California has about a thousand square miles of wine grape vineyards. That means one square mile out of every hundred and sixty four in the state is planted with grapevines. That’s a lot of vines. For the last ten years, California has produced around seven hundred million gallons of wine per year, though last year brought slightly less, thanks to frost, drought, and heat waves. The 2023 vintage is looking good and hanging late, with vines drenched by winter rain and berries ripening slowly and evenly following an unseasonably cool spring and early summer.

Growing up back east, I learned to gauge the local corn’s progress with the phrase ‘knee-high by the Fourth of July.’ In Lodi, California, Independence Day is also an agricultural marker; it’s when Zinfandel grapes usually begin to change color from green to purple, a process called veraison, which signals harvest time is about two months away. Lodi grape farmer Bruce Fry reports, "Veraison was over two weeks later than last year, but you can't really say later than 'normal' because no one really knows what normal is anymore. Mother Nature is in control, and she can fool all of us, all the time. This won't be the latest vintage we've had. In 1998 we weren't done picking until Thanksgiving! 2023 will be another example of what makes grape growing so much fun. There is something different every day, not all of it expected. That's farming!"

This week, as pickers work the rows in the cool hours of pre-dawn, as wineries come to life, bustling with cellar hands, as T bins, flex tanks, and barrels are filled with berries and juice, we’ll sit back and enjoy the fruit of past harvests, and look forward to the promise of the present. In recognition of the work being done, in salute to a bountiful harvest, to celebrate the exciting new directions and diversity in our industry, and to support the passionate and beautiful people producing the wines we love, Oakland Yard will pour all-California wine tasting flights this week. Saturday’s tasting flight is an all-star lineup featuring four of our favorite ‘New California’ producers, all of whom happen to be women! These knowledgeable, experienced, hard-working women all started their own labels in the last ten years, they all work exclusively with organically grown grapes, and they’re making what we think are some of the most compelling wines in the world, right here in California. Come taste for yourself and see what we’re so excited about!

SATURDAY 9/16: CALIFORNIA FLIGHTS - all organically farmed & produced by women
2021 Martha Stoumen Post-Flirtation White
2022 Margins Chenin Blanc
2022 Birdhorse Heliotrope Red
2022 Claire Hill Zinfandel
Flights $18 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 9pm

But first...TONIGHT - THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS!!! ALL CALIFORNIA Reds & Whites
2021 Loella Pinot Gris
2021 Phantômé Gruner Veltliner
2021 Luuma Chardonnay
2022 Folk Machine Village Series Pinot Noir
2021 Portalupi Lupi Red Bland
2021 Beaver Creek The Survivor Petite Sirah
Flights $15 from 5-9 and wines by the glass until close!

Cheers,
Max