Recent Press

Farm-to-table smorgasbords, volcanic mud baths, Danish architecture, and more are the calling cards of these varied wine destinations.

Visit the backdrop of your favorite holiday movie.

Napa and Sonoma are wonderful, but they can also be expensive and crowded. Here are three under-the-radar regions that offer a more cost-effective and accessible — yet still delicious — alternative.

A guide to spending time in California's largest winegrape growing region.

From wine country gems to coastal retreats, these are the 13 best small towns to visit in California, according to experts and locals.

Forego the steep fees and overcrowded tasting rooms of Napa Valley for an undersung escape to lovely little Lodi.

From the coast to the desert, the Golden State has it all.

Celebrity chef Charlie Palmer is among the partners involved in the newly launched Appellation brand, with properties coming to Northern California’s wine country and a luxury wellness-themed resort in Utah’s Park City.

Discover lesser-known wine regions in California - including Lodi Wine Country.

Head into spring with these festival-focused destinations, from California to Ireland. There’s no better month to sample the riotous colors of India, take to the Nile by cruise or join in the wine harvest in the vineyards of the Southern Hemisphere.

Lodi is known as the "Winegrape Capital of the World."

Explore the best wineries in the Lodi region according to Wine Enthusiast.

AFAR Magazine explores the top 10 places to visit in November, showcasing the Sandhill Cranes experience in Lodi.

Editors and readers independently select what you see on 10Best, where Lodi wins a spot in the category.

Editors and readers independently select what you see on 10Best, where Lodi wins a spot in the category.

A deep dive on the Lodi Wine Country region.

Several Lodi wineries were awarded Best of the Class in the 2020 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest competition of North American wines with 6,703 entrants.

Chef Bradley Ogden’s stellar career includes more than fifteen international culinary awards including 2004 Restaurant of the Year for his Bradley Ogden at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas, and “Best California Chef” bestowed by the James Beard Foundation. Even though Ogden remains involved in the management of Marin’s Lark Creek Inn and One Market Street in San Francisco, Ogden is now based in Lodi, where he is culinary director at Wine & Roses Inn and Resort.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with David Lucas, founder of Lucas Winery in Lodi, California. Lucas started the winery with his wife Heather in 1978, when there were only three other wineries in the entire AVA. Today there are more than 90 wineries in the region, but Lucas Winery has a unique niche, as they farm the oldest head-pruned Zinfandel vines in North America.

Oak Farm Vineyards assistant winemaker Sierra Zeiter spent a portion of this year in New Zealand working the harvest for Sauvignon blanc mega-producer Kim Crawford Wines.

The Phillips family homesteaded in Lodi, California shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War. Fruits, vegetables and grapes were staple family crops for decades. The Phillips’ roadside fresh produce stand remains a Lodi destination, but its shelves and bins are equally weighted with the family’s wines.

It may be getting colder outside, but that doesn’t mean the paddling season has to end. Headwaters Kayak Shop has planned two paddle events that will allow Lodians and others from surrounding areas to enjoy the rare experience of an afternoon on the Mokelumne River during the fall and winter seasons.

John Fogerty said he never actually visited Lodi when he wrote the classic line, “Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again.”

Dan Panella is director of winemaking and co-owner of Oak Farm Vineyards in Lodi, California. He credits Cal Poly State University’s ‘learn by doing’ philosophy for creating prime graduates who are armed with the practical, hands-on skills sought out by the wine industry. Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Dan Panella and assistant winemaker and 2017 Cal Poly grad Sierra Zeiter.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from Lodi, California, where he visits with Markus and Liz Bokisch at Bokisch Vineyards. Proclaimed the 2019 Winery of the Year by Visit Lodi Conference and Visitors Bureau, Bokisch has evolved the region’s wine lexicon with award-winning Iberian grape varieties including Albarino, Garnacha and Tempranillo. Bokisch is the largest organic grape grower in the Lodi AVA (American Viticultural Area) with more than 400 acres under cultivation.

The dusty streets of Lodi, Calif., are quiet on a warm autumn afternoon. Birds lap water pooling on the sidewalk under tree-lined streets. Department stores vacated the two-story brick buildings decades ago, leaving behind a handful of vintage boutiques, an old-fashioned deli, and a cheese shop. Bells twinkle overhead when a shopper opens a door and walks into the otherwise empty downtown. You wouldn’t know it by looking around, but this small agricultural town is the gateway to one of the top wine regions in the country.

What started as a trip to see her father in Sacramento, author Kathy Chin Leong found herself discovering the wonders of Lodi and just how wrong the old Creedence Clearwater Revival

Sue Tipton crafts award-winning white wines in Acampo, California. She ignored the experts who warned she could not make it as a winemaker without also producing reds. Tipton’s white wines consistantly win multiple awards annually. Her Voignier won “Best in the State of California” at the 2016 California State Fair, and her Grenache Blanc won the prestigious “Best in Class” at the Sunset International Wine Competition.

The Panella family has been farming in the Lodi region since the 1930s. Join correspondent Tom Wilmer for a conservation with Heather and Dan Panella, third-generation farmers and winemakers who share insights about the family’s Oak Farm Vineyards, and producing award-winning wines from their 60 acres of estate vines.

Despite being a small town in Northern California, Lodi is showing that its wine scene is anything but small, producing some world-renowned wines.

Lodi has been chugging along as a major wine and grape producer for more than a Century. Located in the San Joaquin Valley a hundred miles inland from San Francisco and a five-hour drive from Hollywood, Lodi is a highly recommended weekend wine getaway.

Join correspondent Tom Wilmer reporting from Lodi, California, where he visits with two-time James Beard Award-winning chef Bradley Ogden.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer discovers why USA Today and the Wine Enthusiast both ranked Lodi, California as a world-class wine destination where food, kayaking, and biking are equal allures.

Wayne Craig talks about Lodi’s diversity of attractions with it’s family-owned wineries and wine trail as popular draws.

Chef Pete Murdaca shares his passion for creating old-world style cuisine at Pietro’s Italian eatery in Lodi, California.

Russ Munson General Manager Lodi’s Wine & Roses hotel talks about Lodi as an under-the-radar California wine and general lifestyle vacation destination.

Roger Rehmke talks about the art and craft of crafting killer brew as well as distinctive culinary offerings in his combination restaurant brewpub.

Lodi, California Mayor Mark Chandler talks about the region’s 150-year history as a premier wine growing region and how it has grown to become a prime destination for tourism and wine seekers.

Georgia Lerner, owner of Harney Lane Winery in Lodi, California talks about her family winery’s 120-year farm history, their award-winning Zinfandel, other wines and tasting room.

Steve Felton talks passionately about the evolution of fine, award-winning wines, and how whites, reds, especially Burgundies are taking some of the shine from the shine from the revered and legendary Old-Vine Zins.

Marcus and Liz Bokish talk about introducing Spanish varieties to Lodi’s wine region, their sustainable, and organic practices, and their passion as growers and winemakers.

Artisanal winemaker, Layne Montgomery talks story about m2 Wines in Lodi California and their passion for old-vine Zinfandel, the Lodi Native Movement and more.

Sarah Williams and winemaker Greg Burns talk about the historic circa-1860’s Jessie’s Grove Winery and their circa-1880’s ancient Zinfandel vines in Lodi, California

Sue Tipton, owner of Acquiesce Winery in Acampo CA, Lodi AVA only produces white wines. She talks about her focus and why her wines have helped to level the playing field with reds, which historically have cast a shadow over the world of white wines

Organic grape growers and award-winning Zinfandel and Chardonnay winemakers, David Lucas and Heather Pyle-Lucas share their 38 year passion of producing some of Lodi’s most legendary wines.

Recognizing Lodi’s Tourism Advocate and Winery of the Year.

Roughly 70 miles east of Napa and Sonoma is Lodi, California, another welcoming wine region with all of the vineyard charm — yet none of the traffic and sky-high prices — of its westerly neighbors. In fact, with more vineyard square acreage than Napa, Sonoma and all of California’s central valley combined, you’re sure to have indulged in multiple Lodi varietals without even knowing it.

So what about this little town of 60,000 makes it the new and improved Napa? Read on to find out.

Recent months have brought sweet success to the Lodi wine region, and this weekend could be even sweeter. The local wine scene will take the spotlight once again with the 19th annual Lodi Wine and Chocolate Weekend scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Visit Lodi! Conference and Visitors Bureau has launched a new interactive bike map and brochure to help visitors explore the region on wheels. The map highlights several routes the includes stops at local shops, eateries and wineries — all bike-friendly.

Wine Enthusiast magazine announced Lodi as its 2015 Wine Region of the Year on Tuesday. “It’s grabbed international attention for the quality of the new wines made from its legendary old Zinfandel vines and a profusion of young, diverse grape varieties,” the magazine wrote.

Reason #1: The pies have it — With their puffed, golden crusts, the apple pies at Phillips Farms look more like small mountains than dessert. The popular farm stand-cafe sells a large variety of pies, but the apple, peach boysenberry and mixed berry — all made with seasonal fruit — are customer favorites.

Some people simply see grapes as they look around Ron Silva’s ranch. And indeed, there are lots and lots of grapes at his 350-acre Silvaspoons Vineyards in the delta’s Lodi appellation. But as Silva wanders his estate on the Alta Mesa plateau in Galt (Sacramento County), he sees history. Planted with 21 obscure varieties like Alvarinho, Souzão, Touriga Nacional and Tinto Cão, the property showcases an entirely uncommon crop for Lodi — Old World Portuguese grapes.

Downtown Lodi is ground zero for wine tasting, dining of all cuisines, entertainment, local art and shopping at several of the city’s ‘mom and pop’ shops…

Just a day after 144 cyclists zoomed down Lodi streets for the Amgen Tour of California, event organizers and city officials are hailing the Lodi Stage 2 finish as a success. While the big closing to the second stage in Lodi was broadcast around the world, the event brought thousands to watch from the finish line on Hutchins Street…

Just an hour outside the East Bay, the city of Lodi—loved for its Zinfandels and warm, welcoming vibe—brims with wineries and neighborhood eateries…

A police officer is posted next to a loading zone on Elm Street, forever frozen in the act of writing up a parking ticket. A woman is perched on a bench outside the Downtown Lodi Visitors Center on School Street, endlessly reading a page in a book. Oh, and Marilyn Monroe is trying to manage her unruly dress outside Lodi Stadium 12. Don’t worry. No one has been placed under a strange spell. These people are all bronze sculptures set up in Downtown…

Thanks to ambitious vintners, rising demand from drinkers, a taste shift to lighter wine styles, and yes, even climate change, the number of global hot spots for wine is ever expanding. If you’re still rattling off the names of the old, long-famous regions, you’re way behind the times. In these eight spots, good wine is on its way to becoming great wine, with a few stars leading the way…

“She’s kind of an olive oil snob. She just expects it because we have it at every meal,” says her dad, Mike Coldani. Not only is olive oil a part of every meal in the Coldani house, but it is also front and center during family discussions and even get-togethers as the team of siblings, spouses and close family friends run Calivirgin, an extra virgin olive oil company. The Coldani family has planted more than 50,000 trees on their farm near Lodi on Highway 12, where they have raised crops for 80 years…

Cindy Della Monica was working in her Lodi specialty food store, Cheese Central, when a newlywed couple from Santa Barbara walked through the door. The two wine enthusiasts had come to spend a week exploring the wine lounges, food and shopping in downtown Lodi. That included a stop at Della Monica’s store on School Street, which offers 100 varieties of cheese and a host of accompanying foods…