The Tasting Panel magazine

December 2016

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80  /  the tasting panel  /  december 2016 managing costs as their production continues to grow each year. "None of us in our family have moved away, ever! That's over five generations," said Maggio-Woltkamp. "My son works for the family farming business and my daughter is going to school in Reno but plans to come back when she's done." As a family, they're committed to seeing Lodi grow in reputation as a quality wine region. "Napa always gets the glory, but if you see the trucks that go down Highway 12 heading west, it's all Lodi fruit," said Maggio-Woltkamp, suggesting that a portion of Napa Valley's success as a wine region has been built with Lodi fruit. Since only 85 percent of the grapes in wines labeled with the appel- lation of origin have to come from that region, it's reasonable to assume that we are all drinking a lot of Lodi wine and didn't know it. Lodi has more than 110,000 acres of vines planted—more than Napa Valley, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara County combined. "We don't get as much per ton here in the valley," said Maggio-Casity, "so some are going to buy here because we still have good quality but at not nearly as much per ton." Oak Ridge winery produces several different brands, each with a different profile and price point in the mar- ketplace. Their flagship wine, OZV, is produced from 50- to 100-year-old Lodi Zinfandel vines. The sisters proudly shared that in addition to the wine's many accolades it was also the number-one-selling Zinfandel in California and number four nationally according to Nielsen ratings in 2015. That's no small feat considering that this is a family business started only in 2002 by Lodi growers with zero winery experience. Their Production Manager, Chue Her, has worked at Oak Ridge since 2005. The Laotian-born winemaker has more than 22 years of experience and has worked with many well-known brands, including Opus One. Each lot of fruit is designated for a specific brand based on a number of factors, including quality and taste profile. "My work here at ORW gets me out of bed every morning," said Her. "I wonder what different style of wine I could make for a particular market or think about projects that are yet to start or finish. I am always eager to see what I can do better today than I did yesterday." Despite the industrial setting, the winery's tasting room reinforces the historical significance of this place. Set inside a 50,000-gallon redwood barrel, tank number 150 was first used by the Roma Wine Company in the 1930s. In 1965, the fermenter was moved to its existing location and converted into a tasting room for Royal Host Cellars, a trademark of East Side Winery known This new Italian-made bottling line was installed in preparation for the winery's expansion. While their previous system could bottle roughly 2,000 cases per day, the new purchase has the capability to do 230 bottles per minute.

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