Redeeming Lodi, California

Analogies can be dangerous, but for anyone who doesn’t know the more detailed geography of California, it may be easiest to describe the Lodi wine region as California’s Languedoc. This massive American Viticultural Area (AVA) at the north end of California’s Central Valley covers 551,000 acres (223,000 ha), and contains more than 103,000 planted acres across its six sub-AVAs. The region produces a staggering 25% of California’s wine, which means that if you’ve ever had a $10 bottle of wine from California, you’ve almost certainly tasted what the region has to offer.

But most people have never really tasted Lodi...