Lodi ZinFest – Part 3 – Saturday
by Haydn Adams | Beyond Napa Wine Blog
Following great wine at the winemakers’ dinner and a few extra drinks at the bar the night before, I was all set to go wine tasting on Saturday. Today was the main day of the Zinfest where everyone who even remotely grew wine in Lodi brought out there wares for the general public. Top it off with 98 degrees, and you’ve got one fun day.
A big kudos as well to vinvillage.com, for providing the ticket to the event, in addition to the VIP booth. (I guess this is the advertisement of the review)
Having not looked at a map (I didn’t even see one the entire time I was there) we set out on a random journey through the many ubiquitous white tents in search of some fabulous Zinfandel. One of the first wineries we came across was the M2 wines, to which we figured would be a great wine to wet our palates. In general, it is always a good idea to use the first wine as a control, to more wet your whistle than to actually judge it. The next time you’re out wine tasting, notice how the first sip of wine tastes, versus the second.
My suspicions were correct that their “artist series” Zinfandel was good, 88pts good, however their normal good ‘ole fashion Zinfandel was even betting, scoring (in my book) 90pts.
The joys of going to a wine festival like Lodi’s is your bound to find quite a few that you’re just not going to like. And I did run across them on occasion, however, for the most part, the wines were pretty good. I can’t say that I walked (or would it be stumbled) into this Zinfest with no pre-conceived notions that Lodi is not a “true” wine growing region, however I did have some cloud of doubt. To my delight I can say that Lodi is a formable growing region.
Overall the wines did lack the complexity that I observed in some of the other Zin countries, such as Paso Robles and Dry Creek, yet nearly everything that I approached was, well, approachable and I would hesitate to recommend most wines that I tried. I look forward to trying the wines of Lodi again next year.The real kicker in the winefest was that there were quite a few non-Zin wines that were beautiful. I’ve attempted to note a few below, with my scores and all. Please bear in mind that I was not jotting down notes, and was using my camera to record the actual bottle.
The Top 3 Wines / Wineries from the Lodi Zinfest
1. Bokisch Vineyards – All great wines. Yet no Zin. Their abariño, Granache and Tempranillo were devine. However Spain (all three of the varietals are native Spaniards) does have a similar, albeit slightly cooler temps to Lodi, so it does make sense that you’d see a few of these varietals in Lodi. The surprising twist was that they were all excellent wines, especially the abariño. Yet, on a cool day, the white wines do have a bit of a draw.
2. Berghold Vineyards. Once again, the presense of a Zin was noticeably missing, but not the other wines surly made up for it. Up first was the Cab Franc / Syrah blend. I can still remember the deep berries mixed with a bit of spice. Also, the VIogner seemed to quell the thirst on a hot day and with a bit less acidity then a few other of the whites of that day. A little lemon could be picked up in this wine.
1. Klinker Brick 2006 Old Ghost Old Vine Zinfandel - The clear winner for the day (the M2 doesn’t count). Wow! I could tell this old vine packed a lot of punch, with the grapes being sourced from 90, yes, 90 year old vines (from Lodi no less)!. Yet the wine maker did an amazing job of quelling the potential berry blast that could have erupted here. The berries that came through were subdued, but there, and they added to the beauty of this wine. Obviously the winemaker put a lot of care and attention to this wine. As well, I give this wine bottle the “Most Beautiful Bottle” design award (click on the image for a larger view). I light etched ghost of a tree is gorgeous.
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Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com.