It’s been 50 years since longtime Saratoga resident Jerry Lohr planted vines in Arroyo Seco, a premium spot for rising grapes in Monterey. His son, Steve Lohr, CEO of the corporate and a Los Gatos resident, remembers it clearly.
“It was a reasonably heat day, within the ’70s. There’s an image of the household, with my brother Lawrence, my sister Cynthia, me and my mother within the shade home.”
The shade home was mainly a transitional setting for the already leafed out vines that got here from a nursery within the Central Valley, the place it was significantly hotter and extra hospitable for rising grapes. Little did these vines know what they had been in for there within the cool windswept cobbles of Arroyo Seco, the place farmers had been largely rising beans and broccoli.
Among the many vines the Lohrs planted in 1972 had been Riesling and Valdiguié, two varietals which have lengthy been a part of the J. Lohr portfolio. Once they planted the Valdiguié, they thought it was gamay noir, which was massively fashionable on the time, and never the French selection fashionable within the Langeudoc for its exuberant yields and juicy crimson fruit.
Lohr explains that the French authorities began clamping down on use of the time period “gamay” within the Nineties. Genetic testing knowledgeable the Lohrs that they had been rising Valdiguié, which has extra coloration and fruit than gamay.
“There are fewer than 10 growers right here in California,” says Lohr, “and we're the biggest. It’s one of many rarest of grapes.”
Known as “Wildflower,” the J. Lohr Valdiguié was massively fashionable till the arrival of crimson blends about 20 years in the past.
Achieved in a Beaujolais type, the 2021 J. Lohr Valdiguié makes a light-weight and refreshing patio sipper that’s an ideal pair with crab desserts remoulade, sundried tomato and goat cheese ravioli or croque Monsieur. Or chips and salsa.
For the fiftieth anniversary of its planting, the Lohr Household determined to place this glorious beverage, together with its candy sister Riesling, into silkscreened packaging in a separate tier referred to as Monterey Roots. At $13 per bottle, these are value each effort to accumulate by visiting https://www.jlohr.com/wines or dropping by the tasting room on Lenzen Avenue in San Jose’s Rose Backyard neighborhood.
“The Monterey Roots tier offers us the chance to have a distinct dialog with patrons and permit these wines to face out on their very own,” says Lohr.
J Lohr’s yearly wine output is spectacular: 1.8 million circumstances all instructed, of which 1 million are cabernet sauvignon, sourced largely from Paso Robles. Their Flume Crossing Sauvignon Blanc is so fashionable that they're barely protecting tempo with demand, and their chardonnays, each the Arroyo Vista and October Night time, proceed to take pleasure in a wholesome reception.
However it’s the Monterey Roots that J. Lohr is celebrating this yr.
Placing the long-popular Bay Mist riesling into a brand new bundle and taking a barely completely different method to creating the 2021 classic has given the wine an elevated presence, each within the bottle and within the glass.
“The label of the wild wave crashing on the coast is impressed by the fantastic thing about Monterey County,” says Lohr. “Arroyo Seco, the place the Riesling is grown, is influenced by cool winds that come instantly off the Monterey Bay, which slows the sugar accumulation, permitting us to get grapes totally ripe.”
The Valdiguié packaging options Monterey lupine, poppies and the Checkerspot butterfly. The paintings for each was created by Bergen Glass, the place the silk screening was completed.
Lohr says these wines don’t have a lot of a grocery retailer presence anymore, however he’s hoping to vary that.
“When Moscato got here on-line, it killed Riesling as a class, and our shelf placements had been eradicated. However Moscato is now on the decline, which is opening room for Riesling.”
J. Lohr’s off-dry Riesling is the proper wine to pair with spicy Asian delicacies, notably Vietnamese dishes. Or to toast 50 years of rising grapes.