How to Spend 36 Food and Wine-Filled Hours in Lodi

Just 85 miles from the city by the bay, Lodi offers an under-the-radar wine country experience

by Laura Smith Borrman | Eater San Francisco

Just 85 miles from the city by the bay, Lodi offers an under-the-radar wine country experience on par with — but more accessible than — Napa. The region’s hot days and cool nights create conditions ideal for grape growing, which explains why the crop has been grown there for more than a century. Family businesses and entrepreneurs who’ve returned to the small town of their childhood both figure prominently. Today, Lodi produces 120 varieties of grapes; with its more than 100,000 acres of vineyards (that’s more than Napa and Sonoma combined) and a farm heritage that lends itself to some truly great restaurants, Lodi can entice even the most skeptical visitors. Read More.