Box cars still roll by from time to time, with a blast from the
locomotive’s horn that rattles the tasting room walls. McCay grows
his own grapes and makes some estate wines but he also has a
passion for uncovering old and forgotten vineyards. A twisted and
gnarly ancient vine hangs from the ceiling in his tasting room,
testament to Lodi’s long history with the grape. McCay’s cinsault
wine comes from grapes planted in 1886. The vines that yield his
carignane date from 1906.
Steve Felten’s zinfandel vineyards were planted in the 1900s.
He’s the fifth generation of a grape-growing family and since 2000,
he’s been making those grapes into wine under the label Klinker
Brick. His Old Ghost Old Vine Zinfandel, a big, complex wine with
rich flavours and a peppery finish, is one of the Lodi AVA’s premierexpressions of that grape. “Labour costs will push old vines out,”
says Felten, whose sale of bulk wine by the tankful helps to
underwrite his less conventional winemaking. That marvellous Old
Ghost came from a vineyard that yields just a quarter ton of grapes
per acre, when four or five tons per acre is closer to the standard.
It is winemakers like McCay and Felten, uncompromisingly
committed to quality and willing to take risks, who make Lodi
wines so interesting. Zinfandel is the region’s signature grape but
more than 100 other varieties are grown, including Spanish,
German, Portuguese and southern Rhône varietals. It’s the variety
of grapes that can grow here that makes Lodi interesting to
winemakers, and its maverick winemakers who make Lodi a place
to watch for wine drinkers.PHOTOS THIS SPREAD
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
LEFT Markus and Liz
Bokisch; Heather
Pyle-Lucas; In the
garden at Wine
& Roses; Chef
Bradley Ogden;
The tasting room
at Oak Farm
Vineyards; Lucas
Winery grows only
organic grapes;
Alan, Tasting
Room Manager at
McCay Cellars in
downtown Lodi.26 TAST E&^ TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL^ APRIL–JUNE 2019
U
S
AQUENCH LINGERING IN LODI