Back from the Brink: #WBC16 | Lodi Wine Demands Respect

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Inspired stories about artisan wine and taste makers.

by L.M. Archer FWS, Bourgogne ML

Back from the Brink: #WBC16 | Lodi Wine Demands Respect

Part 1 of 2

Lodi Wine opened their doors, wineries, and vineyards to the 2016 WineBloggers Conference.

" data-orig-size="500,375" title="IMG_3658" data-image-title="IMG_3658" data-orig-file="https://binnotes.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/img_3658.jpg" style="width: 716px; height: 716px;" height="716" width="716" data-medium-file="https://binnotes.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/img_3658.jpg?w=300" data-original-height="716" alt="Lodi Wine hosts the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference." data-original-width="716" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1470991622","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.12","iso":"64","shutter_speed":"0.016666666666667","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-large-file="https://binnotes.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/img_3658.jpg?w=500" /> Lodi Wine hosts the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference.

What would you do if your boss quit half-way through the biggest project you and your team ever undertook? You know, that dream project? The dream that turns into a nightmare overnight?

Well, if you’re LoCa, host of the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference, you rally. You dig deep, like the old vines around you. You pull together, like your ancestors.

You empty spit buckets (247) you hand-wash glasses (3,000) you set & remove linen (262 changes), and haul ice (104 bags).

Oh, yeah. You also grip and grin your way through a pre- & and a post-con excursion, an opening reception, eighteen winery excursions, and one closing dinner.

You introduce ~300 well-lubricated wine scribes to over 100 Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italian varietals thriving in Lodi’s diverse soils and microclimates. You trek them to view vines over 100 years old, and family wineries spanning five and six generations.

You laugh at least a thousand times. You cry as many tears, if not more. You hug your neighbors and friends and tell each other ‘Everything’s gonna be alright.”

And it is. It’s more than alright.

It’s simply spectacular.

I arrived in Lodi with a preconceived notion – viz., Lodi as the Rodney Dangerfield of California wine regions, home of over-ripe zin and little more.

I was wrong. Very wrong.

Lodi is the Tony Bennett of California wine regions – a legend.

And like any legend, Lodi just gets better with age, like its vines.

I get it now.

I understand why Wine Enthusiast Magazine deemed Lodi 2015 Wine Region of the Year.

Lodi demands respect.

It has mine.

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Part 1 of 2 Part Series.

Please join me back here next week for Part 2 of 2, featuring an introduction to some of the artisan wine makers and wine growers of Lodi, CA.

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Thank you:

LoCa

WBC 16