Wine, Food and Fun at Lodi Lake

LODI, Calif. - April 20, 2015 - PRLog -- Join your favorite Lodi vintners as they celebrate the 11^th annual ZinFest (http://www.zinfest.com/) Wine Festival with a weekend full of fabulous local wine, food and entertainment. Events will run May 15^th through May 17^th, with the main festival taking place on Saturday, May 16^th, at Lodi Lake Park from 12 noon to 5pm. Additional weekend activities include the ever-popular (and sold-out!) Vintner’s Grille on Friday, May 15^th, as well as Sunday’s Winery Tours & Open Houses on May 17^th. More than 4,000 wine lovers are expected to attend this year’s festival.

The ZinFest Wine Festival will feature 200 handcrafted wines from over 40 Lodi wineries. (http://www.zinfest.com/the-wine) Beyond the glass, guests will enjoy a selection of gourmet food from local restaurants, live music, and browsing one-of-a-kind merchandise from artisan purveyors such as local olive oils and reclaimed wine barrel furniture. In addition, ZinFest attendees are invited to expand their knowledge of Lodi wines and food pairings during any of the scheduled sessions at either the al fresco ZinFest Cooking or Wine Schools.

This year’s ZinFest Wine School begins at 1pm and features the following lineup:

·      1:00-1:40pm – Intro to Wine Tasting

   Presented by Fred Swan, Certified Sommelier, San Francisco Wine School and norcalwine.com.

·      2:00-2:40pm – The Art of Blind Tasting

Presented by Catherine Fallis MS, a.k.a grape goddess®, Planet Grape LLC and Resident Master Sommelier, Summertime in a Glass.

·      3:00–3:40pm – Taste of Lodi’s Historic Vineyards

WithTegan Passalacqua, Turley Wine Cellars.

·      4:00-4:40pm – Lodi’s New Alternative White Wines

With Randy Caparoso, author lodiwine.com blog, “The LoCA Life & Times” and The SOMM Journal.

“We’re extremely excited to celebrate Lodi’s heritage with Zinfandel as well as showcase the region’s diversity of winegrapes at the 11th Annual ZinFest Wine Festival on May 16th," says Camron King, Executive Director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission. “ZinFest is the quintessential experience for anyone who is interested in learning more about the Lodi Appellation’s unique terroir and climate, tasting its variety of exceptional wines, and meeting our passionate winemakers and growers.”

For those who need more than great wine to float their boat, the ZinFest Vintner's Regatta will return after making a memorable splash at its debut last year. Brave local winemakers will again take to the high seas of Lodi Lake as they race across it in ‘boats’ creatively fashioned from wine barrels, hoping to de-throne 2014 Grand Champion, Macchia Wines (http://www.macchiawines.com/macchia).

This year, the festival weekend will cap off a week’s worth of pre-ZinFest festivities, (http://www.zinfest.com/pre-zinfest-events) kicking off on Monday, May 11^th, when the world-class Amgen Tour of California (http://amgentoclodi.com/) wraps its stage 2 finish in Lodi.  Amgen Tour of California’s Lifestyle Festival will take place from 11am to 4pm at Hutchins Street Square in the hours leading up to the exhilarating closed course circuit in downtown Lodi. On Thursday, May 14^th, Harney Lane (http://harneylane.com/) Winery will celebrate ZinFest with Lodi chef Warren Ito’s legendary food and wine pairing creations on their patio, while LangeTwins (http://www.langetwins.com/) Winery will host “Top Chef” contestant (and Stockton native) Michael Midgley as he creates a multicourse winemaker dinner. RSVP & details here (http://www.zinfest.com/pre-zinfest-events).

ZinFest tickets are now on sale and can be purchased online at www.ZinFest.com or by calling the Lodi Wine & Visitor Center at 209.365.0621. Advance tickets cost $55 per person and $65 the day of the event. Designated driver tickets are also available for $10 per person. Tickets include a ZinFest wine glass, wine tasting, and participation in all seminars and entertainment. All attendees must be 21 years of age or older, including designated drivers.

About Lodi Wine Country

Located south of Sacramento and west of the Sierra Nevada, the Lodi wine region features 100,000 acres of vineyards that thrive in the classic Mediterranean climate of warm days and cool evenings.

With more than 100 varieties (http://www.lodiwine.com/blog/john-fogerty-never-slept-here-101-grapes-other-lesser-known-facts-about-lodi) currently being cultivated, Lodi offers a diverse portfolio of wines. While long renowned for its high-quality Zinfandel production, including an estimated 2,000 acres of pre-Prohibition own rooted vines, the area also produces award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and Chardonnay. More recently, Lodi has begun gaining consumer traction for its other exciting varietals such as Albariño, Tempranillo, Graciano and Vermentino, among many others.

A major winegrape growing region since the 1850s, today Lodi boasts over 750 growers. The region also serves as home to more than 85 boutique wineries specializing in small-lot, handmade wines that have garnered major awards at domestic and international wine competitions.  In addition, Lodi is one of the leading wine regions when it comes to sustainable viticulture. The Lodi Winegrape Commission created Lodi Rules™, California’s first third-party-certified sustainable winegrowing program.

For more information about the Lodi wine region, visit www.lodiwine.com.

For media inquiries and interviews, please contact Alexandra Fondren at Charles Communications Associates at 415|701-9463 or press@charlescomm.com. For additional event information, please contact Jenny Heitman of the Lodi Winegrape Commission at 209|367-0737 or jenny@lodiwine.com.