KYSELA PERE ET FILS, LTD.

LODI AVA

The Lodi American Viticultural Area (AVA) was officially recognized in 1986. Perfectly situated 90 miles east of the San Francisco Bay, the Lodi AVA is one of the largest in California at approximately 550,000 acres, more than 100,000 of which are planted to premium wine grapes. The Lodi region enjoys a moderate Mediterranean climate. Mild year-round temperatures, warm days, and cool nights all help produce grapes with full-flavor and perfect acidity. Sandy clay loam soils dominate in the region. They are rich in minerals and play a great role in producing wines of high quality and long-lasting flavors that truly represent the region.

Lodi has become the self-proclaimed “Zin” capital of the World producing over 40% of California's Zinfandel grapes. Zinfandel was one of the first grape varieties to be planted in the area during the California Gold Rush, therefore it holds a special place in Lodi’s history as a winegrowing region. The vines are naturally low-yielding due to their age, and they consistently produce high quality fruit.

Lodi sub-AVA, Mokelumne River, which is where most of the grapes come from.

The AVA is named for the Mokelumne (or Mighty Moke) – a 95-mile-long river flowing from the central Sierra Nevada through Lodi and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta before emptying into the San Joaquin River-Stockton Deep Water Shipping Chanel. Originally derived from a rough translation of the Native American (Miwok) name for the area as “the place of the fish net” (Mokelumne was also the name of the community established during the 1840s on the south bank of the river, which was changed to Lodi in 1864 and incorporated as the City of Lodi in 1906).

• Consists of 85,700 acres and over 42,000 acres of planted wine grapes; bordered on the west side by Interstate 5, which also marks a dividing line before elevations dip below sea level west of the freeway (the gray areas falling within the Lodi AVA west of I-5 are at zero to minus-20’ elevations, kept dry by the Delta's complex network of levees and waterways).

• The Mokelumne River is Lodi’s largest AVA, and is also defined by easily the most vigorous soil among the other seven sub-AVAs.  Deep sandy loam Tokay and Acampo soils dominate the area, allowing for ideal drainage, vine health, and naturally moderated grape yields. The AVA also shares the "coolest" (on average) growing season with the Jahant AVA to the immediate north. Both Mokelumne River and Jahant are located near the western edge of the broader Lodi AVA, closest to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (the far western edge of the Lodi AVA actually falls within the Delta).

ZINFANDEL

Description:
• Clusters: medium to large; cylindrical to long conical, often winged, sometimes with double wings, compact; short to medium-length peduncles; often with a wide range of ripe and under-ripe berries.
• Berries: medium to large; round to oblate; deep blue-black; prominent rust-colored stylar scar.
• Leaves: medium to large; deeply 5-lobed, often overlapping; lyre-shaped petiolar sinus; long, jagged teeth; dense hair on lower leaf surface.
• Shoot tips: downy to felty; young leaves bronze-red.

Key elements:
• A thin-skinned grape that grows in large tight bunches.
• Harvest period: mid-season (September).
• Thrives in warm climates and poor, well-drained soils.
• A challenging grape: its berry size varies significantly within a bunch, which leads to uneven ripening. This leads to the unique flavor dynamics of great Zinfandel. It produces bright acidity from the slightly unripe areas, perfect fruit flavors from the ripe grapes, and concentration and depth from the slightly withered or overripe.
• Older vines of over 50 years tend to produce more robust and intensely flavored wines.

Rubus Old Vines Zinfandel Reserve Lodi is a bold and rich wine bursting with juicy aromas of raspberry and blackberry, sweet tobacco and spice. A robust and intense medium-bodied red with concentrated flavors that are typical of head trained Zinfandel vines from the top growing areas of Lodi, with a lingering and smoky finish.