James Hocking Wine is set to highlight California’s potential for great value price points with new wines from Lodi-based Oak Farm Vineyards. The new portfolio from this family-owned, boutique estate, are atypical of California and as such offer great value compared to varieties more synonymous with the region. The new wines – Albariño, Gewürztraminer and Barbera – will retail between £20 and £23 with potential for sub-£10 by-the-glass in the on-trade. The wines will be available to taste at next month’s Essential California Tasting, which showcases wines under £50 RRSP.
Albariño is well-suited to Lodi’s warm days and cool nights, with resultant wines more floral than those from Rias Baixas. The wine is sourced from both estate and neighbouring vineyards, all sustainably farmed. Oak Farm Vineyards Albariño 2018 RRSP: £20. Oak Farm’s single vineyard Gewürztraminer has a small amount of residual sugar, to give a semi-sweet profile. As with the other wines, it is sustainably farmed and hand harvested. Oak Farm Vineyards Gewürztraminer 2018: RRSP £20. Oak Farm’s Barbera is sourced from three vineyards; one of which supplies the small percentage of Petite Sirah which is blended in for additional structure. Oak Farm Vineyards Barbera 2017: RRSP £20.
Commenting, Hocking said: “California is woefully underrepresented in the sub-£30 category in the U.K.; there is such a huge potential for really well-made wines that can serve as an introduction to this fantastic region and make it more accessible. The on-trade in particular is actively looking for lower prices points so they can offer California by the glass, but the better known AVAs are not always best placed to supply this sector with its smaller volumes and higher prices. Sourcing from beyond Napa and Sonoma to AVAs like Lodi is key.”
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