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72 Wines&Vines January 2015 winemaking T he new winery and tasting room at Oak Farm Vineyards provide further evidence that California's Lodi AVA is shedding its jug wine reputation and transitioning into a destination wine region. The shift began when grapegrowers started producing and bottling their own wines with labels bearing the Lodi appellation. That move was followed by smaller, independent wineries opening in the sprawling AVA in San Joaquin County, Calif. Today those wineries are upgrad- ing their hospitality areas, and the newest producers boast sophisticated winemaking equipment and are designed to host discrimi- nating wine consumers. Oak Farm Vineyards' new winery is located north of the city of Lodi, features 7,000 square feet of production space including a covered crush pad with new processing equipment and a tank room equipped with stainless steel Albrigi tanks imported from Italy. The winery is owned by the Panella family, which has grown nuts, grapes and cherries in the Central Valley for decades. About 12 years ago, Dan Panella, who is the managing partner of the winery, said his family sold a walnut orchard and used the proceeds to buy the historic DeVries farmstead ranch to be the site of their planned winery. Panella lives on the property, and his parents live down the road. The family launched their brand in 2009 and made wine in custom-crush operations including Estate Crush, located in downtown Lodi. A few years later they hired Chad Joseph to be the full-time winemaker and help design and build the estate winery. Joseph has worked in Lodi since 2001, and in addition to Oak Farm he helps make wine at several other wineries. He said Oak Farm's new winery, which officially opened TECHNICAL spoTLIgHT Lodi's Oak Farm Vineyards New facility highlights renewed interest in quality among small san Joaquin County wineries By Andrew Adams