Time Place Wine Co.
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Country of Origin: USA
Location: Lodi
People: Jamey Whetstone, Winemaker
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Wine is a perfect reflection of time and place—the culmination of climate and season, site and study, and that moment you share a bottle with friends and family.
Lodi is the place; now is the time. Lodi is an appellation occupied by big factory producers who are plowing under historic sites. Timeplace found old vines that escaped commercialization and the industrial producers who have stolen Lodi’s identity. The mission is to save these historic sites and help establish a new legacy for Lodi.
Markus Bokisch, who farms nearly 2,500 acres of Lodi fruit, is a giant piece of the Time Place puzzle. He has been very generous with his time, and permitted the winery to farm to their criteria. This is especially important in making lighter-styled, fresh, and vibrant wines. Markus discovered the area in 1989 as a viticulturist for Joseph Phelps. He was blown away at what an empty canvas the area offered and since then has made a career out of farming Lodi with integrity and pushing further to reach its potential. “Nothing against Napa. I just never could have done this there … Lodi is like a big open canvas. And other people are going to paint pictures I can’t even dream of,” says Bokisch. Markus’ philosophies are to make sure that the complex soils of volcanic ash tufa in the flats and the redding loam soils on the knolls are truly expressed in this place. Historically, people referred to Lodi as “super-fertile”, but as Tegan Passalacqua states, "the soils aren’t fertile, they’re fertilized … Don’t tell me with seventeen inches of annual rain, and soil with less than 1 percent organic matter, it’s fertile.” (140, The New California Wine)
About the Winemaker: Jamey Whetstone moved to Napa Valley from his home in South Carolina to manage Mustards Grill in 1996. Simply captivated by the community, lifestyle, and culture of wine country, he found himself quickly growing roots. By 1998, he had begun his winemaking education at Turley Wine Cellars where he would remain in his apprenticeship until 2005. During that time, he spent a summer sabbatical working for the Seysses family at Domaine Dujac in Morey-Saint-Denis and laid the groundwork for Whetstone Wine Cellars, which he founded in 2002.