The fine varieties of Michael-David Winery, with 550 acres of vineyards in Lodi, California, are recognizable to wine lovers worldwide. In addition to Earthquake reserve-tier wines, its other offerings include 7 Deadly Zins, 7 Heavenly Chards, 6th Sense Syrah, Incognito, Petite Petit and new top-echelon wines such as the luscious Rapture Cabernet and Lust Zinfandel.

Many of these are available at Chandler restaurants, such as Abuelo’s, D’Vine Wine Bar & Bistro, Fire up Grill and Red White & Brew. Wine outlets offer them in the East Valley, such as Down Under Wines in Gilbert, Sun Devil Liquors in Mesa and Tops Fine Liquors in Tempe.

The Michael-David Winery is owned by brothers Michael and David Phillips, fifth-generation winegrowers, who released their first commercial wine under the Phillips Vineyards label, in 1984 after selling grapes for years to other vineyards.

Their great-great grandfather, Andrew Harshner, and his wife Lucille homesteaded 160 acres near Lodi, just after the Civil War. By the end of the 20th century, about 25 percent of California’s grape acreage was in Lodi, 35 miles south of Sacramento and 90 miles east of San Francisco.

The Phillips’ farms produced different fruits, including fifteen different wine varietals shipped nationwide during Prohibition with instructions on “how not to have the grapes turn into wine.” After all, “juice” could be bottled at home.

The rich soil, warm sun and cool San Francisco Bay breezes help to make these Lodi wines big, with lots of fruit and complexity. Today, because of the more than 70 wineries in the area, including Robert Mondavi’s famous Woodbridge, Lodi is producing many first-tier wines.

“Our wines are fun, irreverent, quirky, and made to show our appellation: Lodi for what it is — big, bold fruit dominant wines that the average consumer can fall in love with,” David says. An appellation is a recognized wine district, such as Lodi, Napa, Sonoma.

The Michael-David vineyard participates in the Lodi Rules Certification administered by the Lodi Wine grape commission.

“A third party company inspects the vineyards, and the growers work on many aspects of sustainability, including farm worker safety, reducing water use, and minimal input of chemicals,” David says. All of the acreage at Michael-David is now certified, he adds, and Lodi has more than 15,000 acres in the program.

A good bottle to begin sipping is the outstanding 7 Deadly Zins, a compilation of seven Lodi old-vine Zinfandel grapes chosen for their superiority. It’s complex, lush and multi-textured. You can find it for under $15 in your local wine store or some of the grocery stores. Even better is their Earthquake, which is available as a Zin and other varietals. Expect to pay around $20 to $25 a bottle for this great-value nectar.

A sister wine, and spiritual redemption for the brothers, is the 7 Heavenly Chardonnay which is a buttery Chardonnay — without the oakiness that characterizes some other highly regarded versions of the varietal.

The 6th Sense Syrah comes from one of the first Syrah vineyards, which the brothers planted in 1982. Michael’s son, Kevin, has tended the vineyard as the sixth generation of the family to till the land. The vineyard describes the wine: “Ripe dark fruits radiate from the glass in an earthy, smoky tobacco context. Full, rich fruit flavors of dark berries, whole plum, and blackcurrant . . .”

Another well-known wine from the Phillips brothers is their Incognito, which they produce as a Viognier and a Rouge. The first variety caused a buzz when it won the Rhone Wine of the World award at the 2000 L.A. County Fair. “We thought it was Roussanne, but when we had it tested at U.C. Davis [the famous wine school], they found that it was a rare clone of Viognier from the Rhone Valley in France that had made its way into California vineyards,” David says.

The two new wines from Michael-David are not everyday drinks at $60 a bottle. “The Lust Zinfandel is meant to show the highest standard of what we can do with Lodi Zin,” he says, noting the wine is huge and heady at 16.9 percent alcohol. This is a limited production — just 700 cases — so splurge soon.

Its mate in voluptuous joy is the Rapture Cabernet: “It’s meant to show that Lodi can grow Cabernet on par with the greatest wine regions of the world,” he says, explaining the wine matures 32 months in new French oak, giving the wine its velvety texture. “We love it.”

You’ll love it, too. For more information on the wines and winery, see www.lodivineyards.com.

Their wines are Earthquakes and Heavenly; they often go Incognito, and some even have a 6th Sense.

Written by David M. Brown