Home Care In Lodi, CA

In Napa Valley, wine tastings cost $80 on average. In Lodi, you can visit four wineries for that price.

Lodi (San Joaquin County) embodies a long lost era of rustic wine tasting in Napa in the 1980s and ‘90s. Tastings are laid back and unfussy — no caviar pairings or Michelin-trained chefs on staff. Tasting rooms typically accommodate walk-ins and kids, and you’ll often “find someone who is intimately involved in the process,” Kyle Lerner, co-owner of Lodi’s Harney Lane Vineyards, said. “You’re not going to walk in many other regions and talk to the owner or winemaker or farmer on a daily basis. That used to be common.”

Not a lot of people know this. Located roughly 35 miles south of Sacramento, Lodi has struggled to compete with more popular wine country destinations, such as Napa Valley and Sonoma County. The region is still largely undercovered, despite the fact that it’s California’s most diverse wine region, growing more than 130 grape varieties.

Yet a wave of recent restaurant and hotel developments suggest that Lodi is finally on the cusp of breaking out. Plan a trip now, and like Napa Valley’s earliest visitors, you’ll one day be able to say, “I remember when.”

Read on for the top seven tasting rooms to visit in Lodi.

Acquiesce Vineyards & Winery

Over the past 20 years, Lodi has quietly shed its reputation for being limited to growing big reds, such as Zinfandel, to become one of California’s most exciting white wine regions. Much of that credit goes to Sue Tipton, who founded in 2008 Lodi’s first winery exclusively dedicated to white wines. “When I first opened, a few well-meaning male winemakers came to me and said, ‘Sweetheart, you’re never going to make it with all whites in your lineup,’” Tipton told the Chronicle last year. But make it she did: Acquiesce is one of Lodi’s most popular tasting rooms and has proven that, despite warm temperatures, white grapes can thrive in Lodi. This is largely due to a diurnal temperature swing, which causes temperatures to drop significantly at night and helps preserve the acidity in the grapes; today, white varieties account for roughly 30% of Lodi’s vines. Acquiesce focuses specifically on white Rhone grapes, including Picpoul Blanc, Grenache Blanc and Bourboulenc, which Tipton was the first in the U.S. to plant. Tastings, which take place in a quirky, century-old barn (or outside on a patio), are a great value, featuring a flight of four wines with food pairings for only $20.

Fields Family Wines

Fields Family is the dive bar of tasting rooms — in a good way. Set in a small winery warehouse, tastings ($10) are poured on a wood slab laid across two wine barrels; visitors can sit at a handful of plastic tables and chairs surrounded by more barrels, stainless steel drums and other winemaking equipment. Founded in 2008, the winery isn’t trying too hard with its hospitality, and it works. “We’re in a dumpy metal building. I talk s— on it,” winemaker Ryan Sherman said, “and every (person) goes, ‘That’s why we like it.’”

It’s common for Sherman to make an appearance — when he’s not working his day job as a realtor — and Fields Family’s cast of characters includes a frog named Carignan, a mouse named Syrah and Mouverdre, a stray cat with a tortoise shell coat. Sherman is self-taught and one of Lodi’s least traditional winemakers, using only natural yeasts and neutral oak barrels, and experimenting with whole-cluster fermentation and carbonic maceration. Sherman works with about a dozen different grape varieties and the lineup includes a few fun surprises, such as Vermentino, Tempranillo and Petite Sirah.

3803 E. Woodbridge Road, Acampo.

Lodi Wine & Visitor Center

Don’t let the name or the generic Tuscan architecture discourage you. Lodi’s Wine & Visitor Center, which doubles as the area’s one true wine shop, is perhaps the region’s best-kept secret, carrying over 200 bottles from more than 70 local producers — many of which are super small brands without their own tasting room. It’s here that Lodi’s claim to fame as California’s most diverse wine region is put on full display: Beyond the region’s signature Zinfandel, you’ll discover hard-to-find varieties like the Greek white Assyrtiko, Sicily’s fruity Nero d’Avola and Kerner, a white German grape. Tastings are $12 and most bottles are under $60. If you’re a first-time visitor, start here. Conveniently, it’s located at Lodi’s best hotel, Appellation Lodi — Wine & Roses Resort & Spa, managed by celebrity chef Charlie Palmer’s hotel company.

Harney Lane Vineyards

Once you step foot inside Harney Lane’s outdoor oasis, you won’t want to leave. It feels like another world: Adirondack chairs and tables are dispersed throughout the tasting room’s soothing, meandering gardens, comprising a fountain, towering, century-old cedars and an array of other trees and flora that were all planted by Harney Lane family members. The property was purchased by the Metlers in 1900, and the family, now led by Jorja and Kyle Lerner, is in its fifth generation of farming. In 2006, like many multi-generational Lodi grape growers, the Lerners started making wine. They’re best-known for old-vine Zinfandel — even offering a single-vineyard Zinfandel tasting flight for $25 — but produce many other wines, including Albariño, Tempranillo and a port-style dessert wine. Several tasting options range from $20-$50, including a walking tour of the estate and winemaking facilities for $40.

Lucas Winery

If you’re unsure about whether or not you like Zinfandel, the grape that Lodi is best-known for, swing by Lucas. Launched in 1978, Lucas is a Lodi pioneer and producer of elegant, balanced Zins that aren’t too big. Founders David Lucas and Heather Pyle-Lucas met while working at Robert Mondavi Winery. He managed grape growing production and she was a winemaker, and they were both also involved in the early days of Opus One, Mondavi’s partnership with Bordeaux’s Baron Phillippe Rothschild. But Lucas is nothing like Napa’s flashy estates. This charming tasting room is set inside a restored tractor barn. Tastings include an intimate tour of the ZinStar Vineyard, planted in 1933, and the Grand Chai, featuring a striking barrel room design inspired by Bordeaux, Mondavi and Opus One. They cost $20 and guests can bring their own picnic to enjoy steps away from the nearly 100-year-old vines.

Bokisch Vineyards

There are very few California wineries dedicated to making Spanish wines; Bokisch was one of the first. In 1999, founder Markus Bokisch smuggled vine cuttings from Spain into the U.S. and planted them at his Lodi ranch. Today, Bokisch makes Spanish staples including Tempranillo, Albariño and Garnacha (Grenache), plus lesser-known varieties, such as Macabeo. Ask about the Cava-inspired sparkling, the only wine in the country made with the three traditional grapes grown in Cava: Xarel·lo, Macabeo and Parellada. If the weather permits, you’ll want to post up on Bokisch’s grassy lawn overlooking its stunning estate vineyard, one of the best views in Lodi. Flights cost between $15 and $25, or you can opt for bottle service (minimum of one bottle purchase per hour) and add on a charcuterie board.

Klinker Brick Winery

Like Harney Lane, Klinker Brick is owned by one of Lodi’s longest-running grape-growing families. Now in its sixth generation, the Felten family has tended vines for more than 100 years and produced its first vintage of wine in 2000. The low-key tasting room is inside a former farm equipment shop built in the 1940s, though the brick-laden courtyard is the best place to relax on a warm day. While Klinker Brick’s wine portfolio is built around old vine Zinfandel, the winery keeps up with the trends; recently, it launched a light, chillable Zinfandel made with native yeast fermentation. For tastings, choose from four flights of six wines priced between $15-$25, including one focused on whites, rosés and sparklings.

Jess Lander joined the food and wine team at the San Francisco Chronicle as wine reporter in 2022. Her writing encompasses the California wine industry — from Santa Barbara to Mendocino — with a focus on Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Jess reports on winery and vineyard acquisitions; controversial Napa land use debates; wildfires; a growing farmworker rights movement; and Wine Country’s most exciting restaurant and tasting room openings. Occasionally, Jess also writes about her favorite food: cheese.

Originally from Boston, Jess moved to Napa Valley in 2010 and has extensively covered California wine country for numerous national and international publications. In 2021, Jess published “The Essential Napa Valley Cookbook,” a project that raised more than $100,000 for Napa Valley restaurant workers impacted by the pandemic.

“Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again.”

For more than 50 years, “Stuck in Lodi,” the 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival hit about a struggling musician, has been a sensitive topic for Lodi residents. Creedence frontman John Fogerty later admitted he’d never been to Lodi, located in San Joaquin County in the center of California’s Central Valley, before writing the catchy tune. But the assertion that it’s a place you wouldn’t want to spend much time in, well, stuck — and it’s trickled down to the local wine scene. Despite winemaking roots dating back to the 1860s, and significant development as a grower of premium grapes over the past few decades, Lodi remains one of California’s most overlooked wine regions.

In recent years, Lodi has appeared to be on the cusp of a major turning point amidst widespread criticism that other areas, such as Napa, are too stuffy and expensive. The problem is timing: The wine industry is in crisis and Lodi has been hit harder than most.

All of California is experiencing a significant grape surplus, causing the removal of nearly 40,000 acres of vines in the last year. Lodi ripped out 8,000 acres, or roughly 10% of its vines — more than any other region in the state. Its oversupply issues are much more complicated than declining demand, however; unlike Napa and Sonoma, Lodi grape growers are beholden to wine’s biggest corporations, who are now importing millions of gallons of cheap wine instead of purchasing grapes locally.

And it’s not just the growers that are struggling. This year, visitation to Lodi’s M2 Wines is down about 30%, said founder and winemaker Layne Montgomery, who had to significantly curtail production this past harvest.

“I blame that song,” he said, entirely in earnest.

The makings of a top wine region

The region’s stature has been growing, albeit slowly, since 1979, when California’s most famous winemaker, Robert Mondavi, founded Woodbridge Winery in his hometown of Lodi. He was focused on premium table wines, not the cheap bulk wines that had previously dominated the local industry. His presence signaled a transition from farmers “being grape growers to being wine growers,” said Stuart Spencer, executive director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission and owner of St. Amant Winery.

Growers were emboldened to produce high-end, single-vineyard wines for their own labels, and by the 1990s, a distinct Lodi wine culture had begun to coalesce. The Lodi Wine Commission, the marketing arm for the wine industry, was established in 1991. When it opened its visitor center in 2000, there were only about eight wineries in the region. “Over the next 10 years, it just kind of took off,” Spencer said. In 2006, the federal government approved seven Lodi sub-regions, a significant step in distinguishing it as a quality wine growing region with distinct terroir.

Now there are 85 wineries in Lodi and approximately 65 tasting rooms. While it’s still much smaller than Napa Valley, which has over 400 wineries, Lodi has become the most diverse wine region in California. Its signature grape is Zinfandel, but more than 130 varieties are grown there, many of which are rare throughout the rest of the state, such as German hybrid Kerner, Spain’s Albariño and Sicily’s Nero d’Avola.

Wine drinkers may not know it yet, but Lodi has what many of them are seeking: affordability and accessibility. The average California tasting fee has risen 200% since 2014, according to a 2025 Silicon Valley Bank report. Tastings cost $80 on average in Napa Valley and $55 in Sonoma County, but just $16 in Lodi — and that fee is almost always waived with a wine purchase. Lodi bottle prices rarely exceed $50, and tasting rooms more often than not accommodate walk-ins and children.

Lodi’s greatest hurdle

Despite Lodi’s evolution, there are several issues holding the region back from going mainstream, the biggest being corporate wine’s decades-long stranglehold on its wine industry.

For more than 150 years, Lodi grape growers focused on growing a robust crop for bulk wine. Until the 1970s, large grower cooperatives dominated Lodi’s grape market, using the fruit for sweet and fortified wines. Over time, large corporations like Gallo, Constellation and Trinchero took over the cooperatives; the focus on quantity over quality deepened, as the corporations “weren’t looking to tell the story of place,” Spencer said.

Corporate dominance has only intensified, with prolific California wine industry consolidation creating an oligopoly in Lodi. In 2004, Mondavi’s empire, including Woodbridge, sold to Constellation, the alcohol conglomerate, in a billion-dollar deal. Earlier this year, Constellation sold Woodbridge to the Wine Group. “As brands got successful, they got purchased by the same handful of larger companies,” Spencer said.

Limited competition for Lodi’s grapes has given the corporations enormous discretion over pricing. According to the 2024 California Grape Crush Report, the average price per ton in Lodi is $600, compared to nearly $7,000 per ton in Napa County, where growers typically have the upper hand in pricing. Napa County prices have jumped more than 130% since 2004, while Lodi prices have risen a modest 45%. “The (Lodi growers) have to have higher yields to make a profit, and they’re not getting any extra money for quality,” Spencer said. “So the only way to make more money is to grow more grapes. It drives supply up and prices down.”

Because more than 70% of Lodi’s grapes are sold to large wine companies producing bottom-shelf wines, the region’s boutique wineries are fighting against a major stigma within the industry. As Markus Niggli, founder of Lodi’s Markus Wine Co., and who works with esoteric grape varieties including Kerner, Gewürztraminer and Carignane, put it, “The impression of Lodi is, ‘Isn’t that the $7.99 bottle?’”

This prejudice has made it difficult for Lodi wineries to attract distributors, so the region’s wines are mostly discovered within local tasting rooms — not in wine shops or restaurants across the country. Seventy-eight percent of direct-to-consumer sales come from California, according to the Wine Commission.

“A very small amount of the outside population will see bottles with Lodi on (the label),” said Markus Bokisch, founder of the Spanish-inspired Bokisch Vineyards, noting that large companies simply label their wines as being from “California.”

Lodi has also received relatively little recognition from wine media and critics, which maintained its obscurity, even to Northern Californians. “I just can’t believe the number of people who have never heard of Lodi,” said Sue Tipton, founder of Acquiesce Winery, which pioneered white wines in the region. “I went to a big event in Sacramento, there were hundreds of people, and they were all like, ‘Where’s Lodi?’”

No Michelin stars

There are tourism limitations in Lodi, too. The region is only a 40-minute drive from the Sacramento International Airport, but more than a 90-minute drive from San Francisco, making more of a trek from the Bay Area than Napa, Sonoma or the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Lodi is also missing some of the fundamental amenities of a top wine travel destination. The small, rural city has no Michelin-starred restaurants, five-star resorts nor fancy spas. The city’s downtown area is “pretty empty,” and except for the World of Wonders science museum, consists of “only bridal stores, antique stores and thrift stores,” Niggli said.

As a result, most visitors are daytrippers. “The challenge is getting people to come out here and stay three days,” said Rich DeCola, the director of sales and hospitality at Lodi’s Bokisch Vineyards, “or spend a week from New York like they would in Napa and Sonoma.”

New developments show that Lodi could potentially attract star chefs and luxury hotel developers. Earlier this year, celebrity chef Charlie Palmer partnered with the longtime owners of Lodi’s Wine & Roses Resort to manage and renovate it as part of his food-centric, boutique hotel company, Appellation. Appellation Lodi - Wine & Roses Resort and Spa has two restaurants, including the French cafe, Maison Lodi. Last month, Lodi landmark Pietro’s Trattoria, a 40-year-old Italian restaurant, relocated to a modern, 9,000-square-foot space complete with a pasta lab.

Next year, the wine region’s marketing budget will get a big boost. The San Joaquin Board of Supervisors recently approved Lodi’s new Wine Improvement District (WID), which will collect a 1.5% assessment from each winery’s tasting room sales — totaling approximately $600,000 per year — and put it towards marketing efforts. WIDs have recently emerged in wine regions across California, such as Temecula, Santa Barbara and Livermore, which are seeking new ways to boost visitation amid a multi-year downturn in tourism. They’ve also caused discord in some regions, like Sonoma County. But Spencer said that while the total amount “is not significant when you know what advertising costs,” the WID will be a “six- to seven-fold increase in marketing dollars” for Lodi.

Kyle Lerner, co-owner of Lodi’s Harney Lane, believes increased marketing efforts would be a game-changer for Lodi’s wine industry, as it’s “really functioned with a very limited budget to tell (its) story.”

“We’re one of 6,000 wineries in California. You have to scream incredibly loud to get past the other 5,999,” he said. “I think we just haven’t told the story loud enough yet.”

Top of the News

With Ramón Yepez’s appointment as mayor, a city that is 40% Hispanic will have its first Hispanic and Latino mayor. The Lodi City Council unanimously voted to appoint Yepez as mayor and Mikey Hothi as vice mayor at their meeting Wednesday night, as part of the council’s annual reorganization process.

Yepez was nominated by previous mayor Alan Nakanishi (who served an honorary two-week term at the end of Cameron Bregman’s yearlong term).

Back when Yepez first applied to an open council member seat in 2023, Nakanishi was the sole vote against his appointment. But on Wednesday, he became Yepez’s endorser.

“It shows the commitment that we council members have on working collaboratively, because we don’t agree on many things,” Yepez told the News-Sentinel. “But at the end of the day, we want to do what is best for the city.”

“It’s very powerful that the first person of color to be mayor nominates me, now the first Latino,” he added.

Nakanishi became the first Asian-American and person of color to serve as Lodi’s mayor in 2000, nearly 100 years after Lodi became an incorporated city.

Yepez is the latest example of recent mayoral milestones in Lodi. In 2022, Mikey Hothi became the city’s first Sikh and Indian-American mayor. In 2024, Bregman became the city’s youngest-ever mayor.

Yepez grew up on Lodi’s Eastside and graduated from Lodi High. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics and master’s degree in data science from the University of the Pacific. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of ARGrid, an AI platform for businesses, according to his LinkedIn.

Yepez first ran for the District 4 council member seat in 2020, finishing second behind Shakir Khan. Three years later, Khan resigned following his arrest on multiple charges of voter fraud, and the spot was open once again. Since the council was filling a mid-term vacancy, the spot was appointed rather than subject to a public vote. Yet the public still showed up in large numbers to voice their support for Yepez during a special city council meeting.

After hours of deliberation and a deadlocked vote, Bregman switched his vote in favor of Yepez, also making him the city’s first Latino and Hispanic council member. In 2024, he ran for and secured re-election with a public vote.

At Wednesday’s meeting, President and CEO of the Lodi Chamber Commerce JP Doucette spoke on behalf of the chamber in supporting Yepez’s appointment.

“We believe that council member Yepez will stay true to his word in terms of being a coalition builder and helping to set the council staff and our community up for success in 2026,” he said.

Members of the Hispanic and Latino community were also in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting in support of Yepez. Bertha Castro is a longtime Lodi resident and recent founder of Unidos Progresando - Progressing Together, a nonprofit that focuses on mental health, immigration and food access.

“We as a Hispanic community, we are very happy and honored to have one of our first Hispanic mayors here in Lodi,” she said during the meeting. “We see that there’s going to be a lot of changes to our community, having someone to understand all cultures.”

He added that his appointment also may provide representation for those without educational backgrounds in politics.

“I hope that this has motivated other people to run for office, people that don’t see themselves in the process,” Yepez said.

Yepez plans to hold office hours next Tuesday at City Hall from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. He also encourages constituents to reach out to him via email, [email protected].

“I’m excited to get down to work,” he said.

Hannah Weaver writes for the Lodi News Sentinel as a cohort member of the California Local News Fellowship program, a multi-year, state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local news reporting in California.

Hospice of San Joaquin will be lighting three things in Downtown Lodi next Thursday — lights, lives and the 80-foot tree in front of city hall.

This is the 32nd year that the nonprofit organization will be hosting its annual Tree of Lights ceremony in Lodi, a night of community, remembrance — and most importantly — a celebration of life.

The tree will be illuminated with some 1,544 lights on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 5:30 p.m., before the Parade of Lights makes its way down Church Street to kick off the holiday season.

The Tree of Lights program has become a tradition for many families throughout the county, as it helps those left behind transition from grief and sorrow to remembrance and honoring.

“Tree of Lights is an annual tradition of remembering those who we have lost and honoring those who are still with us by purchasing a light and have their names displayed in our memory boards,” said Sandy Stoddard, director of development and marketing. “It is a holiday tradition for many people who come back year after year to see the memory boards. For me personally, my father and my mother are on the Lodi tree. My father worked for the City of Lodi and I love going there every year and seeing their names.”

Tree of Lights began in 1988 when Mark Rasmussen wanted to honor his late wife Kathy, who had received services from Hospice of San Joaquin.

Rasmussen was a PG&E employee who rallied coworkers to create the first Tree of Lights on the San Joaquin Delta College campus at the corner of Pacific and Yokuts avenues in Stockton.

His coworker Dave Ayers created the memory boards that were displayed that first year. The memory boards display the names of the loved ones who have a light on the tree. However, memory boards do not accompany all the trees that are erected.

Since its inception, HSJ has expanded the number of ceremonies it conducts during the holiday season to six: Escalon, Ripon, Manteca and Tracy, as well as Rio Vista and Lockeford.

Funds raised from the Tree of Lights are used to support the organization’s Hospice House, a general in-patient care facility for those looking to relieve pain and manage symptoms.

Hospice House offers 24-hour nursing care, meals, laundry, activities and all the amenities of a cozy home, and features six private patient suites, each with an additional bed to accommodate visitors and family members.

There are seven different lights residents can purchase to remember a loved one, ranging in price from $5 for a red light or $520 for an orange light. A treetop light can be purchased for about $1,000.

Hospice of San Joaquin has hosted the Tree of Lights event in eight communities throughout the county, with the first to be held in Stockton today (Tuesday).

The Ripon event will be held Monday, Dec. 1, and ceremonies in Escalon and Manteca will be held Tuesday, Dec. 2 and Wednesday, Dec. 3, respectively.

Tree lightings in Lockeford and Rio Vista will both be held Saturday, Dec. 6 at 5:30 p.m. Lockeford’s ceremony will be held at the corner of Highway 88 and Jack Tone Road, and Rio Vista’s will be held on Main Street.

The final Tree of Lights ceremony of the year will be held in Tracy on Tuesday, Dec. 9. For more information, visit www.hospicesj.org/events/tree-of-lights.

STOCKTON — San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency is offering a variety of counseling services in the wake of the Nov. 29 mass shooting on Lucile Avenue in Stockton.

The Behavioral Health Department offers a 24/7 Warmline for families, children and community members at 209-468-8686. Walk-ins at 1212 N. California St. in Stockton are also welcome.

Behavioral Health and Public Health will be partnering with local faith organizations, nonprofits and community-based organizations to host safe spaces for collective healing.

Public Health will also provide resource information from the Office of Violence Prevention and plans to work on community prevention activities detailed in the California Roadmap for Firearm Prevention Report.

For non-urgent behavioral health services, call 209-468-9370 or visit N. Aurora St. in Stockton. You can also call PHS Injury & Violence Prevention at 209-468-8584 or visit 1601 E. Hazelton Ave., in Stockton.