Many of her peers told her it was a mistake. Her lineup didn’t even include Chardonnay, America’s most popular white wine. “A few well-meaning, male winemakers came to me and said, ‘Sweetheart, you’re never going to make it with all whites,’” Tipton recalled. “I said, ‘Well, if I can’t sell them, I’ll drink them.’”

 

The winery, named Acquiesce, was especially polarizing in the Lodi wine region, where Zinfandel has long reigned king. But the warning never came to pass. Tipton has consistently sold out of her wines every year. She even had to remove Zinfandel vines from her estate to plant more white grapes. At one point, her wine club had a long waiting list, which she said “seemed to draw even more people.” 

 

Since then, Lodi has quietly transformed into a white wine gold mine.