Paskett Winery, a small estate off of Peltier Road that specializes in small lots of lesser known varietals and award-winning blends, isn’t like any other winery in Lodi. In addition to focusing on grapes not found at many Lodi wineries, Paskett’s owner and winemaker, Lorraine Paskett, creates wines with lower alcohol content that are both softer and more fruit forward.
“We have the rare charbono varietal as well as the forgotten chenin blanc,” says Stacey Caton, general manager of Paskett Winery. “My personal favorite has always been the Cabrona blend, but I am also enjoying our barbera.”
In fact, Stacey says Lorraine didn’t even originally want to make a zinfandel for the label, but when the grapes came in, they were just too good to pass up.
At Paskett, a $10 tasting fee gets you sips of six wines (a fee that is waived when you purchase a bottle). The current menu includes a chenin blanc, chingona, rosé, cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel, and Bordeaux blend, although it does rotate, especially as cases sell out. And there are a couple of extras you can try when available, such as the albariño, sparkling chenin blanc, barbera, and verdelho.
Aside from the wines, the property itself is something else—from the VRBO in front of the winery where guests can stay (a house built in the 1800s and brought over by boat from Maine) to the over-sized goat mural painted on the bathroom wall, there just isn’t anything else quite like it in the AVA.
If you’re wondering why goats seem to be a popular theme at the winery, it’s because Lorraine believes in paying tribute to the strong women in her life. You see, Lorraine purchased a goat painting for her home from Cindy Chinn, an artist out of Illinois. She was drawn to the artwork because of her friends—a group of inspiring women she calls her “cabronas,” which loosely translates to “old female goat” in Spanish. Slang suggests it might not be a flattering term, but Lorraine means it in only the most affectionate way possible! Lorraine liked the painting so much that she bought the rights to it and has since had the mural made, and also uses it as label art on the Cabrona bottles.
To honor her friends, Lorraine bottles the Cabrona annually—a cabernet and petite syrah blend that sells out fast. Trying to get your hands on a bottle? The 2017 vintage will be released during the Harvest Dinner on September 14, a ticketed event that features a four-course meal and, of course, wine, held in the winery’s lively outdoor space from 6-9 PM.
Stop in to Sip:
Paskett Winery
11070 E. Woodbridge Rd., Acampo
(209) 200-1959
PaskettWinery.com