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Lodi

United States: map with a pin on LodiLodi and its surroundings: map with a pin
Lodi · United StatesMap: Maison Apéro, based on Natural Earth (public domain)

Ironstone’s Rous Vineyard Zinfandel 2022 lets you follow a place name down three levels: Lodi, the Mokelumne River sub-appellation and one vineyard planted in 1909.

The background that matters

Lodi is an American Viticultural Area defined in federal regulation 27 CFR 9.107, covering parts of Sacramento and San Joaquin counties; in 2006 seven sub-appellations were established inside it, among them Mokelumne River. Lodi has a Mediterranean climate of warm days and cool evenings, moderated by breezes drawn inland through the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. The Mokelumne River area is identified by its deep Tokay series fine sandy loam, where most of Lodi’s old-vine Zinfandel still grows.

Read it alongside this wine

The Rous Vineyard is a 10-acre site of head-trained Zinfandel in the Mokelumne River sub-appellation, planted in 1909 on St. George rootstock; the 2022 comes entirely from this vineyard and spent 24 months in French and American oak. The vineyard lies on the east side of the sub-appellation, where the sandy loam is deepest. This guide does not describe its taste.

Try it with the review

Before reading any tasting note, sort the facts above into place (sub-appellation, soil, Delta breezes) and vine or cellar (vine age, rootstock, oak). If a review is shown for this wine, check which group each statement relies on, and do not let vine age or oak alone stand in for the place.

These are learning prompts, not guaranteed tasting results. Separate the published facts from your own observations.

Ironstone Vineyards Rous Vineyard Old Vine Reserve Zinfandel, Lodi 2022

Sources

Soil and climate diagrams

Lodi: from the Delta to the Sierra Nevada foothills: Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, Mokelumne River, Mokelumne River AVA, Sierra Nevada foothills, Clements Hills, Borden Ranch, Sandy alluvium, Mediterranean climate: warm days, cool evenings

Schematic block diagram, not to scale: the top shows the relief and the front face a cross-section, coloured by soil and rock type.

  • From west to east, Lodi changes from flat, low plains and old river terraces to rolling hillsides; the Sierra Nevada foothills form its eastern border.
  • The Mokelumne and Cosumnes rivers, which rise in the Sierra Nevada, brought soils rich in granitic minerals; the Mokelumne River area is defined by deep Tokay sandy loam, the eastern hills by gravelly or cobbled Redding clay, and other districts by San Joaquin sandy clay loam over a shallow hardpan.
  • Lodi has a Mediterranean climate of warm days and cool evenings, moderated by breezes drawn inland through the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta.

Sources

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