Olde Lockeford Winery is a winery

Winery

A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...

 and custom crush facility in Lockeford

Lockeford, California

Lockeford is a census-designated place in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 3,233 at the 2010 census, up from 3,179 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lockeford is located at ....

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, USA. The winery was founded in 1946 as the Lockeford Cooperative Winery, but had closed more than a decade before being purchased by Don Litchfield in 1998. The winery complex was renamed Vino Piazza, and reconfigured to house multiple "micro-wineries". Olde Lockeford Winery is one of several wineries in the complex. In addition to the wineries that lease space in the Vino Piazza, the facility also offers a custom crush facility that can be leased by winery operations in other parts of the state.

History

Olde Lockeford Winery was founded in 1946 as the Lockeford Cooperative Winery. The winery had closed by the 1970s, and the site suffered from environmental damage. Don Litchfield purchased the 75000 square feet (6,968 m²) facility in 1998 intending to remodel the space to resemble a Tuscan

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

 castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 that would house a wine museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

. After discussing the project with Mark Chandler, executive director of the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission, Litchfield decided to convert the facility into a site where multiple "micro-wineries" could occupy shared space and facilities. Investing over $3 million in the project, Litchfield renamed the facility Vino Piazza and called his own winery operation at the facility Olde Lockeford Winery.

Wines and vineyards

Like other wineries at Vino Piazza, Olde Lockeford Winery produces less than 2500 cases of wine per year. Most of the grapes used by Olde Lockeford Winery comes from vineyards in the nearby regions in the Lodi AVA

Lodi AVA

Lodi AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in the Central Valley of California, at the northern edge of the San Joaquin Valley east of San Francisco Bay. The AVA gained approval as a designated wine growing area in 1986 and includes of which are currently planted with wine grapes...

. Olde Lockeford Winery produces a wide variety of wines, including varietal

Varietal

"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...

 Mourvedre

Mourvèdre

Mourvèdre , Mataró or Monastrell is wine grape variety used to make both strong, dark red wines and rosés. It is an international variety grown in many regions around the world....

, Sangiovese

Sangiovese

Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety whose name derives from the Latin sanguis Jovis, "the blood of Jove"...

, Petit Verdot

Petit verdot

Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen, it is added in small amounts to add tannin, colour and flavour to the...

, Merlot

Merlot

Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...

, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

, Barbera

Barbera

Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy . It produces good yields and is known for deep color, low tannins and high levels of acid...

, Riesling

Riesling

Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...

, Viognier

Viognier

Viognier is a white wine grape. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu in the Rhone valley.-History:The origin of the Viognier grape is unknown. Viognier is presumed to be an ancient grape, possibly originating in Dalmatia and then brought to Rhône by the Romans. One legend...

, Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

, Muscat Canelli, and Black Muscat

Black Muscat

Black Muscat is a Vitis vinifera grape variety derived from the crossing of the Schiava Grossa and Muscat of Alexandria varieties. It is known under a variety of local names such as Golden Hamburg, and Black Hamburg in the US; Muscat de Hambourg in France; Moscato di Amburgo in Italy; and Muscat...

. They also produce a small number of blended wines, a sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, either in a bottle, as with the méthode champenoise, in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved , or as a result of carbon dioxide...

, a rosé

Rosé

A rosé is a type of wine that has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.- Production techniques :There are three major ways to produce rosé...

, and several dessert wine

Dessert wine

Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...

s.