2024's ten most interesting wines of Lodi

2024 Pinotage harvest in Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA.

Guest post by Bob Highfill

Lodi Wine welcomes guest contributor Bob Highfill, asked to share his personal list of "2024's ten most interesting wines" grown in Lodi because of his unique perspective. Bob himself might cite his prior experience as a newspaper wine columnist for Stockton's The Record, a brief stint as Marketing and Communications Manager for the Lodi Winegrape Commission and his current status as the Lodi focused online wine columnist for Stocktonia.org.

What impresses us most, though, is the fact that he spent most of his prior 27 years at The Record as a sports reporter and the daily newspaper's sports editor; not to mention previous stops as sports director of KGW Radio and as a securities broker at Dean Witter.

Bob Highfill.

Which is to say, when Bob talks wine, you can bet it comes from the perspective of a truly enthusiastic aficionado of wine, not so much as a jaded professional with an unspoken agenda. Like many a pure lover of wine, he still treasures that "first moment"⏤for him, a bottle of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir experienced over dinner in Carmel.

Since then, Mr. Highfill has explored wine regions far beyond Lodi and earned certificates as a CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine) and a WSET 3 (Wine & Spirit Education Trust). When not quenching his thirst for more knowledge, he works part-time at the Lodi Wine Visitor Center with associates with just as much thirst and enthusiasm for the fruit of the vine.

If, on your Christmas list, you have someone with a taste for rare, unusual or even exotic wines, you may want check out the following list assembled by Mr. Highfill, consisting of ten of the most intriguing Lodi wines he has tasted over the past year...

Ribolla Gialla in Clements Hills-Lodi's Mio Vigneto Vineyard.

2022 Mio Vigneto, Clements Hills-Lodi Ribolla Gialla ($29 )

In 2015 Dwight Busalacchi planted two acres of Ribolla Gialla in his Mio Vigneto vineyard, located in an outpost of Clements Hills, at the eastern edge of Lodi. In the beginning, Busalacchi sold these unusual grapes to small wineries outside of Lodi, but in 2022 he crafted his first estate Ribolla Gialla at the vineyard, for his own Mio Vigneto label.

Ribolla Gialla is a rare cultivar in its native homeland⏤Fruili, Italy, and Slovenia⏤and practically non-existent elsewhere. With only 10 to 20 acres planted in California, the variety is not even listed in the state’s annual Grape Acreage Report. Busalacchi can be counted among California's “wine geek” fraternity, adding to the diversity for which Lodi is already known.

My first taste of Ribolla Gialla this past year was a revelation. The white wine's straw-gold color, zesty citrus, lemon, lime, and orange zest on the nose leads to a creamy textured mouth feel and refreshing acidity. Busalacchi has also recently released the 2019 Mio Vigneto Clements Hills Brut, a sparkling Ribolla Gialla made in the traditional method that lends yeasty aromas to the wine’s citrus flavors and airy texture.

Markus Wine Co. owner/grower/winemaker Markus Niggl.

2023 Markus Wine Co., Single Source Mokelumne River-Lodi Grüner Veltliner ($25)

Swiss-born winemaker Markus Niggli has blazed a trail in Lodi for his contemporary style wines sourced from unique vineyards in the Lodi appellation. Niggli’s eponymous Markus Wine Co., now in its tenth year, is noted for outstanding white blends sourced from the Mokelumne Glen Vineyard planted to Austrian and German varieties, as well as a battery of superb red wine blends sourced from prime old vine plots, including Nicolini Ranch and the Historic Vineyard Society certified Church Block.

The 2023 Grüner Veltliner is a new and intriguing offering sourced from the North River Block 3 Vineyard on Woodbridge Road, planted and managed since 2019 by Aaron Lange of LangeTwins Family Winery. Niggli’s iteration of Austria’s most important white wine grape was whole cluster pressed and aged eight months in 100% neutral oak. This pale yellow wine exudes aromas and flavors of oranges, peaches, lemon/lime, and beeswax, couched in medium-minus body perked by medium acidity.

Mokelumne River-Lodi grown Grüner Veltliner.

2023 Intercoastal Vineyards, Mokelumne River-Lodi Pinotage Bianco ($35)

Intercoastal Vineyards is one of Lodi's most adventurous, fun, and eclectic wineries. The husband-wife team of second generation Lodi grower Mitch Spaletta and local businesswoman Rachele Spaletta are constantly offering new and surprising wines from an array of different varieties. Case in point, the Intercoastal Pinotage Bianco, a rare white wine made from the black skinned Pinotage grape⏤a crossing of Pinot noir and Cinsaut still known as South Africa’s signature red wine variety.

In the glass, the white Pinotage offers a stunning perfume of white flowers, tropical fruit and citrus; followed by honeysuckle, pineapple, white peach, and green apple on the palate, lifted by vibrant acidity. Beautifully balanced and, even better, more than quaffable.

2023 Monte Rio Cellars, Lodi CoferMent ($22)

Monte Rio Cellars winemaker/owner Patrick Cappiello carved out a previous career in New York as a restaurateur and acclaimed sommelier before coming to California to stake a claim in Lodi, offering up fascinating wines with a focus on heritage and classic California varieties such as Colombard, Mission and Flame Tokay.

The current Monte Rio lineup is expansive (nearly two dozen different wines), including this original bottling called "CoferMent" (for "co-ferment"), an intriguing 50/50 blend of Petit Verdot and Sauvignon blanc. While there is nothing conventional or normal about fermenting equal portions of red and white wine grapes together, the end result, as the winery describes it, is a 'fun chillable red." 

Monte Rio's approach to winemaking is the epitome of "low intervention." The grapes are hand picked, whole cluster pressed and placed in stainless steel tanks where they undergo native yeast fermentation and carbonic fermentation for 10 days. The fruit was pressed and fermentation finished in stainless steel tanks, before spending five months in old (i.e., "neutral") oak barrels and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

I'd describe the CoferMent's slightly cloudy color as a milky red. While the aromas are earthy and even a little funky, a bright raspberry-like fruit profile takes the lead on the palate. Low in alcohol (10% ABV), the wine comes across as so light and refreshing it makes you think of Beaujolais in France⏤only this is Lodi we're talking about!

Cluster of ancient vine Flame Tokay in Chandler Vineyard.

2020 Sabelli-Frisch, “Milk Fed 7” Chandler Vineyard, Mokelumne River-Lodi Flame Tokay ($35)

The Flame Tokay grape has such a rich history in Lodi that two local schools⏤the Lodi High School Flames and Tokay High School Tigers⏤bear its name. In its heyday, Flame Tokay was prized primarily as a table grape for its strikingly pinkish red hue and delectably sweet flavor, cultivated throughout the region up until the 1950s and 1960’s before seedless varieties took over the table grape market. 

Los Angeles-based owner/winemaker Adam Sabelli-Frisch, who prizes rare and near-forgotten grapes, says that he came upon Karen Chandler’s 120-year-old Flame Tokay block on Lodi's W. Sargent Rd. almost by accident. While he was not entirely pleased with the results of his 2020 vintage, he discovered that one barrel had developed a spontaneous protective layer of yeast on top of the wine in barrel called flor, which shielded the wine from oxygen. Spain's legendary Fino Sherry is made in this way.

Devoid of oxygen for 36 months, the wine developed a wonderful complexity and savory characteristics, finishing at a much lower alcohol level (11% ABV) than a Sherry. While only 24 cases were produced, add this bottling to the list of unique and adventurous wines forming the fabric of Lodi’s coat of many colors.

Winter mowing in Mikami Vineyards, west side of the Mokelumne River-Lodi AVA.

2022 Mikami Vineyards, Mokelumne River-Lodi Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre (GSM) ($42)

Owner/grower Jason Mikami’s roots in Lodi date back to 1896, when his grandfather immigrated to California from Japan and developed a passion for grape growing. The family’s farming operation was interrupted during World War II when they were interred in Rowher, Arkansas. They returned to Lodi in 1945 and continued to farm Zinfandel as well Lodi's historic Flame Tokay.

Jason Mikami grew up on the present-day vineyard location on Sargent Road. He carved out a career in the tech industry before deciding to take the family business to the next level by starting Mikami Vineyards, much of it in honor of his father and grandfather. Mikami Vineyards crafts small lots from a 15-acre block. The specialty is Zinfandel, while a smaller proportion goes into this blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre ("GSM") to make a classic Southern French style of red wine.

In the 2022, each variety was harvested, crafted and aged separately before being blended into this final composition of 53% Grenache, 32% Syrah and 15% Mourvèdre. The wine has a pronounced garnet color and intense black fruit aromas. Savory tones on the palate suggest black olives, gamey meat and peppery spice, in a medium-plus body with medium acidity.

PRIE Winery's John and Lisa Gash.

2022 PRIE Winery, Mokelumne River-Lodi Prieto Picudo ($35)

Owner/grower/winemakers Lisa and John Gash proudly let their geek flag fly at PRIE Vineyards & Winery, a small vineyard/winery estate where they live to learn, explore and challenge perceptions. Their lineup includes several off-the-wall offerings, including a wine made from Prieto Picudo, a Spanish grape often blended in Spain with other varieties such as Mencía or Tempranillo. 

PRIE's 2022 Prieto Picudo is the winery’s second vintage of this varietal, rarely found outside its native country. The wine is deep colored, high in tannin and vibrant in acidity. Its aroma and flavor profile is not unlike Tempranillo with its combination of red currant and strawberry, smoky notes, and a warm spice suggesting anise or fennel.

The Gashes’ 10-acre east side Lodi vineyard is organically farmed to reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers and pest control. Their environmentally balanced farming plan includes raising chickens for their eggs and as a natural pest control, with cover crops of native grasses, clover, California poppies and other plants cultivated between the rows.

The rare (in California) Prieto Picudo grape.

2023 Oak Farm Vineyards, Single Vineyard Series Mokelumne River-Lodi Fiano ($28)

The Panella family, who own and operate Oak Farm Vineyards, hail from Avellino in Italy, where the white wine grape known as Fiano originated. Therefore, the family considers this to be one the more special wines among their eclectic lineup. The fruit is estate grown, hand-picked and gently whole cluster pressed to a temperature controlled stainless steel tank to preserve the wine’s vibrancy and aroma.

The juice was racked and split into two tanks (one fermented naturally, the other inoculated with a cultured yeast). After a long, cool fermentation, the wine was transferred to neutral oak barrels and aged five months on light lees (i.e., spent yeast cells), with no stirring to retain a crisp edge.  

The result is a wine of delicate complexity, offering a nose of white flowers with hints of vanilla, citrus and yeasty notes. While the creamy textured body is a robust 14.5% ABV, the flavors are zesty enough to give more of a medium bodied feel to the palate.

Clusters of Fiano in Lodi's Oak Farm Vineyards.

2022 Subject to Change Wine Co., "Preconceived Notions" Mokeumne River-Lodi Skin-Fermented Orange Muscat ($31)

Founded in 2017 in Richmond, CA by Alex Pomerantz and Dominique Henderson, Subject to Change Wine Co. is inspired by California’s unique agricultural landscapes and the authentic spirit of the people in regions such as Lodi. Their passion for natural style wines is evident in their Orange Muscat, which like all their wines is native yeast fermented with no fining, no filtration, and no sulfur added (the latter, one of their more extreme practices).

This Muscat is sourced from Hartwick Vineyard [known locally as Fernow Ranch] on Lodi's east side, owned and farmed by Shauna and Jake Des Voignes. The grapes were split into three lots for three different types of macerations: Carbonic, fully destemmed, and partial destemmed/partial whole cluster⏤a "hamburger” method of alternating layers of destemmed berries with whole clusters.

After 10 days, everything was pressed together and put in neutral oak barrels for seven months, producing a wine exuding a sense of mixed fruit salad with a yeasty, earthy funkiness, wrapped in a creamy texture.

Lodi's Joseph Spenker in the 1880s. Jessie's Grove.

2023 Jessie’s Grove Winery, Mokelumne River-Lodi Cinsault ($55)

Joseph Spenker was the pioneering Lodi farmer who first planted Cinsaut, a Southern French variety, in 1886 on the west side of Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA. The vineyard is now known as Bechthold; named for Al Bechthold, the late husband of Wanda Woock Bechthold, the great granddaughter of Joseph Spenker, who still owns the 25-acre vineyard, believed to be the oldest planting of Cinsaut in the world. 

Now farmed on a long term agreement by the Phillips family of Michael David Winery, the vineyard is sourced each year by over a dozen wineries based in and outside of Lodi; the grapes renowned for producing deliciously soft and sumptuous reds, redolent of red berry flavors and aromas such as cranberry, cherry, strawberry, rhubarb and baking pie crust.

The Cinsaut produced and bottled by Jessie’s Grove Winery⏤owned and operated by descendants of Joseph Spenker⏤has a light ruby color, an easy feel to its body, and aromas and flavors of vanilla, sweet cherry, macerated strawberries and fragrant kitchen spices. An approachable tannin structure and fresh acidity also make this red wine an ideal match with a wide variety of foods.

It is not just historic vineyards such as Bechthold that make Lodi one of the most interesting wine regions in the world. It is also the fact that the terroir is favorable enough to successfully grow more than 125 different wine grapes, farmed by some 750 growers in close to 100,000 acres⏤far more than anywhere else in America. Whether you prefer tried-and-true varietals or harbor a penchant for walking on the wild side of wines, Lodi is the place for you!

Cinsaut vines and clusters in Bechthold Vineyard, Lodi's oldest continuously farmed vineyard.