It was the Instagram image below, shared by Heritage Oak Winery, that prompted me to email Tom Hoffman. Tom is the winemaker at Heritage Oak Winery which he owns and operates with his wife Carmela. They farm 106 acres of vineyards planted to 25 varieties along the north bank of the Mokelumne River in the Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA. The […]
It’s all in the dirt. That’s essentially what Bokisch Vineyards’ winemaker Elise Perry told us yesterday during a quick conversation about the unique expression of the three Albariños we had just tasted in the Bokisch Vineyards Atkins Road tasting room. Each Albariño is sourced from a different vineyard; two are located in the Lodi AVA and the third is located […]
Almost every day is a wine day for us, so we are always ready for a wine day celebration. By that I mean a day specifically designated by an organization or individual on which to celebrate a specific varietal wine or just wine in general. These celebrations often involve special events and lots of sharing on social media with the […]
The theme for our July Wine Pairing Weekend is Summer Supper & Wine. Our pairing for the get-together is super simple, on the light side and doesn’t require the use of the oven. Quick, easy, doesn’t heat up the house are all good things in the warmth of summer. This meal comes with the added bonus of leftovers. We started […]
LoCA, the Lodi Winegrape Commission, recently held a wine tasting titled “How Do Lodi Wines Compare to the Best In the World? (A Blind Tasting with a Panel of Professional Wine Educators)” as a prelude to their annual Zinfest celebration. I was pleased to be a guest at the tasting and put my blind tasting skills to the test. It […]
Lodi calls itself the Zinfandel capital of the world and deservedly so. According to the Lodi Winegrape Commission the region produces 40% of California’s premium Zinfandel. But the region is also home to more than 100 wine grape varieties. Nero d’Avola is now among those grape varieties thanks to Lange Twins Family Winery & Vineyards in Acampo. The 2014 Lange […]
Take one 2016 Lodi wine calendar, add a different bottle of Lodi wine for each month and what do you get? An fun wine project resulting in a year-long enjoyment of Lodi wines. The inspiration for this project was a 2016 Lodi wine calendar and two bottles of Lodi wine that we received as gifts from LoCA — the Lodi Winegrape Commission.
Only a single, short row of Zinfandel remains on the Mokelumne Glen Vineyard property that follows a bend in the Mokelumne River.
The Lodi AVA is practically in our backyard, so being the winelovers that we are you might think we have tasted pretty much everything Lodi has to offer. We’ve tasted quite a few Lodi wines, but until recently The Lucas Winery was not among them. I’m happy to say we have corrected that omission.
Lodi “Outside the Box” Thanksgiving is the title of a recent online tasting hosted by LoCA, the Lodi Winegrape Commission. We were invited to participate in the tasting and in addition to sending us four wines as tasting samples, LoCA also sent along recipes to accompany each wine. The recipes were created by Chef Tony Lawrence, who is a sommelier and certified wine and food pairing specialist (among many other talents.)
We enjoy wine, food and travel. Pull That Cork is a chronicle of our wine adventures, the food and wine pairings we create and our travels which are increasingly organized around wine.