Wine & Chocolate Weekend in Lodi, CA

Zari and I went to the Lodi Wine and Chocolate Weekend on Sunday. The ticket price was $30.00 per person in advance and $45.00 per person at whatever door you started at. If you divide either price by the number of wineries, and there were around 30 participating, it seems like a bargain, but 90 bucks for five hours of tasting does touch my anti-conspicuous-consumption nerve. (We had gotten ours in advance.)


Zari outside the Lodi Wine & Visitor Center

True to its name, there was wine and chocolate galore. We managed to spend time with Mokelumne Glen Vineyards, Barsetti Vineyards, E2 Family Winery, Peltier Station, Abundance Vineyards and Klinker Brick, all of whom were pouring at the Wine & Visitor Center. As always, I enjoyed the Lemberger, Kerner and “Dreirebe” from my friends at Mokelumne Glen.


The folks from Mokelumne Glen and me!

One positive stand-out was the Klinker Brick Lodi Farrah Syrah which was an excellent QPR at $15.00 a bottle. The folks at E2 had a tasty enough Vedelho, but their Pinot Grigio truly paid homage to the “pee” in Pinot. Some folks enjoy a certain amount of cat’s pee in certain wines, but this was extreme. I wish I had a picture of Zari’s face when she tried it. She has exquisite taste in all things, except maybe boyfriends, and she made a kisser as if someone had poisoned her.

From the Wine & Visitor Center we headed out to Jessie’s Grove, Housely’s Century Oak Winery, Chocoholics Divine Desserts where VMV was pouring their inaugural Merlot, Peirano, Harmony Wynelands Estate Winery, Vino Con Brio, Van Ruiten, and Michael-David.


Winter vineyards at Peirano

At Harmony Wynelands, the owner plays a mean theater-size pipe organ and he obliged us with a rendition of “You Made Me Love You” which got most of the place dancing.


Zari and I in the gazebo at Harmony

As to the wines overall, well, perhaps I need to start tasting more wines from outside the United States. Not that the wines were bad, but there was a sad sameness throughout. Maybe I’m just too used to them now and need something different to tingle the old taste buds. On a positive note, I wasn’t slammed over the head by huge, alcoholic, compote-like Zinfandels which can happen in the hot Lodi region. As to oak, some folks have backed off and others have cranked it up and are proud of it. Housely’s had a no-oak, no ML Chardonnay which seemed to lack acid when I tried it, but it was wine #50 or so for the day, so I need to revisit it to give it a fair shake.

By the way, I don’t need to see another piece of chocolate, truffle, brownie, or mocha biscotti for a long, long, long time!!!!

Cousin!
Where are the pictures of you frolicking in the chocolate fountain?

JuliaB

Cousin!
Where are the pictures of you frolicking in the chocolate fountain?

JuliaB

It's funny you should mention frolicking. There was a lot of, uh, let's say "relationship oriented" chocolate items on sale at a number of wineries. Of course, there were chocolate bars in the form of naked men and women (the men's bars came with almonds), games of strip checkers where the checkers were made of chocolate, and all manner of body frostings. To be sure, if one had wished to frolick, one could have frolicked away!

[James Roscoe]

Cousin!
Where are the pictures of you frolicking in the chocolate fountain?

JuliaB

It's funny you should mention frolicking. There was a lot of, uh, let's say "relationship oriented" chocolate items on sale at a number of wineries. Of course, there were chocolate bars in the form of naked men and women (the men's bars came with almonds), games of strip checkers where the checkers were made of chocolate, and all manner of body frostings. To be sure, if one had wished to frolick, one could have frolicked away!

Please stop making JB blush!

Glad you enjoyed yourself, Gary (well, at least I think you enjoyed yourself).

But put me down as one of those people unconvinced that chocolate and wine---especially most red wine is a natural match.

Now, I've actually given choco and wine seminars and tastings, but I still remain personally of the opinion that most wines suck with chocolate. Port and bittersweet chocolate cake is one of the rare exceptions, and I've been known to crunch on some broken dark choco bars with dessert wines when they were offered, but only when the choco was dark, unsweetened and very, very high in cocoa fat content.

Milk chocolate and wine? Shudder. And so-called white chocolate and wine? Abomination.

I like chocolate. I like wine. But I usually keep them fairly separate and distinct. (Except for mole sauce, but that falls under the unsweet category.)

Glad you enjoyed yourself, Gary (well, at least I think you enjoyed yourself).

But put me down as one of those people unconvinced that chocolate and wine---especially most red wine is a natural match.

How could I not enjoy a sunny afternoon filled with wines and sweets and spent with Zari? And this time, the pizzeria was open!

I'm pretty much with you on all points with the wine and chocolate pairing, but that's not why I went to the event. The actual value of these things (think olives and mustard and crab feed, too) is that one has the opportunity to visit a number of wineries for a "reasonable" price. And, nowadays, for someone who is not ITB, that has real value. I really don't worry too much about the theme. I look more at which wineries and which wines will be available. This was simply a good opportunity to get an overview of what's being done in Lodi and to meet some of the smaller guys. To tell you the truth, I laid off the chocolate almost to the very end.

Cousin!
Where are the pictures of you frolicking in the chocolate fountain?

JuliaB

It's funny you should mention frolicking. There was a lot of, uh, let's say "relationship oriented" chocolate items on sale at a number of wineries. Of course, there were chocolate bars in the form of naked men and women (the men's bars came with almonds), games of strip checkers where the checkers were made of chocolate, and all manner of body frostings. To be sure, if one had wished to frolick, one could have frolicked away!

Did someone mention ALMONDS??????

That is a lot of wine and chocolate to savor in one day, Garibaldo! Nevertheless, I enjoyed the info and the lovely pics!

I, too, am not one to match chocolate and wine. It's just too overwhelming, even if the chocolate is bitter, fatty, and of high quality.

That is a lot of wine and chocolate to savor in one day, Garibaldo! Nevertheless, I enjoyed the info and the lovely pics!

I, too, am not one to match chocolate and wine. It's just too overwhelming, even if the chocolate is bitter, fatty, and of high quality.

One more picture just for you, Paulo! This creature resides in a pen at Jessie's Grove.