Randy Caparoso

Harvest morning in Mokelumne River-Lodi's Abba Vineyard, planted to Syrah. Farewell by Randy Caparoso Oh lord, a blog from Lodi was the title of the very first blog posted on the Lodi Wine page in August 2010, written by yours truly. Over 1,200 posts later, I think it is fitting that this should be the title of my very last post, as I will departing Lodi wine country in July of 2025.  First, I’d like to thank all the region’s growers and vintners who have welcomed me into their community thes

Barrel tasting dark, rich, vividly flavorful Cabernet Sauvignon. Sugar and spice and all that’s nice, as the old nursery rhyme goes. There are lots of nice things in wine, although there are very few wineries that actually print “Ingredients”—that is, additions dropped on top of natural components of wines during the winemaking process—on back labels; ostensibly, because it is felt by most of the industry that most consumers might be shocked if they find out what actually ends up in commercial

The 2023 Christina's Outlier, the Grenache-based Lodi grown red that now stands as the epitome of the new "light and chillable" red wine paradigm. Last week, Dr. Stephanie Bolton—Lodi Winegrape Commission’s Director of Grower Education and Sustainability—organized what she called a “Light, Chillable Red Wine Rendezvous,” attended by a dozen an a half local vintners. Why? Because Bolton truly believes this style of wine is the wave of the future, thus calling for serious discussion.  In fact, s

Boots in dusty, ultra-fine grained sandy loam defining much of the Lodi AVA, making a direct impact on the sensory qualities of the region's wines. Let’s start with two questions: 1. What is an AVA? 2. Why are AVAs important? AVA stands for American Viticultural Area; a concept first established in 1980 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or ATF, to recognize places of origins of American wines, which appear on wine labels. At that time, the ATF—an independent bureau within the U

Two east side Mokelumne River-Lodi Zinfandel specimens over 100 years old: (left) from Kirschenmann Vineyard planted on its own natural roots; (right) Steacy Vineyard planted on St.George rootstocks. When wine buffs talk about the great wines of the world, they often talk about terroir, an important term of French origin that entails the natural environmental factors—such as climate, soil, topography, aspect, elevation, latitude, etc.—that have a direct effect on grapevine growth, and ultimatel

Assyrtiko—a grape known for minerally, sometimes briny qualities—harvested in Perlegos Family's Thera Block, in Lodi's Clements Hills appellation. Let’s talk about minerality, something a growing number of consumers look for in their wines.  But why? Because many wine lovers have grown tired of the very qualities which have made American wines—particularly those of predominantly warm Mediterranean climate regions such as California (over 80% of wines produced in the U.S. are from California)—s

Lorenza's Melinda Kearney with ancient vine Carignan in Lodi's Rauser Vineyard, planted in 1909. Ancient vine Lodi Carignan, 2.0 Lorenza Wine—owned and operated by the mother/daughter team of Melinda Kearney and Michèle Ouellet—has recently released their first red wine sourced from Rauser Vineyard, an own-rooted, east side Lodi vineyard planted in 1909 primarily to Carignan, with small amounts of interplanted Alicante Bouschet and Zinfandel. The 2023 Lorenza Rauser Vineyard Mokelumne River-L

Chefs Jake and Shauna Des Voignes in their kitchen with their newly released Heleje wines. Once upon the time there were two career chefs who met in a super-fine big city restaurant, got married, worked their fingers to the bone.  Some would say it was a perfect combination since she was a pastry chef and he an executive chef, so it was match made in culinary heaven. Dishes and dessert, right? But it really wasn’t. So they packed up and retreated (as Eva Gabor used to sing, goodbye city light

McCay Cellars's Michael McCay barrel smoking his dry rub spiced baby back pork ribs. Lodi is made for barbecue The weather is warming up, folks, hitting the 80°s although in Lodi wine country we’re still enjoying those cool Delta breezes. Time to get out of the house, enjoy the rays of sun and cook up some barbecue! For years now, Lodi winemaker/grower Mike McCay of McCay Cellars has made the perfecting of one of his personal specialties—dry rub seasoned smoked baby back pork ribs—one of his

Blind tasting of Lodi reds. A Lodi wine is named #1 First, this just in: The 2025 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition just announced that this year’s “Best of Show Red” is the 2023 St. Amant Winery Barbera, which happens to come from Lodi’s Jahant appellation. It is hard to achieve something as lofty as this—chosen as the best red wine out of thousands of others entered into a wine fair that happens to be the oldest (ongoing since 1854!) and perhaps most prestigious in the countr

Bokisch Vineyards' Liz and Markus Bokisch introducing Lo Xalet, America's first cava style sparkler, at their Clements Hills-Lodi winery. Hang on to your hats, Lodi wine lovers, because the latest innovation coming out of Lodi is a doozy: The 2023 Bokisch Vineyards Clements Hills-Lodi Lo Xalet ($60). This is the first champagne method sparkling wine in California grown and crafted in the style of Spain’s cava (the Spanish word for sparkling wine). To be an authentic cava style sparkler, a wine

A rosé that thinks it’s a red Take a gander at this bottle of wine adorned with the plainest of labels, explaining exactly what it is: The 2024 Kirschenbloom Lodi Rosé ($24), produced and bottled by Sandlands Vineyards. However, looks can be deceiving. There is nothing plain or ordinary about this wine because it is already a game changer in the Lodi wine scene, perhaps in all of California. First thing you notice through its clear glass is that it is a very rosy, an almost reddish colored ros

Spring flowers in Michael David Winery's gardens. Wine stirs the spring, happiness bursts through the earth like a plant… —Pablo Neruda One month into spring in 2025—finally, nights are less chilly, days are warmer, and the sun is up until past 7:30! ‘Tis also the season of transition at our tables. Our taste for red wines goes from heavier reds, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Petite Sirah, to lighter reds such as Grenache, Cinsaut, Mission or easy drinking Zinfandels. Slowly but surely, we al

Zinfandel harvest in Dent de Lion Vineyard. Dent de Lion. There is a brand new, handcraft local wine label here in Lodi, started up for all the right (at least in our book) reasons: To save a special old vineyard. Make no mistake, old vineyards in Lodi need saving. Many of them are in grave danger of disappearing, mostly because sales of value priced wines are currently down, and big wineries are not renewing contracts with many of the families holding on to old, head trained vineyards planted

The first week of April is a special time of year, when you can observe early bud break as well as the beautiful "bones" of old vine plantings, such as in this 116-year-old Zinfandel on the east side of Lodi's Mokelumne River appellation. Bud break and bones It’s that time of year when grapevines are bursting all over with new buds. When 2025's spring equinox arrived up this past March 20, most of Lodi wine country’s vineyards were still bereft of these tiny buds. But during the last week of t

Late March blossoms in mixed old vine block sitting in the deep, rich sandy loam soil of Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA. Night and day You might want to pass Goal and scroll all the way down to the end of this post to look at the list of Lodi grown wines that strongly express terroir—the catch-all French term for “sense of place,” in reference to environmental factors defining vineyards and wine regions perceived in sensory qualities of wines. I currently count well over 100 of these wines, yet no

Clements Hills-Lodi's Terra Alta Vineyard, source of both Piquepoul and Albariño now going into some of California's most exciting alternative style champagne method sparkling wines. One of the beauties of a warm climate region such as Lodi is that you can now find sparkling wines made from alternative grapes more naturally adapted to Mediterranean climate zones. Not that Chardonnay and Pinot noir—the two primary grapes of France’s famed Champagne region—aren’t found in Lodi. There is, in fact

Coopering oak barrels, the use of which drastically altered the style and scope of California wine in the 1970s and '80s. Nowadays we talk a lot about crisp, light, minimally or "non" oaked white wines. That's because they represent cutting-edge wines becoming increasingly associated with Lodi. We push that fact because we want to explode the myth that Lodi only produces big, fat, ultra-ripe wines. This is not, however, to take away from fuller bodied white wines that are often less sharp in ac

Is red wine a "prescription" for good health? Let's discuss. wineandchampagnegifts.com. Why are there perpetually conflicting reports on either the health benefits or health risks of wine? Simple answer: Wine is an alcoholic beverage. It is the alcohol content that is identified as the potentially dangerous substance, often as a carcinogen (i.e., cancerous agent)...

Lodi winemakers at work (Markus Niggli, Layne Montgomery). For me, moving to Lodi fifteen years ago was a conscious act of embracing my inner wine lover. There were practicalities. At the time, I was hooked on Zinfandel as the best possible everyday drinking wine, and Lodi was where nearly half of California's Zinfandel was grown.  Mind you, by then I had already been around the world and had the privilege of walking through many of the world's greatest vineyards and wine regions, as part of m