California- Lodi

We had a lot of fun in and around Lodi, Ca. Lodi is known for its Zinfandel wines due to the dryer climate that is better for the grapes compared to Napa and Sonoma where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay do well. (Though I tasted several excellent Chardonnays.) Lodi is not as touristy as Napa/Sonoma and the wine tasting prices are very reasonable. We arrived on Friday, May 8 and went to Michael David winery after we set-up as it was only a 5 minute drive from the RV park. We sampled 4 or 5 wines and bought a bottle of Zinfandel and a Chardonnay. On Saturday we went to Peirano Winery and sampled about 12 wines for $10! We found most of the wines to be enjoyable and very reasonably priced. They offer a special to get 50% off on a case plus tasting fees waived. Needless to say we bought a case! After that we walked around downtown Lodi and stopped at Smack Pie for a pizza, which was yummy. As we were walking back to the car Kevin spotted a place called Bricks and Hope and the next thing I know we meandered in there for a drink.
Sunday was Mother’s Day and we drove to Suisun Valley (known for Petite Sirah) to meet up with Kevin’s nephew Dan, his wife Lara, and Cindy who is the mom of Dan’s friend that is currently deployed. They are stationed at Travis Air Force Base there in the valley. We did wine tastings at Blue Victorian and Mankas Gardens, both owned by the Vezer Family. Cindy’s son Drew is a member and got us free tastings at both places with a personalized reserved library tasting at Mankas. We then had lunch at Mankas Grill. While there Dan joined the wine club and we took advantage of a 6 bottle wine discount. Finding spots for 20 bottles of wine in the RV was a challenge but we figured it out! On Monday we drove 2 hours and 20 minutes to Los Gatos to meet Kevin’s college friend Mark, his wife Amelia and their son Luke for brunch, then visited Testarosa Winery for a tasting. They took us to their “vacation” home that they recently bought that has 2 acres of amazing sculptured landscape and overlooks a reservoir with the Bay Area in the background. They are in the process on redecorating it and are bouncing between homes. Next they plan to tear down and rebuild their current house.Read more