Robin Garr wrote:Mark Lipton wrote:Boy, you guys! Clarksburg is to the N of Lodi, closer to Davis. Clarksburg in Lodi, Robin? Really!
Okay, so I drove through the Central Valley once or twice.
Let's get some perspective here, though: The Sacramento Delta in particular, Clarksburg <i>and</i> Lodi, is a coming wine district. It's not the North Coast, it's not even the Central Coast, but it's certainly more promising than, say, Temecula.
You are correct, Mark, that Lodi is hotter, further south - there's a lot of Zin growing there, and most of it is not Zin that I particularly like. But the Delta region in general is a growing region that it pays wine geeks to know about.
Well, speaking as a former resident of the Delta and of Contra Costa County, I feel that it's worth mentioning that Cline's holdings in Oakley are also Delta land and perhaps give rise to less gobby Zins than the Lodi ones you've tasted (of course, I can't write that name without hearing John Fogerty singing "Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi... again"). I also find it amusing to think of the Delta as an up-and-coming area since it was widely planted with vines back in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Those old, gnarly Zin, "Mataro" and Carignane vines were what formed the basis of Fred Cline's early winemaking business. (Having also grown up within walking distance of Jacuzzi's first retail outlet, I'll also mention that Cline is an heir to the Jacuzzi fortune, such as it was). I can't help wondering if the sandy alluvial soils of the Delta might not have helped some of those old vines withstand phylloxera.
Mark Lipton