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March 14, 2008
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2008-03-14
WOODBRIDGE WINERY
High Quality Wines at Affordable Prices
by Nan Reiley
Robert Mondavi injected two crucially important elements of success into the California wine business. First, he proved that California could make wines to rival the best in the world. Second, he was able to bring this quality product within the reach of every wine lover, not just the most affluent. He saw wine as an essential, everyday pleasure, and his acquisition in 1979 of Woodbridge Winery, near Lodi in the Central Valley, made that winery one of the very first to produce high-quality wines at reasonable prices.
It’s no surprise that Mondavi would have chosen the Lodi area for such a winery: he grew up there with his family and his father, Cesare, sold wine grapes from the surrounding vineyards, so Robert was well aware of the quality and potential of the region. After firmly establishing his reputation for fine wine with his winery in Napa, he purchased the old Cherokee Winery on Woodbridge Road near Lodi, a co-operative founded in 1933 at the repeal of Prohibition, and set out to make good wine affordable for everyone.
The Mondavi methodology was very simple: take the principles of fine winemaking on a small scale and translate them into fine winemaking on a large scale. That’s why, for example, when you visit Woodbridge Winery, you’ll see the largest barrel-aging cellar in the country, a cellar filled with more than 50,000 small, 60-gallon barrels. Why have 50,000 barrels? Because fine wine is aged in small barrels, not in large casks.
Woodbridge Winery was also the first to produce a 1.5 liter bottle (double the usual size) with a cork stopper instead of a screw cap, thus retaining quality while capitalizing on economies of scale. And Lodi grapes, lacking only the romantic caché of Napa vineyards, were much less expensive to buy. The Mondavi commitment to quality, carried out in every step of the grape growing and winemaking process, has led Woodbridge to describe itself as the largest boutique winery in the world.
Visiting the Woodbridge Winery is both impressive and worthwhile. Regularly scheduled, free tours take you through the whole production facility, including the barrel cellar and the world’s fastest bottling line. (During harvest time, you can taste the fresh juice from grapes as it begins its transformation into wine. There’s nothing else like it!)
The Woodbridge Visitors’ Center offers tastings not only of the winery’s well-known and widely distributed bottlings, but also of special, limited-edition wines that are available only in the tasting room or to wine club members. As you might expect, the visitors’ center staff is down-to-earth, friendly and informative.
Woodbridge regularly makes small lots of special wines, in quantities of 200 cases or fewer. These are the real lure to the winery, for in addition to the classics of Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc, you’ll be offered tastes of Barbera, Viognier (a peachy, silky style at only $14), Petit Verdot, Syrah and a simply delicious Moscato Bianco. Port lovers will be rewarded with the Woodbridge Portacinco, an estate-grown Port wine that is so good it demands either your trip to the winery or joining the Heritage Wine Club.
The Select Vineyard Series features a fine Merlot and Chardonnay as well as the Fish Net Creek Zinfandel, with rich red fruits and a peppery, earthy undertone ($12), and my favorite of the series, Red Dirt Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, with plum and black currant fruit flavors and a smooth, full-bodied finish ($12!).
In between sipping wines, browse around the visitors’ center and enjoy the wide array of merchandise for sale here. Actually, you could stock up on birthday and holiday gifts for both wine lovers and teetotalers. The displays include out-fitted picnic baskets, logo clothing, jewelry, chocolates, glassware, wine carriers, ceramic tableware and a unique brand of Woodbridge ground coffee beans. If you’d like to picnic on the spacious grounds of the winery but forgot to pack a lunch, never worry: you’ll find deli sandwiches, cheeses and salami and an assortment of 187 ml (one nice glassful) screw cap bottles of wine to mix and match with your meal.
The Woodbridge Visitors’ Center welcomes you seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Closed on major holidays.) Regularly scheduled tours are conducted at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and are free of charge. Special private tours of the winery can be arranged for a small fee. There is no tasting fee. For more information about joining the Heritage Wine Club or about visiting the winery, check out the excellent website at www.woodbridgewines.com or call the Visitors’ Center at (209) 365-8139. The winery is located at 5950 East Woodbridge Road in Acampo. There is easy access from both Highway 99 and Interstate 5.
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