It was a dark and stormy night… Actually, it was a gorgeous fall evening.  We were downtown and had stopped for dinner at El Pazcifico.  Very good food and great service, by the way.  Right next door to El Pazcifico is Twisted Barrel, how convenient for our challenge .

They are open until 9:00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.  This particular evening, they had live music out back on the patio.  Always looking for tasting rooms that are open later into the evening, and music is a bonus!

The tasting menu consisted of 3 whites and 5 reds.  You get to taste all of them for a $10 tasting fee.  Even better–the tasting fee for both of us was waived with the purchase of a bottle.  Nice big bar, as well as tables both inside and out.  Bit of a wait to get attention for each taste.  Not a lot of info was provided about the wines we were tasting .

Our favorite wine:  The Chardonnay.  Bought a bottle and went to the outside patio to listen to the band.  The patio is nice.  It is somewhat enclosed by the various buildings surrounding it.   The music ends up being pretty loud as it just bounces off of all the hard surfaces.  I know, I know, “if the music is too loud, you are too old”, or something like that.  But…it would be nice to be able to have a bit of a conversation–like “I know this song”, or “Wow, that guy really rocks on the sax”–without having to yell to be heard.

Our favorite person of the evening:  Claudia, our waitress at El Pazcifico.  She made great recommendations on both the drinks and the meal.

Overall, an enjoyable evening.

Details:

• Downtown Lodi
• 112 W. Pine Street–one block off School Street
• www.twistedbarrelwinery.com
• Dog-friendly–important if you have a grandpuppy!

Oops, almost sent you to a website for rifle barrels!  Important to make sure that the word “winery” is included in the website address 😉