J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines: Checking out award-winning wines

During a June visit to Paso Robles Spaswinefood visited J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines at its 6169 Airport Road location. While J. Lohr wines need little introduction, here is a brief history. In the 1960's Jerry Lohr planted his first vineyard in Monterey County. Then in 1974  Lohr opened a winery in San José. The Paso Robles vineyards and winery were established in 1988. Today J. Lohr's vineyards include 900 acres in Monterey County, 2000 in Paso Robles and 33 acres in Napa Valley. The family owned winery has a strong commitment to its employees and the environment. When I visited I was excited to discover that J. Lohr Vineyards and Winery practices the three E's of Sustainability (environment, equity and economics), as part of the Sustainable Winegrowing Program (SWP).

J. Lohr Vineyards, Paso Robles © Spaswinefood

J. Lohr Vineyards and Winery, Paso Robles © Spaswinefood

J. Lohr Vineyards, Paso Robles © Spaswinefood

Although J. Lohr's Paso Robles tasting room was busy when we arrived we received excellent service. Since we were visiting with a dog we did our tasting on the veranda. The veranda is a great setting for wine tasting. 

J. Lohr Tasting Room, Paso Robles © Spaswinefood

Steve Peck, winemaker leads the wine making team.  J. Lohr offers four wine series, which includes J. Lohr Estates, J. Lohr Vineyard series, J. Lohr Cuvée and the most recent addition, the Gesture. The Gesture is a limited edition wine only available to tasting room visitors and wine club members. While at the tasting room we tasted some great award winning wines. Here are just a few of the wines we tasted:

J. Lohr Gesture GSM 2009 © Spaswinefood

J. Lohr Tower Road Petite Sirah 2010 © Spaswinefood

We also tasted some wines we especially liked, such as the Cuvée POM 2006.

J. Lohr Cuvée POM 2006 © Spaswinefood

J. Lohr Cuvée POM 2006 © Spaswinefood

I particularly liked the October Night Chardonnay 2010. Special thanks for pouring me this one.

J. Lohr October Night Chardonnay 2010 © Spaswinefood

I am glad I finally got around to visiting J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines. They produce some awesome wines. I have some friends who raved about J. Lohr's wines for years. There are certainly lots of J. Lohr #winelovers. J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines was named 2010 American Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. You can check reviews of J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines posted at J Lohr's homepage, Snooth, Tripadvisor and Yelp.

J. Lohr, San Jose © Spaswinefood

J. Lohr Vineyards and Winery also has a tasting room at 1000 Lenzen Avenue, San José. Do not forget to check out events happening at J. Lohr. You can also check out my travels in California and elsewhere at Spaswinefood, or visit  my travel column at the Examiner. 

Sharon
July 2012

San Jose, California

© Spaswinefood

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