For the past four years, my family and I have been attending the annual Wine and Chocolate Festival in Lodi, CA. Not a lot of people know about Lodi, or even realize all the wineries that are located in this Central Valley region of California. Luckily for my family and I, we’ve known about this region for a very very long time as it is where my grandparents live.
The festival is always the weekend before Valentine’s Day and costs less than $80 for two days of drinking and eating your way through 40 to 60+ wineries (the number of winery participants varies each year). Every day you can start drinking and eating your way through this great wine region at 11 am and go until 4 pm. Although the wineries can change every year, the following are our tried and true favorites.
Wineries
D’Art Wines – Although a smaller winery, it serves the best chocolate chili (Pro Tip: The recipe is on their website) that pairs excellent with their assortment of wines.
Durst – My favorite winery in this region is beyond picturesque, has the best property, and delicious wines. My favorite is their Amada Mia White 2017. A major bonus is that the owner’s labradors mingle with all the guests.
Harmony Wynelands – Stop by this winery for their delicious creation, the Zinbomb! I also love having a glass of their Reisling while making smores by their fire pit. They also always have live music and BBQ that you can buy.
Langetwins – This is not your typical winery set-up. Their tasting room is located at their factory, but they always decorate it beautifully for the festival. This winery is a great place to enjoy a glass of their Chardonnay with their brie-chocolate-basil paninis. I know they sound strange, but they are extremely delicious!
Peltier – With numerous great wines and all paired with delicious snacks this is a place you can’t miss! Along with snacks, the winery also hires a very tasty wood oven pizza vendor for the guests to enjoy.
St. Jorge – Two words….SO. GOOD. Seriously, my family and I rave about this winery year-round. They serve the best chocolate-dipped linguica and barbequed linguica sandwiches. My favorite wine from here is their Tempranillo.
Check out the other wineries that participate and more about the Lodi wine region here: https://lodiwineandchocolate.com/
All year we talk about and anticipate this wonderful weekend. Yes, we love wine and pairing it with food, but more than anything we love getting to spend quality time together laughing and making memories. The next time you think about going wine tasting consider a place off the beaten path and head over to Lodi.
