That's all famed wine writer and Master of Wine Jancis Robinson's 800 page tome, The Oxford Companion to Wine, says on this grape. And yet:
"The first wine I made was pink catawba," Layne Montgomery tells me when I visited m2 wines in Lodi last month. He grew up in the South Missouri/Arkansas area, and has been making wine commercially since only 2004, only a few years after trying it out on an amateur basis first. In fact, Lodi--really America's grape capital--has a big amateur winemaking scene I came to learn. LAVA, or the Lodi Amateur Vintners Association, has seen no less than ten of its members move on to commercial operations in its fifteen year existence.
m2 started in 2004 by Layne and his wife (hence the second 'm') in a warehouse, the only space they could find. But a couple years ago they moved to their current location on East Pelletier Road in Acampo, just north of Lodi. It's a beautiful, open concept building that can almost be completely opened to the vineyards thanks to modular sliding walls. The exquisite blend of wood and steel help the low-profile building feel elegant and yet natural, unobtrusive to its surrounding vineyards.
I got to taste through just about all their finished wines in the tasting room before Layne walked in. The 2013 Soucie Vineyard Old Vine Zin was great, though the 2014 Select Block Zin that followed was even better. There was even a surprisingly good Tempranillo and an even more surprisingly good Petite Sirah. Then, Layne took me into the barrel room and we tasted seven or eight barrel samples, some of which will most certainly be killer. Somewhere in there, Aaron Shinn stopped in to go over some business with Layne, but instead he hung out while we talked and tasted. It was clear they get along well as he joked about Layne's attire. "The guy has two shirts, that one and the same one in blue."
Aaron's family runs a vineyard management company that deals with over 2,000 acres. And, even though he's practically just out of college, he's even working on his own projects. He's been doing it all his life, so he knows Lodi really well. That's when I learned how young Lodi is as a wine region. "Ten to fifteen years ago it was mostly the big guys," Aaron said. "Constellation, Gallo, that sort of thing. There were no small wineries like m2 back then." And Aaron and his family still deal with a lot of those clients, but he's excited about working with people like Layne. "Selling to Layne is good for the industry," he said.
Layne chimed in: "Ten years ago, we'd get visitors now again...by accident. They'd be driving by and see a sign for a winery and figure they'd stop in. Now they come here on purpose." And given how good the wines are, I don't blame them. But a growth in small wineries can have its challenges, too. Prices are bound to go up; after all, more competition means more demand. And it's still a small town. As Layne said, "If you f-- somebody, they're gonna know." It can keep you honest, but it can also prove difficult.
For my part, I think Layne will be all right. He's got a good product, and he's not playing around. He makes good wine, and he's honest about it.
Have you ever had wine from Lodi? What are your thoughts? How about another small wine region? I'd love to hear from you.