Urban Wine Tasting
Lodi's downtown wine dens quench a thirst for the urban tasting experience
//
With seventy local wineries and thirty-five tasting rooms in Lodi Wine Country, there's no shortage of enclaves at which to sip ourselves silly. Most recently in downtown Lodi, the wine glass is half-full at a handful of urban tasting rooms, surrounded by School Street's top-notch restaurants and boutiques. Located within walking distance of one another, these popular tasting spots-and one newly buzzing artisan cheese shop-are bringing the idea of wine bars to life in San Joaquin. Here, a taste of the town.
Grands Amis Winery
115 N. School St., Ste. 5, (209) 369-6805 www.grandsamis.comCommunity support for Grands Amis, downtown Lodi's first tasting room, and its small-batch but punch-packing wines and Ports has not dwindled since its start in early 2006. With a "Come on in!" affability that's no come on, owners Jonathan and Cathy Wetmore founded their winery after a 25-year stint managing 2,000 acres of grapes, and the same enthusiasm has carried over to their downtown hub. In French, "Grands Amis" means "great friends," which this pocket-sized tasting corner translates into a friendly guest experience where nothing-not the wines or the tasters-are taken too seriously. Tight quarters help foster interaction and conversation between tasters, and while it may not be the easiest tasting room to find on the downtown circuit, Grands Amis is undoubtedly the warmest.
Dancing Fox Winery,
Bakery and Eatery
203 S. School St., (209) 366-2634, www.dancingfoxwinery.com
Community support for Grands Amis, downtown Lodi's first tasting room, and its small-batch but punch-packing wines and Ports has not dwindled since its start in early 2006. With a "Come on in!" affability that's no come on, owners Jonathan and Cathy Wetmore founded their winery after a 25-year stint managing 2,000 acres of grapes, and the same enthusiasm has carried over to their downtown hub. In French, "Grands Amis" means "great friends," which this pocket-sized tasting corner translates into a friendly guest experience where nothing-not the wines or the tasters-are taken too seriously. Tight quarters help foster interaction and conversation between tasters, and while it may not be the easiest tasting room to find on the downtown circuit, Grands Amis is undoubtedly the warmest.
Cellar Door
21 N. School St., (209) 339-4394, www.lodicellardoor.comWhat started as a collaboration between the City of Lodi and three of its marquee wineries-Van Ruiten, Jessie's Grove, and Michael-David-has evolved into a destination for wine lovers thirsting for wine tasting paired with a shot of sip back and relax. "Opening Lodi Wine Cellars was a huge undertaking, but we committed to it," says general manager Vanessa Foreman. "We really wanted to cultivate a different culture for a more mature crowd." Cellar Door is a tasting room-wine bar hybrid that offers bar, vignette, and outdoor patio seating-think plenty of folks looking to have a good time, but not in a loud nightclub. Here, live entertainment caters to the crowd it attracts: get-up-and-dance live music is a Friday night staple, with more subdued jazz on Saturdays. Cellar Door swings open for late-night pours, gourmet mini eats, and mingling (take note, gal-pals and after-work imbibers).
Lodi Wine Cellars
112 W. Pine St., (209) 365-6622, www.lodiwinecellars.comIn 2008, the owners of Benson Ferry Vineyards, Mike and Bill Stokes, opened Lodi Wine Cellars to showcase its robust family of wines from a downtown vintage point, as well as varietals from Heritage Oaks, Vicarmont, and McCay Cellars. This quartet of wineries in combination with the tasting room's location in the old Hotel Lodi building, featuring a European-style outdoor courtyard, lends itself to what Benson Ferry's Alan MacIsaac describes as a "true tasting experience." This includes a relaxing, no-pressure, small-crowd environment that invites tasters to sip (not gulp!) and converse at their own pace. "We would love to see more winery tasting rooms downtown to give Lodi that Healdsburg feel," adds MacIsaac, who welcomes more players to the tasting scene, seeing the whole experiment as a win-win for all parties. For now Lodi Wine Cellars hopes to add one more winery to its tasting roster, possibly this fall, and is now open for Sunday pours.
Jeremy Wine Company
6 W. Pine St., (209) 367-3773, www.jeremywineco.comJeremy Trettevik is a wine industry veteran, with stints at Sebastiani, Gnekow Family Winery, and the former Phillips Winery, before starting his own wine bottle etching business (now a graphic design studio) with his wife, Choral. Little did he know that creating custom wine labels would lead to bottling and branding his own wine, and eventually the opening of the Jeremy Wine Company tasting room in October 2010. Here, small lots and exceptional wine is not just a motto, it's reality-the label's 2008 Zinfandel was a runaway sell-out. The newcomer can trace its popularity to striking labels, a convivial atmosphere, and behind-the-bar purveyors (Jeremy and Choral). "Having wine tasting rooms downtown adds to its vibrancy," says Trettevik. "Jeremy Wine Company is ideal for those who want to pop in and purchase a bottle before dinner, or to enjoy while strolling around with friends and family." Trettevik says that he would love to see Lodi become the urban tasting equivalent of similarly-sized Paso Robles.
Say Cheese!
Cheese Central
11 N. School St., (209) 368-3033, www.cheesecentrallodi.comWhat pairs better with wine than cheese? Downtown Lodi's newest shop, Cheese Central, is a true homage to fromage, and the brainchild of owner/culinarian Cindy Della Monica. The former event caterer and chef de cuisine at Woodbridge Winery has parlayed her knowledge and love of fine foods to select the shop's 85 international, domestic, and local seasonal cheeses, including the Utah-churned "Barely Buzzed," a nutty, full-bodied, cheddar featuring a rind hand-rubbed in espresso coffee grounds and lavender. The shop will eventually stock 125 different varieties of artisan cheeses, all available for tasting.
Della Monica also says utilizing local resources is a major part of her business, and the staff is happy to help pair cheeses with a bounty of local goods in the store's specialty grocery (how does sweet apricot chutney on your salty cheddar sound?), or even an ice-cold microbrew.
"The reception to Cheese Central has been absolutely fabulous," says its epicurean owner, a champion of the slow food movement who will use the shop's sizable demo kitchen to teach cooking classes. "I'm passionate about introducing a quality food experience to as many people as possible."-Katy Berry and Jenn Thornton
Warning: include() [function.include]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in D:\ftp\impcoAdmin\Htdocs\sanjoaquin\2011\06\food.php on line 77
Warning: include(http://www.sanjoaquinmagazine.com/sanjoaquin/right.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in D:\ftp\impcoAdmin\Htdocs\sanjoaquin\2011\06\food.php on line 77
Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://www.sanjoaquinmagazine.com/sanjoaquin/right.php' for inclusion (include_path='.;C:\php5\pear') in D:\ftp\impcoAdmin\Htdocs\sanjoaquin\2011\06\food.php on line 77