Wine and Chocolate. It can be a polarizing topic, but also a delicious one. In my experience people feel strongly either in favor of the paring or against it. I’m generally against the pairing, not because I don’t like it but, because it can be addictively delicious. Today I am risking addiction by sipping Macchia Mischievous Old Vine Zinfandel and […]
Oak Farm Vineyards sits on a historic piece of land at the end of DeVries Road north of Peltier Road in Lodi. The Mokelumne River flows nearby. Oak is in the name of the winery for a very good reason unrelated to winemaking. The property is dotted with beautiful, old oak trees that were the passion of William DeVries who […]
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 […]
Only a single, short row of Zinfandel remains on the Mokelumne Glen Vineyard property that follows a bend in the Mokelumne River.
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.)
As the folks at Borra Vineyards put it, “Yeah. We make nice Zin. But there’s more to Lodi than Zinfandel.” It’s a good thing to remember, actually, to always keep an open mind with regard to wine and wine regions and what they have to offer.
The Lodi Native Project is the collaborative effort of six Lodi winemakers making Zinfandel from six heritage vineyards using a standardized, minimal-intervention style of winemaking. It is intended to showcase some of Lodi’s special Zinfandel vineyards, not the winemaking style. A unique concept which produces six unique and delicious wines.
Bob Koth knows the exact moment that started him on the path to making wine from German and Austrian grape varieties. He was having lunch with his daughter, Ann Marie, in Mainz, Germany in the early 1990s. Don’t ask him what he ate, that’s not the memorable part of the story. Ask him about the wine, it was a German Riesling.
A recent tasting of Cabernet Franc from around the world got me thinking about the variety. I love the flavors and aromas Cabernet Franc produces, that combination of dark fruit, berries and vegetal notes. But what I didn’t know is that Merlot the parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenère. Pretty impressive offspring, I’d say.
Usually when someone mentions Rosé wines from Lodi I don’t get too excited. In the past I have found them either too sweet or to high in alcohol and lacking in flavor. I am happy to say that has changed.
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.