Mission and Successes

Established in 1991, the Lodi Winegrape Commission represents the common interests of Lodi winegrowers with programs in marketing, education, research, and sustainable viticulture. The Commission collectively and effectively promotes Lodi’s vibrant, multi-generational farming community and California’s most dynamic wine region.

Comprised of nine commissioners and nine alternates, the board of directors provides direction and input on behalf of the region’s 750 winegrowers. Working together, Lodi growers are successfully moving the Lodi region forward as a high quality, environmentally and socially conscious production area.

 

Vision

To be the most dynamic wine region in California for winegrowing and winemaking, so that our community is fully sustained for generations to come. 

 

Mission 

To empower all Lodi Crush District 11 winegrowers and serve their common interests to enhance the profitability of winegrape production through promotion, research, and education.

 

Core Values

Unity – We collaborate and challenge each other to be our best.
Heritage – We honor our history by building on the accomplishments and wisdom of generations before us.
Sustainable – We respect our land and invest in our community to ensure the longevity of both.
Innovation – We embrace progress by spearheading new technology, initiating research, and implementing modern ideas.
Leadership – We inspire our industry and cultivate and encourage future generations to exceed our legacy.

 

Strategic Direction 

The Commission’s 2019-2021 Strategic Direction was formally adopted by the Board of Directors in April of 2019 and makes top priority programming and promotions in the following areas: business success, education and innovation, the organization itself, and community involvement.

 

Objectives

  • To raise awareness of the Lodi region among the wine industry, media, and wine consumers.
  • To enhance recognition of the Lodi AVA through expanded use of the Lodi appellation on wine labels, by facilitating development of wineries in the district, and by supporting wine oriented tourism.
  • To provide growers with timely information, materials, education and strategies directed at business improvement.
  • To facilitate two-way communication among growers and vintners concerning characteristics of quality that enhance the value of grapes and wine.
  • To create opportunities for Lodi growers to supply vintners serving higher retail price segments and improve the relative value of their grapes in the California market.
  • To conduct a proactive viticultural research program to maintain Lodi’s technological leadership in the winegrape industry.
  • To identify and encourage implementation of environmentally benign and economically viable pest, weed, disease, and cultural strategies through the LODI RULES sustainable viticulture program.

Achievements

  • Since the Commission’s founding in 1991, acreage under vine has more than doubled, progressing from less than 40,000 acres to nearly 100,000. In addition, crop value has quadrupled and the number of wineries has expanded from less than 10 to more than 85. The number of Lodi AVA-labeled wines has grown from only a handful to over thousands today.
  • The Commission created and conducts the industry’s first sustainable viticulture program, LODI RULES, to sustain our vineyards for generations to come. Today, there are over 70,000 acres certified across California, in Washington, and in Israel. The program was awarded the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) in 2006 and again in 2014.
  • The Commission established the Lodi Wine Visitor Center – one of the industry’s original regional wine education and tasting centers. Today, visitors can taste hundreds of Lodi-grown wines with trained staff and take a walk in a demonstration vineyard.
  • The Commission collaborates with local vintners to create and manage events like Lodi Wine & Chocolate and the Lodi Wine Experience which bring tens of thousands of wine tourists to Lodi annually.
  • In 2015, Wine Enthusiast Magazine awarded Lodi their prestigious “Wine Region of the Year” award.