Apparently, many of you really got into it.

We are officially sold out of our 2012 Sangiovese Rosé.  It went too fast!

To many, it’s a shocking disappointment (selfishly, I usually enjoy a few cases during the summer months!) but there are some bright spots to this story.

If you’re in Lodi, School Street Bistro and Pietro’s are featuring it on their menu and you can find it at Wine & Roses Hotel & Spa.

For our Texan fans, you look for it at select wine shops and restaurants in your area.

Contact us to inquire where!

Wednesday, May 15th @ 6:30pm

Winemaker Dinner with Guest Chef Dan Landsberg from Texas

We’re bringing a Texan flair to Lodi.  Chef Dan Landsberg of DragonFly Restaurant/Hotel ZaZa in Dallas is flying out to feature a knock-out five-course menu paired with our wines.  Winemaker David Akiyoshi will be on hand to introduce the pairings for each gourmet dish.

We first met Dan a few years ago when he was ripping it up at Tillman’s Roadhouse in two locations – Dallas and Ft. Worth.  For all of Dan’s accomplishments, he is incredibly down to earth – so much so that he’s a self-proclaimed “Redneck Sommelier.”  See here for more on that story…

Joining Dan in the kitchen is his good friend Chef Lance Smith (Smoke Restaurant, Tillman’s Roadhouse) – known far and wide for his homemade Texas Red Clay Spice Rub.

Round ‘em up and bring ‘em in – our Press Room is small, so reservations are limited.

See the full menu here.

RSVPs required by May 13
tammie@langetwins.com

$100 per person
$80 per Wine Club Member

Thursday, May 16th @ 5:30pm

Wine & Cheese Pairing with Winemaker Karen Birmingham & Cheese Central

Join us in the Press Room for a fun, casual and educational pairing of our family wines and artisan cheeses before you head out to dinner.  We’ll depend on Cheese Central owner Cindy Della Monica to take you through the cheese selections as Winemaker Karen Birmingham chats about our family wines.

We’ll even bundle up our custom LangeTwins cheeseboards as a take-away – so you can create your own wine and cheese pairing!

We have limited seating available for this event so please RSVP early.

See the full menu here.

RSVPs required by May 13
tammie@langetwins.com

$25 per person
$20 per Wine Club Member

Glamour.com

• “LangeTwins uses photovoltaic solar systems at its winery for energy, low-volume drip irrigation to water crops, and encourages the vineyards’ health by preserving native grasses and trees (and even places nesting boxes for owls, birds, and bats!).”

Grapefriend Blog

• “They devoted 20 acres of their property to habitat restoration projects. Even back in the 80’s they were planting native oaks to re-establish native habitat buffer zones between their vineyards and the local waterways.”

D Magazine’s SideDish: Dallas

• “Based in Lodi, for five generations the Lange family has been growing sustainable wine grapes for over a decade on what was formerly the family watermelon farm. Key elements of their green efforts include the use of solar panels at the winery, water management, recycling, habitat conservation, including owl and bat boxes for naturally ridding pests in the vineyards.”

D The Broadcast: Dallas

• Hayley Hamilton talks about sustainable wines and mentions LangeTwins and a future interview with Randy!

Pull That Cork

• Our 2012 Sangiovese Rosé is featured as part of a Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing tasting and article.

Snooth

• The habitat restoration we have done throughout the years is featured in Snooth’s article along with other efforts our Lodi Appellation winegrowers have made.

Take a look at the wine dinners and festivals lined up for spring and let us know!  To RSVP for the wine dinners, please contact the restaurants directly.

Texas

April 26 – Dallas
Winemaker Dinner: Lawry’s – The Prime Rib Restaurant and Steakhouse
14566 Dallas Parkway
972.503.6688

April 26 & 27 – Austin
Austin Food & Wine Festival
Introducing Caricature at the HEB booth and signing bottles

April 29 – Fort Worth
Winemaker Dinner: H3 Ranch
105 E. Exchange Avenue
817.869.4005

May 1 – Fort Worth
Winemaker Dinner: Ellerbe Fine Foods
1501 W. Magnolia Avenue
817.926.3663

Louisiana

May 22 – New Orleans
Winemaker Dinner: GW Fins
808 Bienville Street
504.581.3467

May 23-25 – New Orleans
New Orleans Wine & Food Experience
Taste LangeTwins wines in NOLA!

The rain held off until later that night (were you awake for that amazing lighting and thunderstorm?) so both the adults and kids stayed dry while egg hunting and enjoying the day.

Take a look at our Facebook photo album for all of the pics!

Also, if you missed the barrel tasting, futures orders are now being accepted until April 30th, 2013.  Order yours now.

Futures orders will only be accepted until April 30th, 2013.

Wine Club Pricing

6 Pack
$60 + shipping & tax
Save $5 per bottle

12 Pack
$115 + shipping & tax
Save $5.41 per bottle

Non-Wine Club Pricing

6 Pack
$81 + shipping & tax
Save $1.50 per bottle

12 Pack
$153 + shipping & tax
Save $2.25 per bottle

]]> http://www.langetwins.com/blog/2013/04/01/futures-2010-estate-cabernet-sauvignon/feed/ 0 http://www.langetwins.com/blog/2013/03/20/910-for-our-2010-langetwins-zinfandel/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=910-for-our-2010-langetwins-zinfandel http://www.langetwins.com/blog/2013/03/20/910-for-our-2010-langetwins-zinfandel/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:23:09 +0000 Joe Lange http://www.langetwins.com/?p=9139 Read More →]]> Check out the review from James Meléndez “James the Wine Guy“ of our 2010 LangeTwins Zinfandel - looks like he really enjoyed it!

9.0 out of 10.0!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj-FOgGv–U

Follow James on Facebook and Twitter as well.

(For event tickets, we’ll be charging your credit card on file and will email receipts.)

The Easter bash is always a great time for the whole family – Easter egg hunt, games and bike courses for the kids and barrel tasting for the interested adults!  Our good friends at Galt’s Squeeze Inn will be grilling up hamburgers for you to enjoy along with a glass of wine on the winery lawn.

If you haven’t used it by then, bring your $10 off coupon (included in your Spring Wine Club shipment) and we’ll help you choose the perfect case.  You can also order online and apply your $10 savings to any order twelve bottles or more by using coupon code 10CASE at our website.

We hope you take advantage of this offer before it expires April 30th.  It’s a real deal since it combines with your Wine Club discount!  All perks for being great fans of our wines.

Cheers!

RSVP’s required.

As always, this first Club Release of the year will feature the newest vintage of our Sangiovese Rosé.  We hope you can join us for some wine tasting and nibbles.

For those not able to make it, your Spring Wine Club Release will be available for pick up from the winery (for pick up members) or shipped (for ship-to members) beginning on March 4th.

Make sure you dig into your release soon – there’s an extra perk included!

Along with LangeTwins wines, we’ll be featuring our juicy Cab/Zin red blend, Caricature.  Try it paired with the brie and chocolate paninis we’ll be grilling up.  Trust me on this.

Again this year, accomplished photographer Fatima Donaldson of Katy, Texas will be featuring her work in our weekend-long exhibit.

Get yourself a sip of wine, a bite to eat and stroll amongst the barrels of the Press Room admiring (and shopping?) the amazing shots Fatima has captured in her travels.

We’re looking forward to a great weekend!

Our red blend, Caricature, will be on everyone’s table during the fantastic dinner they serve.  We’re happy to be a part of their fundraising success, even with this small gesture of donating wine for the event.

Check out Ozzie, our ‘official vineyard dog’, on the table tent that will accompany the wines on the dinner table:

If you’re planning on being up in Tahoe over President’s Weekend, consider joining in the fun and support a great cause.

One note though, you WILL be covered in dog hair by the night’s end.

We have added distribution in Montgomery County, Maryland for our family of wines.  Soon you will be able to find a selection of LangeTwins and Caricature wines in DLC stores.

If you live or have friends or relatives in the DC/Baltimore/Annapolis area, let them know.

This is just the latest good news for us as we continue to expand where our sustainable, family estate wines are sold – are we available in your state yet?  If not, maybe we will be in 2013!

]]> http://www.langetwins.com/blog/2013/01/28/find-our-wines-now-in-montgomery-county-maryland/feed/ 0 http://www.langetwins.com/blog/2013/01/18/upcoming-2013-events/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=upcoming-2013-events http://www.langetwins.com/blog/2013/01/18/upcoming-2013-events/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:11:30 +0000 Joe Lange http://www.langetwins.com/?p=8977 Read More →]]> Happy New Year from the LangeTwins Family!

It’s time to plan out your wine events for at least the first half of 2013 – you plan these first and fit in ‘life’ around them, right?

Hope you can join us at some of these events.  We’d love to share our family wines with you.

January 31 – February 2
ZAP Zinfandel Festival
San Francisco, CA

February 9-10
Lodi’s Wine & Chocolate Weekend
Lodi, CA

February 25 – March 3
Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

March 2
Wine Club Spring Release Party
Press Room @ LangeTwins Winery
Wine Club Members: Stay tuned for your invite soon.

March 30
Wine Club Easter Celebration
LangeTwins Winery
Wine Club Members: Stay tuned for your invite soon.

April 19-20
California Wine Festival
Dana Point, CA

April 26-28
Austin Food and Wine Festival
Austin, TX

May 2-4
Durango Wine Experience
Durango, CO

May 17-19
Lodi ZinFest
Lodi, CA

May 21-25
New Orleans Wine and Food Experience
New Orleans, LA

Saturday was packed with photo ops, both in the Press Room and out on the road, a mellow team ride around Lodi and Clements and then a big family dinner at local School Street Bistro.

After a night of recovery, we were back at it on Sunday with another ride – this time with Coach Nathaniel English of English Endurance – in the Folsom area.

See all of the pictures from the weekend (thanks super-photographer Alex Chiu!) on our LangeTwins Cycling Facebook page.

We’re ready to rock & roll in 2013!  See you at the races.

It’s our way to acknowledge the long hours and hard work everyone puts in not only during crush, but all year round.

We’ll be back Wednesday, January 2nd.  See you then!

In addition to wine tasting, we’ll also have Santa here for your family portraits – don’t forget your cameras!

This will be the only opportunity to taste our very limited Single Barrel release, the 2010 Teroldego.  We only crafted enough wine to allocate one bottle per member.

We’d go back and make more if we could, but that’s just the nature of winegrowing – we have one shot to harvest each year.  Unfortunately, there is no magic wine spigot to fill more bottles!  Be sure to hold on to this bottle for a bit and enjoy it with those who are most special to you.

Don’t forget that we still have a few cases of last year’s Single Barrel release, the 2008 Tannat.  It’s drinking very well right now, too.

I hope you can join us for our Club Release and Santa Party in the new Press Room!

Cheers!

Joe

But it’s half our fault – the food is so awesome that it’s easy to gorge yourself, especially when you’re sharing the time with some of the most enjoyable people around.

It’s back to Texas we go this week, so I suppose I should start fasting now?  Take a look at where we’ll be and join us if your plans allow.

Cheers!

Monday, Dec. 3rd – 6pm-7:30pm
Meet, Greet, Drink & Eat at NEXT Wood Fired Bistro & Vino Bar
Colleyville
RSVP info here

I’ll be pouring tastes of our Chardonnay, Petite Sirah Petit Verdot, Midnight Reserve and Caricature paired with a selection of appetizers.

Tuesday, Dec. 4th – 7pm
Cajun Holiday Wine Dinner at Boo Rays
Hudson Oaks
RSVP info here

First Course
2010 Estate Chardonnay
Corn and Crab Bisque

Second Course
2009 Midnight Reserve
Boudin with Red Beans and Rice

Third Course
2009 Centennial Zinfandel
Blackened Filet of Beef Au Gratin Potatoes and Scotty’s Green Beans

Fourth Course
2011 Estate Petite Sirah Petit Verdot
Chocolate Lava Cake

Choose from our pre-set gift packs available online or create your own gift – no problem.  We personally pack your gifts here at the winery with lots of TLC in custom lay-down boxes and even finish them with a holiday bow for the complete look.

Don’t forget to include a gift note with your orders – or, better yet, mail us your handwritten notes and we’ll include them with your gifts!

Email me with any questions or special gifting requests – we’ll make it happen for you.

Happy Holidays!

We love Vino Volo so much that we’ve been known to arrive extra early, just to grab a bite and a flight of wine before we push away from the gate.

We’re excited to be part of the Vino Volo family – hopefully we’ll be in more airport locations soon!

Safe travels.

Pre-Thanksgiving Wine Sale 
Saturday, November 17th – 11am to 3pm

Heading to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving and no time to bake a pie? Take her wine instead!

Our new Press Room will be open to the public for a pre-Thanksgiving Wine Sale on Saturday, November 17th.  Once you load up the car to head out of town, swing by the winery and add a bit of wine for your upcoming holiday parties.

We’ve put together special Thanksgiving Packs available Nov. 17th & 18th only and exclusively from the winery.  Grab one of these pre-set selections of six wines at a great limited-time discount and you’re ready to entertain.

Buy two or more Thanksgiving Packs and save and additional $10 on each.

Thanksgiving Packs include one bottle each for $85 or $68 Wine Club:

2011 Sangiovese Rosé
2010 Chardonnay
2011 Viognier
2011 Petite Sirah Petit Verdot
2009 Midnight Reserve
2010 Caricature 

Also that day Wine Club Members can pick up their previous Club Selections - email me ahead of time and we’ll have it handy.

Cyclocross Race
Sunday, November 18th – 9am to 4pm

Bring your friends and families to our annual Sacramento Cyclocross race at the winery – we’ll have great spectating areas from atop our grape receiving bridge as well as complimentary wine tasting and food for purchase from local Addy’s Paella.  Come early to get your hot cup of Coffees of Hawaii coffee too.

Host shop Kinetic Cycles in Elk Grove will be raffling off a beach cruiser during the race – come put your name in for the drawing and enjoy a day at the races!

If you’re interested in racing, register here.  There will even be a kids race if the weather is nice, so bring their bikes!

This juicy Cab/Zin red blend is becoming very popular with our customers. If you haven’t tried it yet, swing by your local Target and grab a bottle.

Follow Caricature on Facebook and Twitter

We had a great launch of both LangeTwins and Caricature wines in Colorado with our distributor partners back in August – we hope this helps get more of our wines on restaurant wine lists and shelves in the Denver area.

We’re coming to a Colorado town near you, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Let’s not mutter the “R” word (ends in “ain”) just yet since we’re still harvesting winegrapes, but hopefully we have some good cross racing conditions and mud puddles to skim over…or fall into.  It all depends on what Mother Nature throws at us – that’s why cross is so fun.

For non-racers (bring your friends and families!) we’ll have great spectating areas from atop our grape receiving bridge as well as complimentary wine tasting and food for purchase from local Addy’s Paella.  Come early to get your hot cup of Coffees of Hawaii coffee and then make a day out of it with us at the winery.

Our good friends at Kinetic Cycles will be on hand to help with the logistics and any kind of race support needed.  Also, we’re hoping Kid Kaiser will be in attendance to tear it up.

Take a look at a few slideshows from years past, just to see what the possibilities are – we’ve had all types of weather and racing conditions over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyeyRTx9GGM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJg4WMXoILY

A few of our LangeTwins wines as well as Caricature and Green Hills will be hitting the shelves over the next few weeks at an H-E-B store near you.

Texas is big, that’s for sure, but check out the list and see if there’s an H-E-B in your neighborhood!

To keep the excitement going on all these new releases (2010 Malbec, 2009 Midnight Reserve Futures) we’re announcing the varietal choice of this year’s Single Barrel wine to be released in the Holiday Wine Club Selection in December.

As you know, the Single Barrel tier of wines are the most unique selections of the cellar each vintage – we leave it all up to the winemakers to determine what is really shining the brightest and needs to be reserved for our most loyal fans.

For the 2010 vintage, it is another obscure varietal.  Without further ado, the Wine Club Only wine this year is our 2010 Single Barrel Teroldego!  Terol-what?

We only have enough of it for one bottle per Wine Club Membership, unfortunately, so please share accordingly! 

Also, our Holiday Gift Guides will be arriving at your doorstep soon – so have a look and let us take care of your gifting list this year.  Each year, we all transform into wine elves, packing up boxes of our family estate wines to send to your friends and loved ones.

As always, email me or find me on Facebook or Twitter with any questions.

Cheers!

Joe Lange

As a family, our sense of adventure extends not only to what we drink, but what we plant.

One of the lesser known varietals that we grow is Teroldego. There are three common stories of where the name originates.  One legend says the name derived from Tiroler Gold, the Gold from Tyrol, which is how the wine was referred to at court in Vienna.

Then there is the practical story that it takes its name from its traditional method of growing on a system of “tirelle” or wire harnesses.

Or was it from the German word “teer” meaning “tar” which is a flavor Teroldego can sometimes show? How it received its varietal name may be up in the air, but its geographic origin is clear.

It originates from Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige on the Rotalino plain. This is in the Northeastern region of Italy where river bottom temperatures are warm enough for perfect ripening of this thin skinned grape.

When the medium sized grape is made into wine it tends to be a medium to full-bodied red wine with youthful intense fruit, bright color and a strong dry taste. At first sip, it will remind you of its family member, Syrah, and you will want to enjoy it with roasted or grilled meats and aged cheeses. 

This December you will have the chance to embrace our wine diversity and try the 2010 LangeTwins Single Barrel Terlodego when we release our first vintage.

We only crafted enough for one bottle per Wine Club Member – and because of its limited production holiday gifting will go without this interesting wine.

So, Wine Club Members, mark your calendars for Teroldego!

If you happen to be in any of these neighborhoods, please come out and join us. The chefs have done a great job to pair local cuisine to our wines – you won’t want to miss it! And we will be glad to either make your acquaintance, or renew a friendship!

Monday, September 17
Wine Country Bistro, Shreveport, LA
6pm
$95 per person dinner
Reservations 318.219.3330
Introducing our newest wine, Caricature, along with a caricature artist to document your evening.

Wednesday, September 19
Winslow’s Wine Café, Fort Worth, TX
6pm
$100 per person dinner
Reservations 817.546.6843
Introducing a very special, limited new release Zinfandel – to be announced soon!

Thursday, September 20
Silver Fox, Grapevine, TX
6pm
$85 per person dinner
Reservations 817.329.6995
Featuring three of our Reserve wines, Midnight, Merlot and Cabernet.

- Charlene

RSVP’s are required.  

(If you didn’t make the Wine Club Dinner, here’s your chance to see our new hospitality space, the Press Room.)

Our new release is tasting spectacular and we hope it makes up a little bit for how fast we sold out of our previous Malbec, the 2008 Single Barrel Malbec, a few years back.

For those ‘pick up’ members who can’t make the party, your shipments will be ready at the winery after the 22nd, Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. Call or drop us a note before swinging by and we’ll have it handy for quick pass off.

For our ‘ship to’ members, expect your Wine Club care package sometime during the week of September 24th.

We hope you enjoy our wine selections for this shipment – please email me if I can help with anything!

Cheers,

Joe Lange
@langetwins

Friday 8.31 – Sunday 9.2
Rainbow Festival
Sacramento
LangeTwins Moscato and Zinfandel are the featured wines of the entire festival

Monday 9.10
Caricature @ FIVE Restaurant
Fresno, 6:30pm
Enjoy personalized caricature drawings by Byron Rhodes while you sip
Contact restaurant to RSVP 

Tuesday 9.18
Forli Ristorante
Downtown Alamo, 6pm
Join Randy and Char at this five course wine dinner featuring our family wines
Contact restaurant to RSVP 

Thursday 9.27
Sixteen Mile House
Millbrae, 6pm, $75pp
Join us at the oldest historic restaurant in Millbrae for a multi-course wine dinner
Contact restaurant to RSVP
9.18.12 Update:  Unfortunately, this wine dinner has been cancelled.  Our apologies! 

Thursday 9.27
The Grapevine Wine Shop
Lake Arrowhead, 6-8pm
Join me for a tasting of select LangeTwins wines as well as Caricature at this new wine shop

After a 25 mile ride or so, we’ll make it back to the winery for a some brunch and wine tasting.  We’ll even watch the day’s freshly harvested grapes come into the winery if possible.

Grab a Lodi Passport and join us – RSVP by this Friday, August 31st so we can plan for you.  And check out all the other Lodi wine events your passport will take you.

All details on the event posted here.

Hope you can join us!

- Joe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1rsQjxXFlA

The night also marked the exclusive release of our Seven Vintage Blend, one of our smallest lots (less than 70 cases available) crafted to celebrate our seven years as a winery.

And for those who couldn’t make the party, we sent out party favor care packages so no one felt left out.  We hope you like your two-bottle insulated wine carrier – share pics of you using it (at the beach, picnic, the possibilities are endless) on Facebook and Twitter!

Yesterday we collected some of our unreleased wines to taste with the winemakers.  There are a few wines that are still top secret – stay tuned for very cool new wines in the coming months.

One that I can gush about is our special Seven Year Anniversary Blend – a wine that was specifically crafted to celebrate the seven vintages we’ve seen here at the winery.  We’ll be popping corks and sharing it with our Wine Club Members first at the upcoming August 11th Wine Club Dinner, as well as accepting pre-orders for anyone not able to join us.

Predominately Cab with a bit of each vintage blended in, this wine really shines the light on how suited our appellation is for Cabernet Sauvignon.  We can’t wait for you to try it.

Only 70 cases bottled.

Golds from Sunset Magazine’s International Wine Competition

Three of our wines earned gold medals from Sunset Magazine and we’ve already sold out of one of them!  Pulling down the awards were our 2011 Sangiovese Rosé, 2011 Moscato and, our flagship wine, the 2008 Midnight Reserve. (now sold out)

Year after year, Midnight Reserve sells out early and earns top honors at tastings and competitions across the country.  The 2009 vintage is awaiting the winemakers’ release.  

Hope you have a bottle or two of Midnight saved in your cellar!

We did some market work and visited accounts and if you’re looking for a short course on where to eat and shop for wine, here is my list.

Original Powers home in Elk Rapids. Built by Great Great Grandfather Oliver Powers.

South Eastern Michigan

Terry B’s in Dexter – Doug Hewitt has to be one of the most talented chefs in Michigan, with his youth, energy and commitment to using local, fresh products. A few miles west of the stadium, I’ll have to figure out what wine is appropriate when State beats Michigan this fall.

Heading to the North Country

Boone’s North Country Grill – We lost our friend and proprietor Barry Boone last winter and now Karen and daughter Chelsea, an extreme skier in the off months, are doing a great job with the bar and restaurant in Sutton’s Bay.

Harbor 22 – Overlooking the Traverse Bay, you’ll find at least three of our wines on their list with owners Ian and Karen. The fish tacos are fabulous.

Tuscan Bistro – Mickey Cannon’s place with marvelous Italian food just around the corner from Harbor 22.

Boone’s Long Lake Inn – Our friends Jake and Nick have a well kept secret on the south side of Traverse with their huge outdoor patio.

Burritt’s Fresh Markets – Downtown Traverse City, is one of the anchor places where the summer folks stock up; AND owner Ken Burritt is also an identical twin, so he and Randy have a lot in common.

Folgarelli’s City Market – Also downtown Traverse City, owner Donna keeps a well stocked wine cellar and we’re constantly gleaning information on sailing.

The Blue Goat – Stop in and say howdy to Dennis Carol, crazy little blue painted retail shop.  Also in Downtown Traverse.

LaBecasse – Vive la’ France! Small, darn right cozy, personal on a small rural road outside Maple City, and oh, mon dieu … foie gras crème brule? We were licking the dishes.

Elk Rapids Wine Shoppe in Elk Rapids – Just around the corner from our Powers family home on the corner of Spruce Street.

Siren Hall – very sleek and unexpected restaurant across the block from the wine shoppe in Elk Rapids.

Esperance – Owner Pram is a master som and understands the concept of fine dining and service, but his wife Suzanne takes all the prizes with homemade ravioli luna, outside Charlevoix.

And the frosting on the cake for Pure Michigan is the effort so many folks make in the community of Charlevoix by planting the curbs, coming and going with brightly colored petunias. Certainly a signature effort, and one that I appreciate each time I drive through the community. Hands down – they get the concept of ‘welcome home’.

This year for our Wine Club Exclusive Dinner, we are celebrating our seven year anniversary with a special ‘seven vintage’ blend.  We’ll unveil the wine that night so be sure not to miss this dinner.

There is only a very small amount of this anniversary wine available and we can’t wait to share it with you at the dinner.  For our members who can’t attend, we’ll save some for you too – no worries!  Stay tuned for an email announcement of its release.

Please RSVP soon as this event fills up quickly and seating is limited this year.

RSVP by August 3rd
Email tammie@langetwins.com or call 209.334.9780
Saturday, August 11th at 6:00pm
Exclusive to Wine Club Members
$80 per person
Dress for the cellar 

Between wine dinners (like our Wine Club Dinner on August 11th) and the beginning of harvest sometime in August, the prep work for a busy winery is already underway.

Away from the winery, we are part of events happening all over the country – we hope you can join us at a few of them!

California Wine Festival
July 19-21
Santa Barbara, California
I’ll be pouring a selection of our wines three evenings in a row in beautiful Santa Barbara.

Lodi CycleFest
July 15
Downtown Lodi, California
Come watch fast bike racing, pros and amateurs, including our LangeTwins Cycling Team and another winery team, Michael-David’s Delta Velo racers.

Steamboat Wine Festival
August 2-4
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
I’m heading to the Rockies with a group of other Lodi wineries to promote our great wines at high altitude.

6th Annual Wine Club Dinner
August 11
LangeTwins Winery, Acampo, California
Our annual big bash, this year with a special anniversary wine release.  Don’t miss it.

Mammoth Wine Festival
August 17-18
Mammoth Mountain, California
I’m heading to the hills again to share our wines two days in a row in another gorgeous mountain setting.

California Wine Festival
October 5-6
Monterey, California
Stay tuned for more details on this one – the Orange County and Santa Barbara events are great, so expectations are high!

 Will you be at one of these events?

The challenge of direct-to-consumer wine shipments, and the reason that our friends in the other 23 states can’t order our wine directly, is that each state’s laws differ.  In some states, direct-to-consumer shipments are outright banned. In others, the barries to entry (high permit fees, winery volume caps) are prohibitive to the many wineries.

There are lots of things at play here – probably too many to delve into for a simple blog post.

The bottom line is that we feel wine lovers in any state should be allowed to order from any winery (large or small, next door or across the country) and we hope things continue to progress in that direction.

Maryland is a recent success story, but for us, there are 23 more challenges out there to face.

Our friends at Free the Grapes do good work in creating awareness of this issue and fighting to open more states to direct-to-consumer wine shipments.  Follow them on Facebook for updates and consider supporting the cause.

Both of our 2011 Moscato and 2008 Midnight Reserve earned 95 points, gold medals and “Best of Class” distinictions, with our Midnight Reserve also grabbing the coveted “Best of California” recognition.

Silver medals were awarded to our 2010 Chardonnay and 2010 Zinfandel and also our newest wine, Caricature.

These are fantastic recognitions for our wines.  There were lots of Lodi wineries on the winning end of this competition – a great thing to see for our region.

,

Here are a few great points that I feel both Randy and David hit on that aren’t highlighted often enough in wine conversations:

Contrary to what’s become less and less a “common knowledge,” Lodi does not get desert hot like the rest of Central Valley – its growing seasons are actually a shade milder than parts of mid-Napa Valley, Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley, and most of Paso Robles.

It gets warm here in Lodi – sometimes outright hot.  But the nightly cooling effect and regular Delta breezes work wonders on our vineyards.  Not enough people know this about Lodi, but we’re working on them.

LangeTwins’ Jahant Woods Vineyard is planted completely to the more floral, fruity, and significantly less green or weedy, Sauvignon Musqué clone, which Akiyoshi describes as “an entirely different animal, not widely planted in California.”

The Musqué clone of Sauvignon Blanc is fairly uncommon and that’s why we note it prominetly on the front label.  We love the unique fruit/acid balance it gives us without the grassy, green vegetal traits that sometimes dominate these varietal wines.

David: Not all winegrowers are created equal, and LangeTwins is among the best when it comes to viticultural techniques that ‘raise’ wine quality in the vineyard, rather than us having to somehow make it happen in the winery. A great appellation (i.e. Lodi) gives us an extra advantage.

This really shows the character of our winemaking team and how much of a team effort winegrowing is – a collaboration between viticulture and enology teams, bobbing and weaving with the punches Mother Nature throws at us.

Read Randy’s complete article at Lodi Wine’s Blog.

As another multi-generational farming family, the Oatley family shares our passion for sharing and creating handcrafted wines.

We look forward to sharing our wines in your home state very soon!

See the official announcement.

Hurrah! And thank you Wine Club members for your support – y’all are great ambassadors of our wines. We see you in market across America; you wear our cycling jerseys on the road and proudly order our wine in restaurants. Thank you!

We have Club Members in 22 states and we love the chance to share our wines, and of course, to get you on site in Acampo for events like this.

It will be a magical night of course! We’ve ordered balmy weather – ripening grapes wafting in the breeze and the unveiling of a unique wine, available first to Club Members.

Peter McCaffrey of Wine Valley Catering is on deck to create a multiple course dinner to pair with our wines. We are interviewing bands and will let you know who entertains us that night – bring your dancing shoes.

This event is exclusive to you Wine Club Members so if you have friends that are dying to party, they will have to join!

Invitations and reservations will be out later in June.

-Char

]]> http://www.langetwins.com/blog/2012/05/15/save-the-date-annual-wine-club-dinner/feed/ 0 http://www.langetwins.com/blog/2012/05/02/new-wine-release-rsvp-for-wine-club-pick-up-party/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-wine-release-rsvp-for-wine-club-pick-up-party http://www.langetwins.com/blog/2012/05/02/new-wine-release-rsvp-for-wine-club-pick-up-party/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 23:32:07 +0000 Joe Lange http://www.langetwins.com/?p=7903 Read More →]]> Wine Club Members: RSVP as soon as possible for our next Wine Club Pick Up Party, Saturday, May 12th from 2-5pm at School Street Bistro in Lodi.

RSVP’s are required.

We’ll be introducing our newest wine release, the very energetic and fun Caricature. This luscious red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Old Vine Zinfandel will definitely get your attention – check out those legs!

We’re excited for all of our most loyal fans to try it.  Check out all the details on our brand new wine at Caricature’s website.

For those ‘pick up’ members who can’t make the party, your shipments will be ready here at the winery after the 12th from Monday-Friday, 8-5pm.  Call or drop us a note before swinging by and we’ll have it handy for quick pass off.

For our ‘ship to’ members, expect your wine care package during the week of May 14th.

We hope you enjoy our wine selections for this shipment – please email me if I can help with anything!

Cheers,

Joe Lange
@langetwins

Caricature is a red wine blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.  It’s a luscious wine with lots of upfront fruit and great legs.

Stay tuned for more info on our newest wine:  Website, Facebook, Twitter

Randy and I are headed home (translate MICHIGAN!) for four days of great wine events. We’re criss-crossing the state and would love to have you join us.

Check out our schedule and perhaps there’s a location and night where you can not only enjoy our wines, but also experience great food from four fabulous local restaurants. Please call the restaurants directly to make your reservation – see you in a couple of weeks!

Monday, May 7
Seva Restaurant, 66 E. Forest Avenue, Detroit (313) 974-6661; 6:30 p.m.
$50 multi-course dinner, five wines and Viognier Granitas!

Tuesday, May 8
World Café, 200 Center Avenue, Bay City (989) 402-1110; 6 p.m.
$10 gets you in the door – wine flights, bottles and Tapa platters, ala carte.

Wednesday, May 9
Butch’s Dry Dock, 44 E. 8TH Street, Holland (616) 396-8227; 7 pm.
$50 dinner with five wines.

Thursday, May 10
Terry B’s, 7954 Ann Arbor Street, Dexter (734) 426-3727; 6:30 p.m.
$25 wines and tastes.

These events sell out quickly – and are not to be missed. Not only do you get to hear Randy’s thoughts on the nuances of producing great wine (he is a farmer first!) we’ll be featuring a tongue-in-cheek test at the end of each evening with prizes! Who doesn’t want to go home with a few branded LangeTwins items?

Join us … we’re thrilled to be back in Michigan.

- Charlene Powers Lange

The weekend challenged riders with a 90 mile road race around the Paskenta Hills on Saturday and a double-whammy on Sunday – a 10 mile time trial on Sunday morning followed by a criterium in the afternoon.

Jason Grefrath on his way to winning the road race.  Photo by Alex Chiu

Some of our top 10 results are below – full team results are at the website.

Men’s 35+ 1/2/3 Road Race

• 1     Jason Grefrath
• 2     Micheal Hernandez

Men’s 35+ 1/2/3 Individual Time Trial

• 6     Jason Grefrath
• 7     Michael Hernandez

Men’s 35+ 1/2/3 Criterium

• 1     David Albrecht
• 5     Matthew Ream
• 7     Jeffrey Galland
• 9     Matt Connolly

Overall, Jason Grefrath takes 1st place for the weekend and Michael Hernandez grabs 3rd – a fantastic effort from the entire team.

Not all is lost if you missed Easter – Wine Club Members can still order the first tastes of the 2009 Midnight Reserve at a big $10 per bottle discount (That’s more than 33% off) by ordering before April 20th at our online store.

Even non-Wine Club Members get a small discount, but the big savings are reserved for our most loyal fans.

Normal Price:                  $30
Club Sale Price:          $20   Use coupon code MR10
Non-Club Price:         $27    Use coupon code MR3

Futures should be ready by September 2012 for a winemakers’ release.

Shop online here.

Not yet part of the Club?  Here’s your reason to fix that!  Big savings like this are just the tip of the iceberg – 20% off all orders, first tastes of our newest releases, and access to our Single Barrel tier of wines.

Lots of things to cram into a few hours!

We received great comments on the not-yet-bottled 2009 Midnight Reserve barrel samples as well as the Wine Club Only 2008 Single Barrel Tannat we were pouring.

Cases of our 2011 Sangiovese Rosé were also going quickly – a great summer wine.

New this year was the bike course for little ones, who all had a blast navigating their way around the obstacles.  We hope they all get their ‘training’ in before next year’s Easter when we set up another, more challenging course!

Thanks to all of our Wine Club Members and their families for joining us – it’s always a great time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RxCijZmagw

We are adding a little ‘kids cyclocross’ to our annual romp at the winery – so load up your kid’s bicycles and helmets (no helmet, no riding!) and after your little ones have raced through the newly planted habitat area to pick up Easter eggs, and eaten their way through lunch (catered by our neighbors at Squeeze Inn, Galt) we’ll let the kids try their skills on our par course.

We’ve created five different elements, all set up on the hardscape of the winery drive – who wouldn’t want to maneuver through the swirly cones, the ziggy-zags, or race through the sand snake pit?  Fun for every little one that can handle their own bicycle.

Moms and Dads should bring their camera – this event is likely the start of a grand new tradition at LangeTwins. We should have some competitive cyclists in the making!

And for the adults, who will be on the sidelines watching and cheering their little ones pedal to victory – we’ll have special case prices for our newly released 2011 Sangiovese Rosé and barrel tastes of our not-yet-bottled 2009 Midnight Reserve.  Be sure to put in your futures order for $10 off each bottle – that’s more than 33% off our flagship wine.

For those that can’t make the event, keep a lookout for an email about these great wine offers soon!

RSVP by Wednesday and we’ll see you on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

- Charlene

In the first week of April, we’re sitting at 27 Top 10 finishes, 11 podium grabs and 3rd in the Master 35+ 1/2/3 Team Points.  Not too shabby, right?

Keep up to date with all of our successes at the team website and Facebook page.

My no-brainer pick for a springtime wine is our 2011 Sangiovese Rose.  It’s a wine that I’m convinced we would bottle even if we had no plans to sell it outside of the immediate family!  Pair with a spread of quality cheeses and call it good.

And, if you haven’t yet opened your Wine Club Only 2008 Single Barrel Tannat (released at the 2011 Wine Club Dinner) I would highly recommend it.  The spice and ripe plum aromas open up nicely after a few minutes of being in the glass and it is such a fun and unique varietal to share.

Don’t forget to RSVP for our annual Easter Celebration at the winery!  The event is filling up quickly with families that consider it part of their Easter tradition.  As a family winery, we love that.

The next Wine Club Selection and Pick Up Party will be on May 12th – keep an eye on your email inbox for more details.  Also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

Cheers!

Looks like a spactacular ride around Monterey…we’re jealous.  If you don’t have a LangeTwins jersey yet, order one online!  Both men’s and women’s available.

Thanks John!  Keep the pics coming.  Post them on our Facebook page or on Twitter!

RSVP soon by clicking here for a day of games, egg hunting, BBQ and barrel tasting!  We’ll be highlighting our brand new 2011 Sangiovese Rosé (fingers crossed for some warm temps and sunshine) and definitely something special for our barrel tasting.

New to the event?  Check out all the fun from last year’s celebration. 

(click to enlarge)

Easter Celebration
Saturday, April 7th 2012
11am – 2pm  (Egg Hunt at 11:30am sharp!)
LangeTwins Winery (Lower Sacramento & Jahant Roads, Acampo)
Exclusive to Wine Club Members, their children and grands
$15 adult, $5 child (we’ll charge your credit card on file)
RSVP by clicking here

Our 2010 Viognier brought home a Double Gold, adding to the stack of awards this wine has received over the years.  There is definitely something to be said about our Viognier vineyard in the Clarksburg Appellation!

Now, if only vee-oh-NYAY was easier to say…

Awarded a Gold Medal was the 2010 Moscato, one of our most talked about wines lately.  The wine industry is going gaga over these slightly sweet, lower alcohol wines and we just happen to be right in the middle of the hot trend.

Ours won’t overload you on sugar, so enjoy it paired with appetizers, spicy takeout or chill it down and sip solo.

2010 Viognier
Reg. Price:   $16.00
Wine Club:  $12.80

2010 Moscato
Reg. Price:   $13.00
Wine Club:  $10.40

It is the second year we have participated and it’s a unique event with humans and rescue dogs primped and dressed to the nines.

Check out the program ad and table tent that Kendra put together featuring our families’ pooches:

(click to enlarge)

If you’re in the local area, RSVP to our Pick Up Party on Feb. 10th or drop by the winery to pick up your wines.  (Pick ups outside of Monday – Friday 8am-5pm, email me.)

For our ship-to customers, your wines are en route – keep your eyes peeled!

Also, our quarterly Club Selection dates are changing a bit.  In an effort to avoid shipping during the warmest months of the year, Club Selections will be in February, early May, late September and December.  All the work that goes into growing and crafting these wines goes out the window if they sit in a hot shipping warehouse so we want to do our best to avoid that.

Expedited shipping options are available for your wine orders outside of the quarterly shipments and we always keep an eye on the temperatures across the country when shipping.

Last, every Club Selection this quarter included $10 Wine Club Dollars to use on your next wine order – so you’ll want to dig into this shipment ASAP!

Our Wine Club Members will get a sneak peek of the event at our Pick Up Party the Friday night before the weekend, along with the first tastes of our new 2011 Sangiovese Rosé.

We’ll be pouring the first tastes of the latest vintage 2011 Sangiovese Rosé (just bottled!) and the talented family of cooks at Guantonio’s will be here serving up small bites to pair.

Again this year, the night will be a sneak peek of the weekend’s photography exhibit.  Our good friends Fatima Donaldson, Serena Lissy and Brenda Lindstrom will be showcasing a wide selection of their most recent photography in our cellar.  All graduates of the Rocky Mountain School of Photograpy, look forward to some amazing shots.

We hope you can join us – pick up some Rosé for you and your Valentine to sip while you admire your new photography piece hanging on your wall!

If any Wine Club Members need discounted Wine & Chocolate tickets, see here for all the info.

RSVP Required
Spring Wine Club Pick Up Party
LangeTwins Family Winery and Vineyards (map)
February 10th, 2012
5 – 8pm

Exclusive to our members are discounted $35 tickets to Lodi’s Wine & Chocolate Weekend, February 11th and 12th.  Regular price is $45 in advance and $55 that weekend.

To order, email me before February 5th how many you would like and whether you prefer to pick them up at our winery or have me mail them.  We’ll charge your credit card on file and email a receipt.

We have another year of exciting things planned for Wine & Chocolate – stay tuned for all the details!

Full descriptions of the bites and wine pairings are below if you are feeling an adventurous culinary bug coming on: 

Sauvignon Blanc
Fresh Super Sweet Green Pea Blinis Topped with Crème Fraiche and Roasted Peppers with Mint Essence

Chardonnay
Foie Gras Mousse on a Brioche Disc with Fresh Pear

Viognier
Fresh Pacific Prawn with Citrus Compote on an English Cucumber Medallion

Pinot Noir
Smoked Sonoma Duck Served on Sweet Potato Chips with Sundried Cherry Jam

Zinfandel
Moroccan Spiced Lamb, Apricot Pistachio Chutney on Pita Crisp

Cabernet
Marinated Beef Served Rare Topped with Capers, Shallots and Citrus on a Roasted Garlic Crostini

Midnight Reserve
Beef Carpaccio Served on Potato Rounds with an essence of Black Truffle with Fresh Chives

Both our Midnight Reserve and Pinot Noir earned top recognition and we’ll have them on hand at the Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup and Best Bites Competition on February 19th at the massive Reliant Center in Houston.

If you’re in town, join us!

Whether you’re searching for a corporate gift or something special for that hard-to-shop-for person, we’ve got the perfect gift – the gift of wine.

You can shop online for your gift packs or, if it’s easier, send me an email with your gift recipient list.  We can also include your handwritten gift note so you get all the credit!

Happy Holidays!

ESTATE CLASSICS

The classics from our estate wines: Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. One bottle each wrapped in a custom gift box.

Price: $38.00   Club Price: $30.40

ESTATE BEST SELLERS

A taste of our everyday drinkers: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.  One bottle each wrapped in a custom gift box.

Price: $66.00   Club Price: $52.80

GENERATIONS

Live adventurous and enjoy more unique varietals: Viognier, Pinot Noir and Petite Sirah Petit Verdot.  Two bottles each wrapped in a custom gift box.

Price: $112.00   Club Price: $89.60

RESERVES

Smooth and sophisticated – perfect for the holidays: Midnight Reserve and Merlot Reserve.  Two bottles each wrapped in a custom gift box.

Price: $128.00   Club Price: $102.40

SINGLE BARREL

Our newest release, the 2008 Single Barrel Tannat is exlusive to Wine Club Members only.  Two bottles wrapped in a custom gift box.

Price: $108.00   Club Price: $86.40

 

Thanks to Jeff Namba, Bruce Kaiser and Jim Quaschnick Jr for their great shots included in the slideshow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyeyRTx9GGM

Take a look at the week’s schedule and get your seat saved for one of these events!

Monday, December 5th

Wine Dinner – Dragonfly Hotel Zaza, Dallas
Featuring the Redneck Sommelier and chef Dan Landsberg with Twin Brad Lange
See the Menu
$95pp
Call for Reservations: (214) 550-9500

Tuesday, December 6th

Twins Lunch - Ellerbe’s, Fort Worth
BOTH Twins, Brad and Randy, will be featured with owner Richard King

Wine Dinner - Boo Ray’s, Hudson Oaks
BOTH Twins, Brad and Randy, will be signing bottles and hosting alongside Schrick’s Liquor owners Dana & Keith Schrick
See the Menu
$45pp
Call for Reservations: (817) 599-6266

Wednesday, December 7th

Wine Tasting - Grapes to Wine, Bartonville
Twin Randy will be hosting with shop owners Dan and Hazel Adams.  Chef Steven Allen pairing six of our wines with food bites
$40pp or &75 per couple
Call for Reservations: (214) 252-9801

Thursday, December 8th

Wine Tasting Meet and Greet - Chocolate Secrets and Wine Garden, Dallas
Twin Randy will be on hand presenting our wines
$27pp
Call for Reservations: (214) 252-9801

Wine Dinner - YO Steakhouse, Dallas
Twin Randy will be featuring our wines at this four course wine dinner
See the Menu
$75pp
Call for Reservations: (214) 744-3287

The Sacramento Cyclocross/Bicycling Events crew were out last week with help from Bruce and Cody Kaiser of Kinetic Cycles brainstorming ideas for the course.  This year, we had to get even more creative, since we have a large restoration project in the works on much of the winery property.

For the project, we are returning much of the open ground to native California plants, trees and shrubs but the timing this year is less than ideal (since it is absorbing lots of our prime CX racing turf!) .  By next year, the grasses should be well established and it’ll be game on.

Carpool Deal:  Save 15% at both LangeTwins and Kinetic Cycles until 12/15 when you pile in one car – we’re trying to save some parking space and also, it’s the sustainable thing to do.  Find another racer and be sure to grab a carpool coupon from one of the parking attendants when your crew arrives.

Click to enlarge

Of course there was great food and wine – our 2008 Single Barrel Tannat released to a very energetic crowd – but new this year were Tango dancers!

Check out all the pics in the slideshow below and be sure to join us next year.  Cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1_pqkEAJDM

Releasing at our 5th Annual Wine Club Dinner on Saturday, November 12th is our newest Club Exclusive wine, the unique 2008 Single Barrel Tannat.  It is our most obscure varietal to date (very little planted in California) and of course we saved it for our Members’ Holiday Club shipment.

That same weekend we will be open for Lodi’s First Sip – a two day wine festival featuring Lodi wineries that always brings in a great group of eager tasters.  Check out the event website for all the details and ticket information.

We’ll have some cool attractions here at the winery for First Sip:

• Showcasing our big sprint to cycling – sponsoring a masters race squad, printing custom LangeTwins cycling jerseys and hosting Sacramento Cyclocross here Dec. 3rd.
• Tasting and taking pre-orders on the new vintage of our flagship wine, the 2008 Midnight Reserve.
• Serving warm paninis made with cheese from our friends at Fiscalini Farmstead.

Hope you can join us during this busy weekend.

If you’re not yet part of our Wine Club, sign up soon to save 20% on all orders as well as attend our many events throughout the year.

Cheers!

Joe Lange

For the 2012 racing season, we are officially the title sponsor of the LangeTwins Winery and Vineyards presented by Great Basin Imaging Cycling Team.  

Along with Great Basin Imaging and a host of other sponsors, we have a great group of very strong riders.  In 2011 they were the 4th Best All-Around Team – Masters 35+ 1/2/3 and we are looking forward to getting out to the races to support them during the 2012 season.

The team will be on hand volunteering at our December 3rd Sacramento Cyclocross race and then you can see them at full speed at NCNCA races around Northern California and Nevada.  One race that we will definitely have a big presence at is Lodi CycleFest, organized by Michael David Winery’s Delta Velo Cycling Team.

In addition to promoting our LangeTwins wines, we also see this as an opportuniuty to promote cycling in Lodi.  Between Michael David Winery and LangeTwins, we hope other local companies will get involved and maybe even attract the Amgen Tour of California?  One step at a time, I suppose.

Stay tuned for more details here and on the LT p/b GBI Cycling Team Facebook page.

See the press release here.

LT p/b GBI Facebook

If you’re a racer, be ready for a Euro-style CX course designed by the SacCX team.  They take full advantage of our varying terrain (fast concrete, tricky asphalt, sticky peanut butter mud) and run you up and down our large winegrape receiving bridge – which you’ll be cursing at minute 40.

For the spectators and cycling fans, (and as the riders end their suffering) we’ll take good care of you. Of course, we’ll be pouring tastes of our LangeTwins wines and have them available for purchase if you find any favorites.

We’ll also have Lodi’s own Guantonio’s Wood Fired Cuisine here making some of their famous thin crust pizzas for breakfast (add an egg!) and lunch.

Hope we have a big crowd at this family-friendly event.  Join us!

Here is the slideshow from last year’s race.  It was a gooey one…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJg4WMXoILY

Exclusive to our Wine Club Members, this night marks the release of our 2008 Single Barrel Tannat.  Our Single Barrel wines have sold out very quickly in the past and are crafted and available solely for our members.  Not yet a Club Member?

Please RSVP soon by emailing tammie@langetwins.com or calling her at 209.334.9780.

Click to enlarge

5th Annual Wine Club Dinner
Saturday, November 12th, 2011
6:30pm at the Winery
$80 per person
Dress for the cellar…and tango! 

Check out the full list of results here – it was a big win for other local wineries including Michael David Winery, Van Ruiten Family Winery and Peirano Estate Vineyards.

Gold Award Winners

2010 Generations Petite Sirah Petit Verdot
2008 Reserve Merlot

Silver Award Winners

2010 Generations Viognier
2009 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2010 Generations Pinot Noir

For a limited time, pre-order your jersey to get it at OUR COST and SHIPPING INCLUDED.  The more custom jerseys we order from the manufacturer Louis Garneau, the better the price is for everyone – so please spread the word!

Pre-order soon at our cost and shipping included

I’m hoping there are enough jersey pre-orders (both men’s and women’s) so the price is around $50 for our pre-order customers.  Jerseys should be available and shipped by early December.

Pre-order your cycling jersey at our online store.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback and helping us choose between these great designs.  I can’t wait to see riders sporting their LT jerseys the next time I’m riding.

Cheers!

As a cyclist myself, and a family winery who is a host to the annual Sacramento Cyclocross race, it only makes sense to outfit our most loyal fans with some LT cycling gear.

We need your help in deciding which design to choose.  Please vote and share with your friends!

The winning design will be available for pre-orders at OUR COST.  So, if you vote and pre-order, you save big – the more we order, the better the price for everyone.

Check out the designs below and vote!

[poll id="5"]

Design #1

Design #2

Design #3

All design sketches by the talented team at Nagy Designs.

It was all hands on deck with David and the cellar crew stacking barrels to make an outside room just adjacent to the crush pad, where semi trucks pull tons of freshly picked grapes to the hopper.  It gave us a perfect birds-eye view with the vineyards in the distance and all the hustle of the winery in motion.

Emily Kendall created and prepared the four course lunch including a Layered Golden and Red Gazpacho with Lemon Basil Oil and paired with our 2010 Sauvignon Blanc; Dungeness Crab Salad with Cavillon Melon to complement the 2009 Viognier; Lamb Chops with Polenta, Ratatouille and Bell Pepper Infused Lamb Stock Reduction with the 2010 Pinot Noir AND the 2009 Zinfandel; lunch was topped off with our yummy 2010 Moscato and a Peach Tarte Tatin with Gingered Yogurt Sauce.

We wanted to keep the lunch intimate, and still include all the details of a family operation – so we paired one family member (and of course Steven!) with each course to give the Hillhouse’s a warm welcome to the Lodi Appellation.

Our 5th Annual Wine Club Dinner is slated for Saturday, November 12th this year.  We moved the date back to post-harvest (versus the July Luau last year) for a few reasons, most importantly to give our winemakers some more time to craft 2011′s Wine Club Only wine, the 2008 Single Barrel Tannat.

See below for all the details – you’ll also receive this in printed form in your Fall Wine Club Selection.

Have you registered your RSVP for the August 6th Pick Up Party at Thai Spices yet?)

Click for larger version

]]> http://www.langetwins.com/blog/wine-club/2011/07/27/save-the-date-5th-annual-wine-club-dinner-nov-12th/feed/ 0 http://www.langetwins.com/blog/at-the-winery/2011/07/26/wine-harvest-digital-photography-workshop-sept-15-18/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wine-harvest-digital-photography-workshop-sept-15-18 http://www.langetwins.com/blog/at-the-winery/2011/07/26/wine-harvest-digital-photography-workshop-sept-15-18/#comments Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:08:34 +0000 Joe Lange http://www.langetwins.com/blog/?p=6517 Read More →]]> Coming up soon is a really unique opportunity to brush up on your photography skills with the pros.

In the midst of harvest, we’ll be playing host to two professional (and well-traveled!) photographers, Fatima Donaldson and Serena Lissy.  They have made trips to Lodi a few times before and you have no doubt seen their work featured here on the blog, on Facebook or hanging in our winery offices.

Or you may have met them at our Photo Exhibition during 2011′s Wine and Chocolate Weekend?

Check out all the info below and then register here for the workshop.

Click for a larger version

Register here!

(We love their photos so much that we even swapped out the Pinot Noir bridge photo with one of Fatima’s!)

We’ll be pouring tastes of a few new wines including our 2010 Pinot Noir, 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010 Sauvignon Blanc and our 2010 Moscato.  The heat of some of the Thai dishes Bun (owner and gracious host) is planning on cooking will pair especially well with the slightly sweet and frizzante Moscato.

At 5pm, after a few bites and wine tastes, we’ll have to give Bun’s restaurant back to her – so please make reservations for dinner if you plan on staying!  (209.369.8424)

This event is exclusive to Wine Club Members.  Invite your friends to join our Wine Club and attend this and all of our Club events throughout the year.

RSVP by registering here.
Thai Spices, Lodi  (map)
Saturday, August 6th
2 – 5pm
Light appetizers and wine tasting

*For those out of town/state/country or unable to make the party, your Club Selections will ship/have ready for pick up at the winery starting August 8th.

Find us this weekend in both parts of the state – we are splitting duties between the mountains and beach!  Rough, right?

Kendra’s heading to the Sierras this weekend for the 10th Annual Art, Wine & Classical Guitar Music Festival both Saturday and Sunday at Squaw Valley.  Tasting comes with a commemorative wine glass for a $25 dollar donation to the Disabled Sports USA: Far West Division. 

Saturday and Sunday, July 16 – 17

Concerts start at 11am
Tasting from 2 – 5pm
Squaw Valley Village

I’d heading down to the Central Coast for the California Wine Festival in Santa Barbara.  Check out the schedule below for our three-day tour – I’ll be pouring different wines at each event.

Thursday, July 14

Old Spanish Nights! (Tapas, Flamenco/Spanish dance and music)
6:30 – 9pm
Historic De La Guerra Adobe Courtyard, Downtown Santa Barbara

Friday, July 15

Sunset Rare & Reserve Wine Tasting
6:30 – 9pm
Chase Palm Park Pavilion

Saturday, July 16

Beachside Wine Festival
11:30 – 4pm
Chase Palm Park

We’ll start in Holland and work our way up to the North Country – assuming the humidity is less, but the bugs are bigger, right? Looking forward to introducing ourselves at the Traverse City Cherry Festival and popping a few corks for folks to try our wines.  Our 2010 Clarksburg Moscato will soon hit the shores of Michigan – and yummy, yummy for those hot, sultry days — I like to put it in the freezer and slush it; great as an opener with basil buttered popcorn, or of course as a dessert.

Let us know if you’re in the area – or better yet, if there’s a place you want to find LangeTwins wines, give us a heads-up — we’re always game to make new friends.

Here’s where we’ll be:

Tuesday, July 5th
3 – 6 p.m. Wine Tasting at Santo Stefano, 12 Washington Avenue, #101, Grand Haven
7:30 p.m. Dinner at Butch’s Restaurant in Holland.

Wednesday, July 6th
5 – 10 p.m.  Pouring in the Wine Pavilion Tent, Traverse City Cherry Festival

Thursday, July 7th
5 – 10 p.m. Pouring in the Wine Pavilion

Friday, July 8th
5 – 10 p.m. Pouring in the Wine Pavilion

Saturday, July 9th
Noon to 4 p.m. Tasting at Esperance wine Shop in Charlevoix
Dinner at Blu in Glen Arbor

Sunday, July 10th
Free Day – any ideas?

Monday, July 11th
Market Work in Charlevoix and Petoskey

Tuesday, July 12th
7 p.m. Tasting @ Treetops with Mindy Schuehrer, 3962 Wilkinson Road, Gaylord

Wednesday, July 13th
Pouring at the Harbor Springs Wine and Food Festival

Thursday, July 14th
Auctioning off weekend at LangeTwins Winery and Vineyards @ the Harbor Spring Gala and Auction

We’re helping them celebrate the completion of their big construction project – they added a beautiful back patio surrounded by garden boxes and most recently built even larger vegetable boxes and an outside waiting area to accommodate their loyal patrons.

In the restaurant world, owners Jim and Annette Murdaca just get it. They’re growing as many of their own vegetables and herbs to use in their authentic Italian dishes and not many restaurants can accomplish that.

The spread from our Summer Pick Up Party at Pietro's - May 2011

I’ll be pouring tastes of our Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Make dinner reservations and come taste and dine with the Lange and Murdaca families.

Please call 209.368.0613 to make reservations.  They’re also on Facebook.

We hope you can joins us!

The big mission for this trip is to make some more Colorado fans (we have a bunch!) and find a solid distribution partner that can start placing our wines on local store shelves and restaurant wine lists.

So, for all our current Colorado fans, please keep your fingers crossed for us!

We want you to be able to find our sustainably-grown wines in your favorite restaurant and wine shop – I hope we can make that happen soon.

Cheers!

Joe

Our Chardonnay will be available as the selected white wine every Wednesday at the Los Gatos Town Plaza from 6:30 to 8:30pm.

The first night is tonight and continues for ten weeks – mark your calendars and be sure to sip our chilled Chard!

He’ll be visiting our partners at Hong Kong’s newest wine bar, California Vintage.  If you’re globe-trotting like Randy and happen to be in the area this weekend or are living in Hong Kong, stop by!

They have some great events planned while he’s in town:

“At the Bar” with Randy Lange
Visit with Twin Randy Lange all afternoon and learn about our multi-generational family, state-of-the-art winery and sustainable vineyards.
Sunday, June 26th
3 – 7pm

Exclusive Winemaker Dinner
Join Randy and Chef Kenji Yuen for a five course tasting menu paired with LangeTwins wines.
Monday, June 27th
7 – 9pm

See the menu here!

Make your reservation by emailing  info @ cvwinebar.com

Check out California Vintage’s website and Facebook.

Industry folks will assure you “it’s a good problem to have” and don’t get me wrong – I would much rather have high demand than oversupply in most scenarios.  But when you have to tell your most loyal customer that you can’t ship them their favorite wine for a daughter’s wedding, son’s gradaution party or fill-in-the-blank special occasion, it stings a bit.

Wine isn’t like soda – we get one year, one vintage.  Another batch can’t just be whipped up.

Layering harvest on top of winemaking on top of projected sales is a scary game of throwing darts in the dark.  Our viticulture, winemaking and sales teams are tasked with thinking years ahead, with no clue which hot stokes in the fire might be picked up.  As those new opportunities for growth come through, it’s anxious celebration – excitement for the added reach of our wine, apprehension in meeting the challenge to keep everyone supplied and happy.

Thus, the good and bad of being sold out.

Please join the family in wishing them both a happy birthday! Leave a comment and we’ll pass it along to them since they’re not big blog, Facebook or Twitter guys.

Cheers!

Randy and Brad - The Birthday Boys

Here are the latest events we have on the books for the Northern California area.  Hope we’re coming to your neighborhood soon!

May 25th, 5-7pm
Malone’s Grille, Scotts Valley
Wine Down Wednesday

May 25th, 6-9pm
Pasta Pomodoro, Pleasant Hill
Casual Food and Wine Pairing

June 4th, 4-7pm
Grape Escape at Cesar Chavez Park, Sacramento
Food and Wine Festival

June 8th, 5-7pm
Thai Spices, Lodi
Wine Feature – Complimentary Tastes

June 8th, 6-9pm
Pasta Pomodoro, Novato
Casual Food and Wine Pairing

June 16th, 6-9pm
Oakdale Country Club
Oakdale Country Club Wine Dinner

June 7th, 4:30 – 7:30pm
Riverview Golf and Country Club
Stock Your Cellar Wine Tasting


A covercrop like this reduces erosion, reduces tilling needs, adds organic matter to our soil, enables better winter access for tractor operations, increases biodiversity and performs many other beneficial ecosystem services.

Also, bloom is starting in our Chardonnay near the winery.  Clusters showing stamens of the flower are spreading out – other varieties to follow suit soon!

Our Summer Wine Club Selection will feature our brand new 2009 Zinfandel which was just pre-released.

Owners Jim & Annette Murdaca have recently finished a new addition to the restaurant – a large outdoor patio with an arbor overhead and vegetable garden boxes throughout.  They have a few more projects in the works to make Pietro’s the premier spot to enjoy authentic Italian cuisine in Lodi.

We’ll have a few bites to pair up with our newest wine until 5pm – then sit down and let Jim and his kitchen cook dinner for you!

Exclusive to Wine Club Members.  Invite your friends to join our Wine Club and attend this and all of our Club events throughout the year.

RSVP:  joe @ langetwins.com
Pietro’s Italian Restaurant, Lodi  (map)
Saturday, May 21st
2pm to 5pm
Light appetizers and wine tasting

*For those out of town or unable to make the party, we’ll ship/have ready for pick up at the winery starting May 23rd.

First, a little about this year’s Zinfandel:

• Blend of the best Zin vineyards
• Some vines 100+ years old (more on the history later!)
• Concentrated raspberry and black cherry flavors
• Subtle oak aging adds spice note and vanilla finish
• Certified Green – Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing
• And as always, not over-oaked or sweet - true to the Zinfandel varietal

Wine Club Members

Order online using the coupon codes below – your wines will be shipped or ready for pick up on May 9th.  (It’s good being a Member!)

25% off bottles:  WC25
30% off cases:  WC30 (12 bottles or more)

Regular Customers

Order online using the coupon codes below – your wines will be shipped or ready for pick up on May 16th.

10% off bottles:  RC10
15% off cases:  RC15 (12 bottles or more)

Questions?  Email me at joe [@] langetwins.com

This year’s party was (by far!) our largest crowd but we added more food, pulled corks on wine bottles and told the Easter bunny that we had a few additional kids joining us.

The weather cooperated much better than 2010 and we had a fantastic afternoon sipping our newest wine, the 2010 Sangiovese Rosé.

Here are a few pics:

As always, Club Members save money on ZinFest tickets when they order in advance.  This year, Club Members save $20 off the gate price!

Email me with your ticket order by May 6th.

For everything ZinFest, check out their website or Lodi Wine’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Both Keith at BrainWines and the crew at WineHarlots gushed about our pink wine.  Especially at the price of only $13, it’s an easy fit for any occasion this summer.

The Rosé is already a big favorite among our Wine Club Members and the rest of our inventory will go quickly once they have another sip at our upcoming Easter Celebration on April 23rd.

Cheers!

Stay tuned for the release date on the 2009 vintage – here’s a teaser picture from bottling a few weeks ago.

As always, we’ll have lots going on that day:  painting, games and photos with the Easter Bunny, an outdoor BBQ and barrel tasting of exclusive wine lots for those of age.

Also, remember to bring your basket for our Egg Hunt starting at 11:30am sharp!  There will be hidden eggs for kids and adults so come prepared to search.

RSVPs are required. Please let us know all names for personalized name tags.

First time to our big Egg Hunt?  See here for pics from 2009 and 2010!

(Click to enlarge)

LangeTwins Easter Celebration
Saturday, April 23rd
11am – 2pm
Lower Sacramento Rd and Jahant Rd, Acampo
RSVPs Required: tammie@langetwins.com or 209.334.9780

They toured the fields, checked out orders being roasted for shipment and finished up with a coffee tasting – I can’t imagine how wired they were on that ride home.

Brad, Susan, Phil and family friend Christian all said that the tour was well worth the rolling boat trip from Maui.  For the record, you can also fly.

Here are some pics of their tour:

Their feedback on our wine styles and perspectives on the global wine industry were also very interesting to hear.

Among the group was prolific wine writer Oz Clarke.  Here’s a bit of Clarke’s thoughts on the Lodi Appellation’s strengths, challenges and next steps.  Read the complete article here.

Q: What does Lodi have going for it?

A: The thing about Lodi wines is that they have a softness in texture and an intensity of fruit. You can really taste the difference in fruit varieties in Lodi wine.

Lodi is different. There is something here. You go 20 or 30 miles south, and you’ve lost it. But it makes absolute sense. You look at the maps with the Delta and the hills and you see how the wind comes through the Carquenez straight and the first place it gets is here. And then it dissipates; south, north or wherever. But once the wind has been here, it’s going to lose its power as it travels on. But you in Lodi have this small area. That’s the great thing about wine; small areas matter. Napa and Carneros aren’t big.

Keep reading…

It was probably the most enjoyable and unique black tie event we’ve been a part of since nearly everyone had their dogs in tow.  They had waiters offering both human and dog appetizers and separate lounges for the dogs – the evening was great but I do think they catered to the pooches more than us!

The Humane Society of Truckee Tahoe does a fantastic job of rescuing and placing dogs in the greater Tahoe area – as a dog loving family, we were proud to support and hope to be back next year.

Here are some pics from the Gala – click below to browse or view at our Facebook Page.

We’re hosting our Spring Wine Club Pick Up Party tomorrow night and showcasing the work of some talented photographers at our Professional Photo Exhibit all weekend long.

Drop by and see us!

Here’s a sneak peek of the activity in the cellar:

I think 123 total cases produced qualifies for the ‘Small Estate Lot’ designation, right?  The Sangiovese vineyard is also directly across Jahant Road from the winery – so close that the grapes practically walked themselves into the presses.

Our newest release is a tiny one and we’ll sell ourselves out of it faster than I’d like…we’d better savor each sip.

After our Wine Club gets their hands on it and the lovebirds over Wine & Chocolate Weekend taste its pinky goodness,  this wine might be gone until the next vintage release on Valentine’s Day 2012.

Stock up on it while it’s chilly outside and enjoy our Sangiovese Rosé poolside when the temps heat up.  You’ll thank yourself for the forethought.

Email me to reserve yours today and grab it over Wine & Chocolate Weekend or we’ll ship/will call on Monday, Feb. 14th.

2010 Sangiovese Rosé

$13.00 bottles  $156.00 cases

$10.40 bottles  $124.80 cases  Wine Club

As I posted earlier, we’ll be giving our Club Members a sneak peek of the exhibit at our Spring Pick Up Party here at the winery on Friday, February 11th from 5-8pm.  RSVP soon.

We’re looking forward to showcasing this photography side by side with our newest wine, the 2010 Sangiovese Rosé! Hope you can join us.

(click to enlarge)

Exclusively for our Wine Club Members, we’ll be holding our Spring Wine Club Pick Up Party in the winery cellar where they’ll get the very first taste of our newest wine, the 2010 Sangiovese Rosé!

While sipping on our latest arrival, Members will also have a sneak peek of our Professional Photography Exhibit, featuring work from three photographers who visited us during Harvest 2010.

As always for our Pick Up Parties, light appetizers and complimentary wine tasting is included – all for our most loyal fans.

The photography exhibit will be open to the public during Lodi’s Wine & Chocolate Weekend, February 12th & 13th.  If you plan on visiting us and the other participating Lodi wineries, remember that our Club Members get special pricing.

LangeTwins Spring Wine Club Pick Up Party
Friday, February 11th
5 – 8pm
In the Cellar
RSVP Required email me

All three photographers are graduates of the Rocky Mountain School of Photography in Missoula, Montana.

The art show will be hung in the cellar with an exclusive sneak preview on Friday night, February 11th from 5 – 8 pm for members of our Wine Club.

The exhibit will be open to the public during the Wine & Chocolate Weekend sponsored by the Lodi Woodbridge Winegrape Commission with hours on both Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm.

Fatima, Brenda, Sabrina (not attending) and Serena

Here’s a sample of some of the great shots they captured during their Harvest 2010 visit along with their bios:

Fatima Donaldson

Donaldson specializes in Macro, Lifestyle, Travel and Corporate photography and uses often times overlooked details to inspire the viewer to slow down and look at things in a different way.

www.fatimaphotography.com

Brenda Lindstrom

Lindstrom is a fine art and nature photographer with a deep love of nature and art found not only in her own Pacific Northwest backyard, but also during her travel adventures.

www.brendakayimagery.com

Serena Lissy

Lissy specializes in architectural and interior design photography and looks for the graphic lines, shapes, textures and shadows within a frame for inspiration.

www.serenalissy.com