Goats and Grapes at Lodi’s Spenker Winery

Nestled on 60 acres off DeVries Road in Lodi, California, Spenker Winery expertly pairs goat cheeses with wines made from estate grapes and goat experiences, all grown on site.

The working farm got its start in 1902, and in 2019 it opened to the public as a tasting room and in-house event space. Marked by vibrant red barns, it’s hard to miss from the main road, and turning off proves a worthy decision if you’re looking to indulge in estate zinfandels and 100 percent chevre goat cheeses in a variety of flavors. Not to mention, more than 100 goats were born over three weeks in February and March so the property is teeming with cuddly companions.

 

On property, the Spenker family, made up of matriarch and cheesemaker Bettyann, her husband Chuck, and their two daughters Sarah and Kate, offers wine and cheese education as well as a home for 75 adult goats and their offspring.

It’s often Sarah you’ll see behind the counter, serving plates of fresh-made goat’s milk cheeses to pair with sips of their wines. Fans of both can order a purple marble goat cheese for the ultimate wine and cheese pairing, made by combining wine into a pressed and aged goat cheese.

 

Spenker Goat Cheeses

If you came for the cheese, you won’t be disappointed. While each variety has its own flavor profile, from the Italian-style Delta Breeze known for its mild nutty flavor to the drier homestyle Mount Diablo Sunset cheese that grates well over pasta and salad, there are distinct nuances from season to season. That’s because the small-production farm doesn’t standardize their cheeses and allows natural changes in the goats affected by the time of year to come out in the flavors of the final product.

“The Mt. Diablo Sunset is a tomme style cheese that is coated in cocoa and chili powder with olive oil to create a deep sunset colored rind,” Sarah explains. “We love pairing this cheese with either our petite sirah for a deep complexity or with our Evening PrimRose Rose of Zinfandel that brings out the earthy character of the cheese.”

 

The spreadable chevre cheeses are amongst the most coveted. Five-point-three-ounce tubs can be purchased in flavors such as simply salted, herbs de Provence, and roasted garlic and dill. “The Roasted Garlic Dill Chevre is great as a spread on crackers, spread on celery sticks, or used in mashed potatoes. We like to pair this with our 2016 Zinfandel,” says Sarah. In the past, seasonal flavors have included a cranberry wine sauce chevre and a lemon thyme variety. Each is both smooth and creamy, offering a consistent texture, although the taste and pairings will change. 

 

Spenker Wines

The winery’s most prominent varietal is zinfandel, an obvious choice in Lodi. The 2014 vintage is fruit-forward with a hint of spice; deep, dark berries are teased with transient black pepper flavors, making it a solid wine to pair with a meal. There is also an estate-grown petite sirah, bold and jammy with a caramelized texture and flavors of clove, baked blackberries, and black pepper, and Butterflower, a chardonnay heavy in peach and pear flavors and punctuated with a hint of citrus.

 

Goat Encounters

While many come to experience the wine and cheese pairing in person or order their favorites online (wine can be shipped within California), it’s perhaps the goat experiences that truly set Spenker apart. In 2020, the family began inviting the community onto the farm to celebrate the mother goats before giving birth in a baby shower of sorts. When it was obvious how much people enjoyed interacting with the farm animals, they opened up the calendar with goat yoga and evening story times where guests could read books to animals dressed in onesies. 

The goat experiences are prominent February through May with goat yoga, a laid-back workout class with plenty of opportunity to snuggle baby goats before indulging in a wine and cheese tasting for those age 15 and older, and Goodnight Goats, which invites those of all ages and provides thirty minutes of baby goat time followed by milk and cookies (for the people). And if you’re interested in spending time with goats minus the kids in tow, an adult-only Goodnight Goats experience is also on the calendar for those 21 and over, trading those milk and cookies for wine and cheese and offering one full hour of snuggling and shenanigans.

When summer hits, the experiences shift. “In the summer and fall we offer our farm tours, crafts with goats, and this year we will be offering cheese making and cheese appreciation classes,” says Sarah.

The space is only used for in-house events, but private parties are welcome for goat experiences.