Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/859549
{ SOMMjournal.com } 107 As our conversation continues, it becomes clear to me that it is impossible to talk about the history of Lodi in terms of one family or one producer. The region was built and has grown through the intertwined cooperation of the community, with the Lange family (alongside the Mondavis) at the heart of this evolution. Akiyoshi met the Lange twins, Brad and Randall, when he was working at the Mondavi family's winery in Woodbridge, just outside of Lodi. "The Mondavis had recently come back to the Lodi area and were interested in producing single-varietal wines with elevated production methods but which were still geared for everyday con - sumption," recalls Akiyoshi. "You have to remember that back then [the early '80s], red wines of the area were 'California Burgundy,' and whites were 'California Chablis.'" (Fortunately, litigation eventu - ally changed this deceptive labeling practice.) In 1982, Robert Mondavi came to Lodi with his son Michael, and the two began researching vineyard sites with Brad and Randall to decide what to grow and where. "The Mondavis, and Brad and Randall were looking at a plot of land, kicking the dirt around, trying to figure out what should be planted, and without question it was Cabernet Sauvignon," remem - bers Akiyoshi. "At the time, I think there was one other vineyard in Lodi that was producing Cabernet Sauvignon. It started changing the way we looked at Lodi, as a region capable of supporting high-quality grape production." Soon the growers, led by the Lange twins and the Mondavis, began expanding the varietals they grew by planting Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. "Everything was an experiment," laughs Akiyoshi. "We as winemakers had to hone our craft just as much as the grape growers had to hone their viticultural skills. We started understanding the implications of what we did in the vineyards and how it turned out as a finished wine. We created a quality-enhancement team, which included the key growers of the region—Brad and Randall Lange and about 15 other growers—all meeting together once a month to discuss, taste and develop a common vocabulary for how we would qualify the wines. It was a very formative time, because there were a lot of new varieties, and we wanted to know why some vineyards performed better than others. This gave us a communication point between the winemakers and the growers, and I believe this really cemented the path for developing Lodi as a serious winemak - ing region." But What About the Zinfandel? As we continue our walk through the vineyards and back into LangeTwins' state-of-the-art win- ery, conversation turns from the Cabernet and Chardonnay surge of the '80s to the old-vine Zinfandel that has stayed the course through every era of Lodi's grape-growing history. "One hundred years ago, a wave of European settlers came to Lodi, and they planted what they knew, and they planted what they felt would do well in this area. The old-vine Zinfandel plant - ings are really a testament to their ability and their knowledge of grape-growing. It is pretty amazing when you think about it," muses Akiyoshi. "A vineyard that was always interesting to me is the Lewis Vineyard old-vine Zinfandel." The Lewis Vineyard—planted in 1903—is overseen to this day by Charlie Lewis. "It makes exceptional wine every year, year after year," says Akiyoshi. "Old-vine Zinfandel is unique. It's as if all those vintages that have been in the ground have created a kind of genetic memory—all those years of the rain, the heat, the winter. Because of that, I think, the vines have become more tempered and resilient." He continues with a smile, "And you certainly can't force it to produce more. So with the quality of fruit from the Lewis Vineyard, our goal is to create a wine that reflects the vineyard and the vintage. " That wine is the LangeTwins Centennial Zinfandel, the 2011 bottling of which is the 105th vintage crafted from this historic vineyard. In the vineyards, David Akiyoshi admires the progress of the 2017 vintage.