Old Vine Grapes: The Secret To Better California Wine?
Lodi’s Harney Lane Winery Creates Wine From 100+ Year Old Grape Vines
Old Vine grape wine is interesting, tasty and of course it has a great back story. Also marketed as Ancient Vine, old vine is defined as grape plantings older than 50 years. Some in the state of California run 130-years-old.
| ‘The best part of our taste was side-by-side sampling of their 122-year-old vine Scottsdale Zinfandel, their 121 year old vine Lizzy James Vineyard Zinfandel, next too their 65-year-old Henry Ranch Zinfandel.’ |
The question is always: does an old vine produce better wine or is it just a cool tagline? We recently visited several old vine growers in Lodi to sample, sip, compare and contrast some of these old vine grapes.
The website OldVineRegistry.com verifies and documents the historic old grape vines here in California and is a wonderful source finding interesting grape and wine in California.
They’re tasty. They’re interesting. Lodi is well worth the trip to sip old vine wine.
Harney Lane Vineyards in Lodi is one of these producers. They’ve grown grape in the area since 1900, creating 100% estate grown wines. They claim to produce sustainably farmed vineyards producing wine without unnecessary additives. It’s nice to hear a commitment to minimal additives.
What did we taste at Harney Lane Winery?
2023 Albarino $29 ✰+
2022 Chardonnay (Scottsdale Vineyard) $32 ✰+
2022 Chardonnay (Henry Ranch) $34 ✰+
2021 Zinfandel (Scottsdale Vineyard) $32 ✰+
2021 Old Vine Zinfandel (Lizzy James Vineyard) $45 ✰+
NV Grace, Lot 24 Primitivo (3 blended years ‘19-‘20-‘21) $40 ✰++
The best part of our taste was side-by-side sampling of their 122-year-old vine Scottsdale Zinfandel, their 121 year old vine Lizzy James Vineyard Zinfandel, next too their 65-year-old Henry Ranch Zinfandel. We found all of them lovely. And of course, the best one was the most expensive at $45: the Lizzy James Vineyard. We brought several of these old vine wines home with us.
The grounds of the facility are marvelous: a shady oasis of Deodor Cedars in a garden perfect for picnic lunch before wine sampling. Their very modern tasting room was spacious and the hosts knowledge at the standing bars (some tables & chairs dispersed throughout the facility.)
If you’re curious about old vine grape vine, peruse Old Vine Registry and make a list of where you want to visit. Lodi is a wonderful place for great wine.
You need to visit, taste, test and enjoy these economical tastings of California wine.
Some notes on our wine ranking system.
Bill & Erin Hodge write about California Wine, the estates & winemakers producing them and educational information about Vino. Living in California Wine Country provides a front row seat to the places you want to visit the most here in the Golden State.
– -✰ means -What’s next on your list of wines
-✰ means -Not liking it too much
✰ means -We’ll drink this wine, especially if it’s hosted!
✰+ means -You’ve got our attention and we might buy this wine.
✰+ + means -We’re hooked and we’re going to buy this wine.
When you see -✰/✰+ with a slash, it means we disagree.
