My husband and I were cruising around looking for a new restaurant to try. We happened on a beautiful looking Italian place that seemed like fun. This restaurant was where we discovered OZV Zinfandel. Aside from being amazing, I loved the label, but the fact that it seriously enhanced our dinner made it that much more impressive.
OZV Zinfandel
OZV Zinfandel is produced by Oak Ridge Winery. Founded in 1934, it has the distinction of being the oldest operating winery in the Lodi wine region. It all started as a winemaking cooperative of local Lodi winemakers and is now owned and operated by Michael and David Phillips of Michael-David Winery.
Oak Ridge Winery quietly goes about its business of producing wines that now fly off the shelves and wine racks in the U.S. and Europe. Their tasting room, a round red-walled, wine-stained 50,000 gallon storage tank still displaying the original blackboard sign for Tank No. 150 was originally a part of the old Roma Wine Company. Their tasting room tank was moved in 1965 from across the street to where it sits today. It makes the experience of visiting this winery an absolute delight. Over the last 8 years, this historic landmark has been transformed into the amazing winery it is today.
The Lodi wine region, where Oak Ridge Winery is located and OZV Zinfandel is produced, is just south of Sacramento, California. Lodi has been a major wine grape growing region since the early 1850s. Lodi is best-known for its full-bodied old vine Zinfandel wines. What isn’t well known is Lodi leads all the California wine regions in the production of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier wine and wine grapes.
Some of the major wineries that can be found in this region are Robert Mondavi Woodbridge and Sutter Home. We can’t forget that a good many of the leading California vintners buy grapes from this region. Some of these buyers are Ernest & Julio Gallo, Fetzer, Ravenswood, and Beringer to name just a few.
What I enjoy the most about this area is the 70+ boutique wineries, like Oak Ridge Winery, some of which have won major awards in domestic and international wine competitions. Lodi, in my estimation, is a hidden gem of a wine region, one very much worth exploring.
This is what the winemaker has to say about their OZV Zinfandel:
“A robust Zin from Lodi’s signature 50-100-year-old vines. The Old Vine Zinfandel offers a robust and delicious expression of Lodi’s unique terroir. Jammy with raspberry, milk chocolate and mocha flavors, soft tannins and a supple mouth feel.”
You can find OZV Zinfandel on wine.com, totalwine.com, amazon.com, bevmo.com, Cost Plus World Market, and many other grocery stores or wine markets. It’s so worth the effort to find it.
If you enjoy a good zinfandel wine, then this OZV Zinfandel is a must to try. This was such a great discovery, all because we were out for a new experience and found not only an excellent new restaurant but a fantastic new wine to boot. I now have a few bottles of OZV Zinfandel in my wine chiller. 🙂
If you enjoyed reading about OZV Zinfandel, check out 1000 Stories Wines Zinfandel, Renwood Old Vine Zinfandel Wine, and Fields Family Wines Tempranillo.