Masthead Sangiovese From Lodi-- A Wine Blogger Collaboration

Last year at the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi, the highlight of the opening reception was the Masthead Sangiovese. I adored this wine from the moment I first tasted it and kept asking how I could get more.

Luckily I was sent a sample bottle of the Masthead Sangiovese ( in October of 2016) and I opened it in November. Made by four bloggers, the wine is a beautiful mouthful of dark fruit with harmonious tannins, bright acidity and a delightful blend of spice and earthiness.

The wine is 100% Sangiovese blended from two lots of Mohr-Fry Ranch,  Block 433 in Lodi California. As I mentioned above, I was wowed by this wine when I tasted it in Lodi at the Wine Bloggers Conference and was very happy I was able to try it again away from the WBC chaos and enjoy it over the course of an evening. The particular evening I opened the wine was election night 2016, which had a chaos of its own of course, but I tired to ignore that slow motion train-wreck.

For me this wine will always be the bright spot in a dark day in history. Unlike election day that started out with promise and quickly deteriorated, the Masthead Sangiovese never let me down and continued to open up and reach new heights of flavor and complexity over the course of the evening.

What a brilliant idea it was to bring wine bloggers together to craft this wine.

UPDATE: While I tasted this almost a year ago it sometimes takes a jolt to get me to post to this blog and that jolt came by way of the recent news that Masthead received 90 points from Wine Enthusiast! I’d like to say you heard it here first that it was a worthy wine--but that’s what I get for procrastinating on this post!

In any event -- Cheers to Melanie Ofenloch of Dallas Wine Chick, Cindy Rynning, of Grape-Experiences and Peter Bourget and Nancy Brazil of Pull That Cork for a job well done.

You can read the full story of how the wine was created on their respective blogs via the links above.

File this post under #BetterLateThanNever

Lodi Wine Bloggers Conference 2016: The Missed Connection — St. Jorge Winery

My Friday excursion tag for #WBC16 in Lodi read “The Wine Abides” -- and as I waited with my group to board the bus to our undisclosed location, I realized I’d left my phone charge cord behind in the conference center. I ran back to retrieve it and when I returned the “Wine Abides” bus had up and left without me! Without a roster of who was on what bus it was impossible for them to know who should be aboard. But my missed connection had a very happy ending as I ended up on the “Souzão Berry Fields Forever” bus with wonderful small group consisting of Rachel of Three Strings Wine, Rob Frisch of Odd Bacchus, Josh from Josh Likes Wine, Andrew Pitt from Visit Lodi, Chris Kern of Forgotten Grapes, and Jo-Jo the Wine Guzzling Bear. (I think Jo-Jo blogs for Costo.)

Jo-Jo bellying up to the barre. 

Our destination was St. Jorge a winery focusing on Portuguese wines along with a few Italian varietals as well. Our hosts for the evening were Vern & Jenise Vierra, the owners of St. Jorge Winery since 2007. Jenise’s family heritage is Italian and Vern’s family was Portuguese hailing from the island of St. Jorge, thus the name of the winery. Together, Vern and Jenise have all the elements for a great reality TV show--like a modern Lucy and Ricky, they were a thoroughly engaging and highly entertaining couple.

The St. Jorge Estate was like a little slice of Portugal transported to the outskirts of Lodi. After a welcome glass of Verdelho along with some extraordinary Portuguese cheeses and traditional breads, we headed out to the vineyards with Vern.

Bounded by olive trees and oak groves the vineyard soils consist of shallow clay and sandy loam. The estate-grown varietals include Verdelho, Malbec, Tinto Cão, Carignan, Trincadeira, Alicanti Bouschet, Alvarelho, Touriga, Souzão, Tempranillo, and Petit Sirah. 

They also produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Maria (Mediera Port), Old Vine Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Sobremesa (Dessert), Syrah, Tannat, Vinho Cor De Rosa, Vinho Tinto Belo, and Vinho Tinto Doce.

With over 22 wines offered, you are sure to find one that suits your palate at St. Jorge.

It was dang hot out and I drank a lot of water. Perhaps too much water as it had the effect of flushing all the salt from my body of making me feel worse in the heat rather than better, and I struggled through the evening until my electrolytes finally balanced out. Note to self: Water is dangerous!

Vern Vierra in the St. Jorge vineyard

After the vineyard tour, Vern led us through a technical tasting in the cellar where we tasted a vertical of Verdelho including the 2011 Verdelho Seco from Silvaspoons Vineyard, 2014 Verdelho from Vierra Estate, and 2011 Maria also Silvaspoons Vineyard. 

We also took a mini liquid tour of Portugal and tasted the 2014 Trincaderia , 2013 Tempranillo,  2014 Touriga, 2014 Souzao, and 2011 Vihno Tinto Doce  (Port).

But that’s not all!

We then tried the 2013 Sangiovese (a personal favorite of mine), 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2013 Syrah, and the 2013 Alicanti Bouschet.

Time for Dinner

Jenise Vierra, at left, our gracious host.

As the air temperature dropped to a balmy 92 degrees, we headed back outside for dinner alfresco in the courtyard with outdoor chandeliers, and elegant glass sculptures atop a long table artfully decorated with fresh cut grapes that I mistook for fake as they just looked too good to be true.

Not fake grapes, the real deal!

The Portuguese and Italian inspired meal was prepared on site by the long-time family chef Lucia Rogers. The menu was as follows: Gazpacho with a fiery kick of jalapeño paired with 2014 Verdelho; Filetto Carpaccio Salad with 2014 Souzao; Bacalao the traditional cod dish of Portugal with 2014 Trincaderia; Pappa Pomodori Ravioli with 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon; and Port infused Fudge Brownie with Armena & Raspberry sauce paired with 2011 Vinho Tinto Doce.

It was an evening of grand hospitality and wine, wine, and more wine!

Grateful thanks to Vern and Jenise for hosting us and also to Mike Shinn, Director of Operations, for his assistance and the lively dinner conversation.

If you visit Lodi, be sure to stop in at St.Jorge. They are open Friday - Sunday from 11-5pm .

St. Jorge Winery
www.stjorgewinery.com

Will the 10th Wine Bloggers Conference be the Last?

I had a hunch the 10th Anniversary for the Wine Bloggers Conference would be held in Sonoma, and now that that’s been confirmed, I believe it may also be the last Wine Bloggers Conference.

For me.

I’ve attended 8 out of 10 conferences--all except the 1st and Virginia (sorry Frank)-- but the 10th in Sonoma may very well be my final WBC.

I love seeing my wine friends first and foremost, and meeting new people that share a love for wine is one of the biggest draw for me. I think it's still a great value and experience especially for new attendees, but I feel like I’ve outgrown the format. Most of sessions, beyond the keynote and a few specialized break-outs, are of little value to me.

WBC needs more qualified experts to lead the educational sessions. Peer speakers are fine for certain topics, but often not qualified or experienced with presenting before groups. 

I’d like to see an alumni track that allows greater access to the winemakers and more in depth sessions with regard to terroir and local winemaking. Much like the program at WBC14 in Santa Barbara presented by SF Wine School (although that was not an official WBC event).

I’d even be willing to pay more for qualified content such as the Santa Barbara session.

Overall the WBC schedule is filled with fluff and I think the format needs an overhaul as follows:

Keep the Thursday opening reception. Cut back to the core elements on Friday and Saturday: Keynote, Speed tasting (because people do seem to love it), Winery excursions, Wine discovery tastings, and local winemaker discussions and sessions on terroir, vineyards, grapes, history, and geology of the area.

Leave Sunday open for attendees to visit wineries of the region at their own pace. Provide a “hop-on-hop-off” bus that runs a continuous loop from conference hotel to participating tasting rooms and wineries. This would allow attendees the opportunity to meet new people and actually be able to talk to them on the bus.

I loved visiting Lodi this year, but the separate hotels and conference center was a real drag. Made it very difficult to meet up and connect with others after hours.

I think Zephyr has done a great job over the years and it is apparent they try to incorporate attendee feedback. But the content needs improvement.   

I’ll be posting more about my Lodi experience and impressions soon.