For our second “Saturday and Sunday only” winery, we headed to Ripken Vineyards and Winery. The entrance to Ripken’s tasting room is very inviting. Love the large wooden doors and bright Ripken “sign”.

Savannah greeted us with a warm smile and set us up with a tasting. She described their wines as generally being lighter, with more fruit. Savannah doesn’t like to influence you by describing specifically what you should smell or taste in the wines, but instead likes to hear what aromas and flavors you experience. Their winemaker gets vine clippings from all over the world.

The tasting room showcases a number of their wines along one wall. The tasting menu consisted of 1 white, 4 reds and 2 ports for a $5 tasting fee. There are some unusual varietals, or at least ones that we haven’t heard of or tasted before, such as Terodego, Carmine, etc.

Bobby found a clever way to use the wine rack…

In addition to their wines, Ripken also sells some olive oils made locally. We walked away with a couple of olive oils, a port (a Christmas gift for our son, who enjoys ports), a bottle of the white blend and a bottle of the 2013 Sangiovese.

Details

• Rural Lodi – west of town
• 2472 W. Sargent Road
• www.ripkenwine.com
• Open 12 – 4:00 pm — Saturday and Sunday

We think there is time for one more winery today…