Thoughts Decanted

Julie Coldani from Calivirgin Olive Oil, a fantastic family owned Olive Oil business from Lodi California. High quality, small batch Olive Oil in a variety of flavors (they also have balsamic vinegar & wine as well!)

Marilia Nimis is the assistant winemaker at Oak Farm Vineyards in Lodi, CA. Marilia is from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy and she brings a beautiful & unique perspective to the wine industry here at Oak Farm and in Lodi in general.

Peter Murdaca is the Co-Owner & Chef of Pietro's Trattoria, a fantastic Italian food restaurant in Lodi, CA. 

Ep 8: Ben Kolber / KG Vineyard Management

Ben Kolber is a farmer, musician, business owner, dad and all around good guy. Plus, he's hilarious.

Ep 7: Ashley Parham owner of The Beekeeper's Honey, a boutique honey brand in the San Joaquin Valley.

https://www.thebeekeepershoney.co/

Ep 6: Markus Niggli of Markus Wine Co.

We had an awesome conversation about winemaking philosophy and where the industry looks like it's headed.

Check out his wines here: https://markuswine.com/wines/

About Markus...
From the Markus Wine Co website:
Founded in 2014, Markus Wine Co. began as a subventure of Lodi’s first boutique winery, Borra Vineyards. Winemaker Markus Niggli selects from wisely-planted ancient vines and newly-planted unusual offerings throughout the Lodi region to craft small-production bottlings that focus on fruit and age.

For what’s on the bottles, Markus explains, “People, like wine, are shaped by unique places,” which is why each label brings together a location from Markus’s past with the current grape source. Creative expressions of the locations are realized through a long-term collaboration with label designer Michael Leonard and his students at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.

Episode 5:
Joe Ehlers and Charlie Lippert, Co-Owners or Five Window Beer Co discuss what it took to get their brewery going. Beer was consumed, and we had a great time.

Episode 4: Suzanne Ledbetter

Suzanne is the Food and Wine editor at San Joaquin magazine. She is also very active in philanthropy within our area, working with organizations such as the Lodi Boys and Girls Club. In addition to all that, she also has a popular food blog called Fine Foodie Philanthropist.

Follow Suzanne on Instagram: @finefoodiephilanthropist

Episode 3: This episode's guest is Aaron Lange, head of vineyard operations at LangeTwins Family Winery and Vineyards. We talk about the wine business, Aaron's time in Chile & the politics of business right now.

Dan, Heather, Aaron and Maddie go over more news of the week. Everyone is getting excited to re-open up. We also tag wine in kegs at restaurants, grocery stores adapting their salad bars for alcohol and more...