MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2024. BY RANDY CAPAROSO.
A legacy of longtime Lodi families
There is nothing like the sight of ancient vine Lodi Zinfandel being picked and packed, right in the vineyard, for fresh fruit shipping directly to stores catering to home winemakers clear across the country and to our neighbors in Canada.
If you recall, many of Lodi’s longtime winegrowing families got their start doing exactly that during the 1920s, when wine production (except for sacramental wines) and liquor sales were prohibited by law, yet citizens were allowed to make up to 200 gallons of wine a year in their own homes.
As a result of Prohibition, demand for grapes in Lodi exploded, and vineyard acreage in the region increased significantly. Grape packing families such as Mondavi made out like bandits, launching the legendary careers of Robert Mondavi (1913-2008, founder of his own eponymous Napa Valley winery) and Peter Mondavi (owner of Charles Krug Winery all the way up to his passing at the age of 101 in 2016).
The oldest Zinfandel vines in Giorgi-Ferrari Vineyard⏤picked during the week of September 2-6, 2024⏤date as far back as the mid-1920s. While not yet known as a vineyard associated with Lodi-appellated wines, it is historic enough to be officially registered by California’s Historic Vineyard Society. This west side Mokelumne River-Lodi Viticultural Area vineyard is owned by Diedre Ferrari, granddaughter of Corrado and Santina Giorgi who originally staked out the grapevines to meet the grape packing market.
The Giorgi-Ferrari Vineyard is also registered in the rolls of the UK-based Old Vine Registry, which endeavors to shed a light and perpetuate appreciation of old vines all around the world. Additionally, the vineyard is sustainably and organically farmed.
In recent years, the Giorgi-Ferrari Vineyard has been packed by Lodi’s M & R Company, originally founded in 1963 by Don Reynolds (1928-2016) and his cousin Rocky Reynolds (1924-2013). The Reynolds’ business actually started off as Reynolds Nailing Company during the 1950s, making boxes and bins utilized by the agricultural industry for shipping cherries, asparagus, grapes, prunes, grape juice, anything edible or drinkable made from crops grown in San Joaquin Valley.
It was only a matter of time before the family got into the packing and shipping industry themselves, establishing cold storage facilities in partnership with Tony Mayfort (hence M & R Company). Soon, the company’s “4 Aces-Hard to Beat” brand of fresh grapes became a go-to for home winemakers from coast to coast.
How important has M & R been to the Lodi region? In peak season, the Reynolds family employs up to 1,000 people, on top of 50 year-round employees, many of whom have been known to work for the family for over 40 years.
One of Don Reynolds’ daughters, Donna Reynolds, now runs M & R Company with partners in the Podesta family. Like her father, she is known for helping many an owner of young and older heritage vineyards in the Lodi region find buyers for their grapes each year, especially in the inevitable lean years when wine industry demand for grapes is on the down side.
In a March 10, 2016 Lodi-News Sentinel article entitled “Remembering Don Reynolds,” Donna Reynolds well recalls, “I’ve had more than one grower say that there was a year that nobody would buy grapes and there was a bank payment due, and Rocky and Dad found a home for the grapes.” In the same article, Lodi’s F&M Bank CEO Kent Steinwert said, “Don was a very good humanitarian, supporting community activities… a true civic leader, leading many development projects in the city… For quality of life, Reynolds Ranch saved Blue Shield, who stayed here in Lodi.”
The tradition of field packing winegrapes is alive and well
Every mid-September through early October, one of the common sights in Lodi vineyards is pickers loading grapes into 36-pound lug boxes. Right alongside the vines, each box is weighed by pickers on scales in order to be as precise as possible. At the edge of the vineyards, the grapes in the picking lugs are sorted then transferred to packing boxes, often festooned with colorful old school labels.
Each individual crate or box⏤filled with winegrapes ranging from Alicante Bouschet and Zinfandel to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon⏤is sealed (if in wood crate) and bundled together with steel strapping on 36-box pallets before being loaded onto refrigerated trucks, destined for retail markets in the Midwest, towards the East Coast and cities in Canada.
While it is obviously easier to buy ready-made wines sold in bottles on store shelves, there are still many people on the continent who look forward to making their own wine each year⏤and because of the consistency of Lodi’s climate and grapevine-friendly soils, the region has remained the source of the nation’s largest supply of fresh winegrapes for over 100 years. Why not give it a try?!
For example, this is how a company called Consumer Fresh Winemakers located in Pittsburgh, PA is currently advertising its fresh grape offerings:
You’ve heard it through the grape vine⏤and it’s true⏤we have the FRESHEST, highest-quality winegrapes for your winemaking needs. Our long-standing relationships with growers and vineyards in California, Italy, South Africa and Chile provide you with fresh grapes for every winemaking season. What’s more, our state-of-the-art cold storage facility assures that all your winegrapes are maintained at proper temperatures at all times.
Among the varieties of California grapes being offered by Consumer Fresh Winemakers this year are Zinfandel (described as “Zinderella, The Princess of Lodi!”), Aglianico, Albariño, Alicante Bouschet, Petite Sirah, Barbera, Muscat, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carignan, Carnelian, Chardonnay, Cinsaut, Montepulciano, Nebbiolo, Nero d’Avola, Primitivo, Graciano, Grenache and Syrah.
Prices for the 36-pound boxes of fresh winegrapes currently range from $55 to $95, although most of the Lodi grapes hover in the $60 range.
Besides M & R Company, another one of Lodi’s major packing company is Delta Packing Co., originally founded by Carl Elkins and Lee Mettler in 1976. Since 2001 Delta Packing has been run by the Costamagna family, who along with the Mettler’s own and farm thousands of acres of multiple crops, including many of the varieties of fresh grapes shipped in 36-pound boxes to retailers such as Consumer Fresh Winemakers in Pennsylvania.
Randy Caparoso is a full-time wine journalist who lives in Lodi, California. Randy puts bread (and wine) on the table as the Editor-at-Large and Bottom Line columnist for The SOMM Journal, and currently blogs and does social media for Lodi Winegrape Commission’s lodiwine.com. He also contributes editorials to The Tasting Panel magazine, crafts authentic wine country experiences for sommeliers and media, and is the author of the new book “Lodi! A definitive Guide and History of America’s Largest Winegrowing Region.”
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