Events + News: Articles

Wednesday, January 28th, 2004

Welcome to Zin City : Lodi, a once derided appellation, now home to ‘old vine’ zinfandel revolution

by William Rice, Chicago Tribune food & wine columnist

Lodi , a small town at the northern tip of California ’s San Joaquin Valley and south of Sacramento , is an unlikely candidate for the title of most progressive, dynamic wine appellation in California . Until a decade or so age, if Lodi was mentioned at all in a conversation among wine aficionados, it was with derision. The prolific vines of Lodi spat out eight or nine or maybe more tons of grapes per acre.

These grapes possessed with considerable color and body but thought to be short-lived and lacking complexity, were blended into generic jug wines or used for varieties such as white zinfandel.

But since 1991, a concerted effort by growers and the wineries they feed has lifted the quality of Lodi fruit by lowering yield and farming many of the appellation’s 80,000 acres of wine grapes in an old-fashioned way that is truly progressive.

With the unremitting encouragement of the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission, farmers follow the dictates of sustainable agriculture. An integrated pest management program has helped reduce pesticide and herbicide use while introducing into the vineyards natural enemies of a variety of pests, such as planting prune trees to harbor wasps who attack the grass leafhopper, or setting out nesting boxes for owls and kestrels who enjoy dining on gophers and field mice. Quality grapes, such as merlot and chardonnay, have replaced alicante-bouschet and flame tokay.

Growers who once strove for record crops have voluntarily reduced the volume of water pumped into their vineyards and now willingly thin their crops to increase the quality (and price) of the grapes they do harvest.

Still, Lodi manages to produce more than 20 percent of the state’s varietal wines-more than Napa and Sonoma combined, locals like to say.

Increasingly, the appellation’s glamour grape is a red beauty that has been in residence-in some incidences-for a century of more. The zinfandel is particularly grateful for care and attention and repays those who provide it with bright berry-fruit flavors and enticing hints of spice. Yet even today, about 75 percent of Lodi ’s zin harvest goes into the aforementioned white zinfandel. Another 15 percent continues to disappear into generic blends.

That leaves 10 percent for “old vine” zinfandel, the rich wine that attracts tourists to Lodi ’s 17 tasting rooms.

Vines reach old vine status after nature has begun to limit the yield of gnarled and thick vines that have been bearing fruit for 35 years or so. The vines, in turn, can produce berries with a lovely concentration of rich juice; after aging in small oak barrels, a wine of notable flavor and power may emerge. At this point, the grower has to decide whether to go with the old guys or replant.

Mark Chandler, executive director of the commission, acknowledges that zinfandel has “had to struggle to maintain market share” against fruity reds such as syrah from the Rhone and shiraz from Australia as well as Italian and Spanish varieties.

He was not unhappy, therefore, to report that after a “short” yield in 2002, the crop harvested last fall was “extremely light.”

“It’s a mixed blessing,” Chandler explained. “Small can mean better and we expect 2003 zinfandels to be of high quality. Meanwhile out growers will hold their current prices and hope that shoppers looking for value will buy and thereby lower the backlog.”

Here are the comments on several Lodi zinfandels that are among those that were selected by a panel of industry tasters as the best in the region. All but one are from the 2001 vintage. Any of these wines is a candidate to be paired with beef (steak or hamburgers), ribs or grilled lamb; pasta dishes served with tomato sauce; blue cheese or Spain ’s manchego.

Excellent

2001 Bargetto Zinfandel, Rauser Vineyard, $12:

One hundred percent zinfandel from a vineyard planted 95 years ago. Wine aged in French and American oak for one year: Alcohol, 15.2 percent. Tastes like a fruit bomb: concentrated cherry and blackberry; well balanced and maturing quickly.

2001 Robert Biale Vineyards Zinfandel, Spenker Vineyard, $33,

Mildly scented aroma, generous cherry jam flavor but well-balanced and smooth. Yield in the vineyard less than one ton per acre; 14.9 percent alcohol. Aged 10 months in Burgundian oak, 25 percent new.

2002 Laurel Glen Vineyard ZaZin Old Vine Zinfandel, $18:

No zin from this vineyard in ’01, so the winery’s 02 was put forward. In it, zinfandel is blended with petite syrah in an 80/20 ratio. Words such as “monster,” “gracefulness,” “exotically spicy” and “luscious finish” intertwine in the description. There’s high acidity here, 15 percent alcohol and fresh cherry-berry flavor.

2001 St. Amant Zinfandel, Marian’s Vineyard, $24:

An 8.3-acre vineyard where the first vines were planted more than a century ago. Yield of about 3 tons per acre (89 percent zin, 11 percent old vine petite syrah). Aged for 10 months in French and American oak. Big generous wine with ripe fruit flavors, 15.2 alcohol and considerable tannin.

Very good

2001 Windmill Estates Old Vine Zinfandel, $10:

Grapes from four growers produce an aroma of blackberry and red cherry and a full-bodied, raisin-y, vanilla- and chocolate-accented flavor. At 13.2 percent alcohol, taste is relatively delicate.

2001 Michael David Vineyards 7 Deadly Zins Zinfandel, $16:

Grapes from seven vineyards foster what the winemaker described as “a marriage of deep brambly blackberry and lustful cherry” that produces “supple pepper and licorice-clove notes.” Alcohol 14.8. Long fruit-filled aftertaste.

Good

2000 Watts Old Vine Zinfandel, Pescador Vineyards, $16:

Second vintage of zin from a family vineyard planted in 1937. Spicy aroma with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg; smooth and rich-tasting with chocolate and discordant green bean flavors.

2001 Talus Zinfandel, $9:

Variable weather early made berries smaller and reduced crop size; aged in stainless steel with French oak staves. Blend is 77 percent zin, 8 percent each petite syrah and syrah, 5 percent sangiovese. 13.3 percent alcohol. Well balanced with a somewhat austere, cabernet-like aroma of plum and black cherry.

2001 Bogle Reserve Old Vine Zinfandel $18:

Fifty-seven-year-old dry-farmed vines, $13 months aging in American oak. Alcohol 15 percent; aroma of black pepper; chocolate and cherries; an elegant steak wine.

2001 Kenwood Old vine Zinfandel $11:

Vineyards (two) planted in early 1900s, yield 2 ½ to 3 tons per acre. Aged for 12 months in American oak. Alcohol 14.8. Fleshy wine from very ripe fruit with a surfeit of soft tannins.

Not so good

2001 Klinker Brick Winery Old Vine Zinfandel, $24:

Over a year in small, mostly new American oak. 15.4 percent alcohol. Flavors of blackberry and raspberry; very tannic, reserve for rich food.

2001 Macchia Zinfandel, $14:

Mostly American oak, 13.5 percent alcohol. Purple tint and plum flavor; vegetal note and flat finish.