Lodi's Scrappy Underdog Pours Above Its Weight
Downtown Lodi · Lodi · Winery Tasting Room · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 17, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Onus Wines’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walking into Onus is a reminder that Lodi has more going on than your grocery store Zinfandel aisle suggests. The shared tasting-room setup — multiple local producers under one roof — gives it a collaborative energy that feels more like a wine festival pop-up than a polished tasting room. The list is short, the vibe is unpretentious, and the entry cost is low enough that you have no excuse not to try something.
Onus keeps it tight: a handful of estate wines that stay firmly in Lodi's wheelhouse. You've got a Tempranillo, a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Red Blend, and a Chardonnay — all from Lodi fruit, all made in-house. The range is modest but deliberate, and Lodi's warm climate gives these wines more structure than their price points would normally suggest. The glaring gap is anything outside California, but that's not really the point here — this is a producer showcase, not a restaurant wine program.
By-the-glass specifics aren't clearly spelled out, but the tasting-flight format — typically $10–$20 per person — is effectively the same thing, letting you work through the full Onus lineup without committing to a full bottle. That low barrier to entry is the real selling point. If you want a full pour, the bottles top out around $40, which keeps things honest.
Onus Wines Tempranillo — $40
Tempranillo in Lodi doesn't get nearly enough attention, and Onus is making a case for why it should. At bottle prices that barely register as a splurge, you're getting a variety that usually demands a lot more money when it's done right.
Onus Wines Chardonnay
Nobody comes to Lodi for Chardonnay, which is exactly why this one flies under the radar. Lodi's heat can push white wines toward flabby if you're not careful, so a Chardonnay that holds its shape is worth paying attention to — especially when most visitors are beelining straight for the reds.
Onus Wines Cabernet Sauvignon
Cab is the default order for anyone who doesn't know what else to pick, and at a small producer tasting room, it's rarely where the winemaker's real personality shows up. With Tempranillo and a Red Blend on the same menu, the Cab feels like the safe, forgettable choice — drink those instead.
Onus Wines Red Blend + Cheese and charcuterie plate
A house Red Blend is built for exactly this situation — it's designed to play well with others, and cured meats and aged cheese give it something to work with. It's the tasting-room pairing that actually makes sense instead of just sounding good on a menu.
The Bottom Line
Onus isn't trying to be a destination wine list — it's a focused estate pour in a shared Lodi tasting room, and at $10–$20 for a flight, the price of admission is low enough that curiosity alone justifies the stop. If you're passing through Lodi and want to understand why the region is having a moment, this is a fine place to start.
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Solid Range
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Small but Thoughtful
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Small but Thoughtful
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If you're in Lodi and haven't done the Michael David tasting room, you're leaving a gap in your California wine map. The prices are absurdly fair at the source, the Inkblot lineup rewards the curious, and the energy makes it easy to stay longer than you planned.
Small but Thoughtful
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A one-producer Arizona list that is easy to read: 18 wines, $15 to $45 online, and a $25 five-wine tasting. Put the 2023 Sangiovese or the 2023 Malvasia Bianca in your five, and ask the room which wines are open since no pour list is posted. This unrated guide covers the winery's posted online shop prices and tasting fee, not the Scottsdale room's pours, service or markups.
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If you're driving through Sonoma and want to understand why Chardonnay still matters in California, Kistler's tasting room makes a strong case — but you need an appointment and you need to want exactly what they're pouring. The cheese, dips, and crackers are incidental; the wines are the entire point. Book ahead, show up curious, and let the vineyard-specific lineup do the work.
Small but Thoughtful
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· Newport · Winery Tasting Room
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Proper
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