Uncorked: Avivo elevates wines a step beyond organic in Lodi, California

Dan Fitzgerald has a sustainability plan he wants to share with the world.

Director of winemaking and owner of Avivo in Lodi, California, he has taken to low-intervention winemaking of climate-tolerant varieties appropriately planted so they will thrive in the AVA’s various microclimates.

“Lodi is fantastic,” Fitzgerald said. “It reminds me of Sonoma County. It’s a great growing region and is undervalued. Like Sonoma County, we have so many microclimates and so many varieties that do really well.”

A long ripening season, soil varieties and a big diurnal shift are some of the traits Fitzgerald looks for when it comes to sites with the potential to make good wine. He sees an abundance of that potential in Lodi.

But the vision for Avivo doesn’t stop in the vineyard. Fitzgerald envisions a business model where responsibility extends to the employees.

“Everyone is very interested in what we are doing,” Fitzgerald said. “But, I answer a lot of questions from colleagues. From the get-go, the plan was to run the company for five years and make our financials available and publish them to show this can be done at scale and can still make money. It’s a financially viable model for running a vineyard. Natural, regenerative wines don’t exist on our scale.”

In the vineyard, it’s sangiovese and vermentino that Fitzgerald has zeroed in on. They were the best fit for soil and climate on the 16,000-acre site with which they work.

“In tandem, they are cheaper to farm,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s easier to get grapes predisposed to making great wine without having to fiddle with them.”

Once in the cellar, Fitzgerald doesn’t make any additions to the wine. There’s no thinning in the vineyard, there’s a single harvest rather than “eight passes” and no leafing done. All he does is use some sulfur at the finish.

While being Demeter biodynamic certified [a holistic approach to organic farming], Avivo also met the California Certified Organic Farmers standard.

“What separates us from a lot of people doing organic and regenerative farming was when we went out into the vineyards we actually went out and looked at the soil and did analysis on the climate over the last 20 years,” Fitzgerald said. “We looked at what would be the best varieties to plant here. Rather than what we wanted to make.”

The vermentino was planted to alluvial soil around rivers, and the sangiovese at the top of a hill and in a rocky area. The Avivo Red Wine 2021 ($24) was mostly sangiovese, but had a drop of syrah, too. It had red fruits on the nose; strawberry and raspberry. It was medium-bodied with strawberry, mint, eucalyptus and pomegranate flavors.

For the Avivo White Wine 2022 ($24), Fitzgerald coaxed out the Granny Smith apple, lemon zest and sea salt notes that made for a crispy, refreshing experience. The Avivo Rosé 2024 ($24) had flavors from the edge of the watermelon – right where the flesh meets the rind – and raspberry notes.

“Our financials will show we pay everyone a living wage, from vineyard workers all the way through the company,” Fitzgerald said. “California isn’t cheap if you get health insurance, can afford to pay people a good living and have a good viable company.”

• James Nokes has been tasting, touring and collecting in the wine world for several years. Email him at jamesnokes25@yahoo.com.

TASTING NOTES

Two non-native varietals thrived for Dan Fitzgerald with Avivo in Lodi. The research he did led him to sangiovese and vermentino. In this week’s tasting notes, the featured wines are either from a state not known for wine production or are a variety without a reputation – or both.

C.L. Butaud Teroldego 2021 ($35): Dark and brawny, the dominant trait is pronounced blackberry compote. But there’s more layers going on here. Creosote, menthol, mint, pine cone and a resin-like tannin note on the finish. Randy Hester took the skills he honed in Napa Valley to Texas, and the results are awesome.

Early Mountain Quaker Run Vineyard Tannat 2021 ($65): A saturated deep purple in the glass, its deep color matches its intensity with big flavors and robust character. It pulls up a chair and makes its presence felt immediately with pronounced plum, cedar and baker’s chocolate. From Virginia.

Latigo Winery “The Wrangler” 2021 ($34): Very floral on the nose with licorice and black cherry aromas. A blend of chambourcin and syrah yields flavors of black cherry, white pepper and dried violets. From Colorado.

Yacoubian-Hobbs, Rind, Vayots Dzor 2019 ($40): It’s grown in mountain vineyards at 4,000 feet. Globe-trotting winemaker Paul Hobbs has a medium-bodied wine from an ancient, Armenian varietal. There’s a feral nature to the wine, with wild game, tea leaves, tobacco and tart cherry and black licorice notes on the finish.