Lodi

Lodi, in California's inland Central Valley, is the historic heartland of old-vine Zinfandel — a warm, sun-drenched district whose ancient, head-trained, dry-farmed bush vines, some planted before Prohibition, yield some of the ripest, most generous Zinfandel made anywhere. The wines are deeply coloured, full-bodied and high in alcohol, flooding the palate with jammy, brambly blackberry, boysenberry and black cherry over peppery sweet baking spice, licorice and vanilla. Soft, supple tannin and moderate acidity make them plush and approachable rather than austere. Lodi grows a large share of California's Zinfandel and is the spiritual home of the gnarled old-vine style.