TRAVEL
The lounge of the Wine & Roses hotel in
Lodi has live jazz nightly.
The exhibits at the San
Joaquin County Historical
Museum depict the story of the
county through a wide variety
of displays and dioramas.
MARCH/APRIL 2017 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 155
Culinary Institute of America graduate. Chef
John prepared a meal that was served in the
resort’s cellar room, paired with wines from
the Fields Family Winery.
We began our first full day in Lodi with
a visit to the Michael David Winery, as we
already were fans of its “Seven Deadly Zins”
Zinfandel, which is served at many Tampa
Bay area restaurants. The winery is owned by
brothers Michael and David Phillips, whose
family has farmed in Lodi since the 1850s.
The brothers are the family’s fifth generation
to farm in Lodi. Michael’s son and daughter
are actively working as the sixth generation
in the family’s 750 acres of vineyards. We
enjoyed a wide variety of their wines in their
tasting room, including a Petite Sirah blended
with a Petit Verdot, that they call Petite Petit,
and their label-famous Freakshow wines. We
particularly enjoyed their Symphony wine
from the grape variety of the same name that
was created at the University of California-
Davis in the 1940s. While at the Michael David
Winery, we enjoyed a delightful lunch at The
Farm Café. Most items were made from fresh
ingredients grown in their garden, and of
course, accompanied by more wines.
Our next stop was the San Joaquin County
Historical Society and Museum in Micke Grove
Regional Park. This 12-building complex has
eight exhibition buildings and four historic
structures spread out over 18 acres. Here, we
learned about the area’s early native American
tribes and their lives, as well as about the
settlement, growth and development of
agriculture in the area. We also visited the
adjacent three-acre Japanese Garden that has
been there since 1965. The garden is centered
around a large teahouse pavilion and a koi pond
filled with giant fish.
In keeping with these educational stops, we
next headed downtown for A&W Root Beer, since
it originated in Lodi in 1919. The blend of barks,
berries, herbs and spices that was in the formula
for the first mug sold has not changed since and is
a closely guarded secret. That evening we enjoyed
an outstanding gourmet dinner at Rosewood Bar
and Grill in downtown Lodi. We greeted each
course with a local wine that further endeared
us to Lodi’s wide breadth of wineries.
We began our next day in downtown Lodi
at Cheese Central, where owner Cindy Della
Monica taught us “Cheese 101,” as she calls it.
We learned about the various milks that are
used, their characteristics, and the process used
to make cheese from warming and culturing the
curd to waxing and aging. We tried to apply this
knowledge, as we tasted a wide variety of the
special cheeses that she selected for us. It was
fascinating, and we fell in love with Humboldt
Fog goat cheese from California and the Domain
du Vallage double cream cow’s milk cheese from
Burgundy, France.
For lunch, we visited Cecchetti Olive Oil
Farm and the home of former professional
baseball player George Cecchetti and his wife
Karen Chandler, which is next to their orchard
of 100-year-old Mission olive trees from which
they make extra virgin oil. We sampled a selection
of their unflavored oils and oils infused with
garlic, orange and lemon, as well as their Balsamic
vinegar.
Lodging
Wine & Roses Hotel
Restaurant and Spa,
2505 W. Turner Road,
(209) 334-6988.
Restaurants
and Foods
Rosewood Bar & Grill,
28 S. School St.,
(209) 369-0470.
A&W Root Beer,
216 E. Lodi Ave.,
(209) 368-8548.
Towne House
Restaurant at Wine
& Roses,
2505 W. Turner Road,
(209) 334-6988.
Cheese Central,
11 N. School St.,
(209) 368-3033.
Cecchetti Olive Oil,
511 W. Sargent Road,
(209) 369-6868.
Wineries
Acquiesce Winery,
22353 N. Tretheway Road,
Acampo, (209) 333-6102.
Fields Family Wines,
3803 E. Woodbridge Road,
Acampo, (209) 327-6306.
Jeremy Wine Co.,
6 W. Pine St.,
(209) 367-3773.
Michael David Winery,
4580 W. Highway 12,
(209) 368-7384.
Oak Farm Vineyards,
23627 N. DeVries Road,
(209) 365-6565.
St. Jorge Winery,
22769 N. Bender Road,
Acampo, (209) 365-0202.