Drink it All in at First Sip in Lodi

Fun and festivities were in high supply at Lodi’s Second Annual First Sip. From Macchia to Michael-David Winery Lodi’s best and brightest offered everything from sausages to tri-tip, pie but most importantly the wine. Connected to the Wine and Roses Hotel, located on Turner Road in Lodi, is the Lodi Wine and Visitors Center, hosting eight different labels for this event. This is usually the beginning point for the First Sip Wine Tasting event, although one can start from any winery as well. Normally known for high residual sugar, and overly sweetened zinfandel wines, Lodi has been enologically stereotyped for years. The heat basin that develops in the summer creates a dry, arid climate for these grapes to grow creating high sugar, and thus there reputation! But in the last couple of years the wineries of Lodi, knowing their profile, have been bring far more to the table than very sugary grape juice, making this wino a Lodi wine follower. Always a big name in Lodi Macchia Wines was presenting with barrel tasting of the 2008 futures for the Zinfandels at the new tasting room in the original Macchia Families home.
Also new this year they are introducing a new wine labeled “victorious,” this wine was developed to help support finding a cure for cancer, and 5% of the proceeds will be given to cancer research. Another favorite is Klinker Brick who’s 2006 premier of Old Ghost re-instigated it’s cult following, great label with a rich, full bodied wine. But some real winners new to my palette were Peierano, Grand Amis, and Van Ruiten.
The first stop we made of the weekend was one of the oldest wineries in the area. Where the Picnic area is placed among the 115 year old original vines, which are still used to produce their Heritage Collection wines. In 1992, Lance Randolph, the fourth generation of Peirano to farm the 300-acre estate, began making Peirano wine simply for himself and to prove Lodi could produce desirable wines. After considerable praise for his ability to make elegant wines, he decided to start bottling and selling Peirano wine using his estate grown grapes. Since then, Peirano has won numerous awards for producing top of the line wine using many of the old techniques valued by Giacomo Peirano. Following his independent tradition, Lance Randolph is known for his “Bright Red Shorts,” once a joke and now considered a good omen for the grapes, Lance wears these famed shorts all though the season till harvest. As an ode to the sacrificial red shorts and the town of Lodi, Peirano’s newest blend is named Red Shorts Red (70% Syrah, 20% Petite Sirah, 5% Cab, and a surprising 5% Viognier), with a picture of his red shorts adorning the bottle!
Our second destination of high praise was Grand Amis wine’s in the heart of downtown Lodi, a couple of blocks down from the cellar door, Grand Amis is slightly hard to find, but worth the venture. Quite possibly some of the best wine I’ve ever tried in Lodi, Grand Amis is a company of both growers and vintners, and all of the grapes produced for there wine are hand picked. The philosophy at Grands Amis is simple: “great wine is meant to be shared with ‘great friends.’ The quest for excellence begins in the vineyard and ends only when we can present our exceptional wine to you”. Quite a unique experience, and a personalized one, the wine maker Roger Nichols enjoys talking about the wine, and blending off the 2008 future wines for the guests to sample. From their lighter 2003 Alicante Bouschet, to a personal favorite of mine they’re 2004 Zinfandel, there wines impress. Unlike the high sugar found in many Zinfandels these days, this one has a heavy body and almost a vegetative quality to flavor, which was supervising and very enjoyable. Finally a rarity in flavor but absolutely scrumptious was the 2004 Syrah, still young but with almost a caramel edge that comes from the oak it sat in, this wine was delicious now and will only perfect with age.
Our finial weekend spot was one of the most fun and flavorful of the weekend, Van Ruiten Family Winery. This third generation family vineyard and growers, produce on 880 acres in the heart of Lodi. In addition to growing for other vineyards, the best of the collection is kept for their own label currently supporting over 21 different varietals. This year alone they introduced their Pino Gris and Ancient Vine Carignane. Other wines of note were there traditional, if unexpected in Lodi’s climate, 2006 Pinot Gris- which was brilliant in color and accentuated with powerful aromas of peach blossom, there 2004 Cab-Shiraz, a flagship” wine as it started back in 1999. That year was the first year of production for the Van Ruiten Family. Personal favorites of mine included 2006 Reserve Sideways Zinfandel, this Zin draws primarily from a wide selection of their oldest, most historic and shyest-bearing Zinfandel acreage. But the newest heavy hitter for their labels was their 2006 EXPLOZIN Ancient Vine Zinfandel, the 2006 Ancient Vine Zinfandel hails from a 16 acre, 97-year-old head trained vineyard, which from only 500 cases were produced. This big and chewy Zin personified Lodi, and the wine greatness they are evolving into, a must try. Though our duration there, we were fortunate enough to meet with the grower and vintner, who is the son of the original Van Ruiten. The vineyard has been in the family since 1959 and the Van Ruiten label and tasting room has been opened since 2000. They were growers long before they were vintners. Experiencing Live music, horse drawn carriages rides through the vineyard, an array of local favorites such as smoked sausage, pumpkins soup and pumpkin pecan bars made with the Van Ruiten label pumpkin butter, and a pie buffet from “The Pie Company” in Ripon, California; this was a must see for the First Sip Event.