Located southeast of Sacramento near California's eastern edge, the Lodi region isn't a romantic, sophisticated wine "country" (yet), but it's got the hip enviro-edge. Lodi is so serious about the health of its land, they formed a growers trade group, Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission (LWWC), which in 1992, laid down their environmental imperatives in a farming manifesto, Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing. This booklet, which outlines 75 farming practices, is California's first third-party certified, formal standard for sustainable agriculture — reviewed by scientists, academics and environmentalists. By encouraging its tenets on a region-wide basis, their goal is to improve and maintain the overall health of the vineyards' ecosystem and increase quality wine production.
This article appears in Apr 8-14, 2009.