the importance of getting its name out in the community -- both with consumers and colleagues.

"It just gave us a chance to meet the wine industry around here," Hansen said. "It also gave us an opportunity to get our name out to the wine audience."

Wine isn't the only delicacy being served at the show, either. Local restaurants and caterers, including Wine & Roses, Habanero Hots and Black Tie Catering, will serve hors d'oeuvres and other treats, and various stations throughout the building will have everything from crackers and pretzels to pasta and Mexican food, Armstrong said.

The wine show got its start in the early 1980s, when directors of the Lodi Grape Festival and Harvest Fair -- an annual event celebrating the grape harvest -- decided a wine tasting event in the spring would be a nice complement, Armstrong said. Though it was a fairly small event at the beginning -- featuring less than a dozen wineries and only a few hundred guests -- it grew steadily until the early 1990s.

Then it really took off.

"In the last eight or nine years, it's grown substantially," Armstrong said. "The growth came right along with the growth of both the wine and grape industry and the community in Lodi. It just goes hand in hand."

Today the Spring Wine Show has become an important event for both consumers and vintners, said Stuart Spencer, program manager for the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission. Wineries get to show off their products while people who may not be familiar with some of the area's newer labels can find a new favorite.

"It's one of the bigger events of the year," Spencer said. "The quality and number of wineries has grown over the years, and (the wine show) is a great opportunity for someone to come and experience the delicious wines of the area."

Best of all, everybody can have a good time in the process, Armstrong said.

"It's evolved into a party," he said.

The Lodi Spring Wine Show is Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Lodi Grape Festival Grounds. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the gate, and can be purchased online at www.grapefestival.com. For more information, call 369-2771.