I am one not opposed to having a little fun with friends, family, and new acquaintances; a glass of wine in hand, a piece of bread, good shoes, some shade, proper sun attire, create the setting for a laudable experience. Such was the case with the 2009 Zinfest (so I thought).

Yet, with rational contemplation, I did find areas lacking in detail as they relate to the general well-being of those attending and those not in attendance: it appeared the city of Lodi encouraged drinking and driving; there was not a strong police presences; and there was not adequate parking for those traveling by bicycle.

I would like to preface my commentary regarding drinking and driving with the consideration that not everyone was drinking and some attending were designated drives; yet the facts remain, a lot of people were drinking and I did not see many people wearing wrist bands indicating they were designated drivers. One might consider that a sample from 42 wineries offering three varietals, one could consume too much ‘nectar of the gods’ and become impaired.

The drinking and driving issue relating to the city of Lodi revolves around the fact that shuttles ferried wine drinkers to their vehicles without monitoring sobriety. Granted it is not the responsibility of the city to monitor sobriety, but it is the duty of the city to ensure that city sponsored events do not endanger the well-being of those in attendance and those not present. One has to wonder what the liability factor would be if someone drove a friend to his/her car knowing he/she were intoxicated and allowed him/her to drive in which case an accident occurred. “Friends do not let Friends drive drunk.” Nor should a city allow people to drive drunk or create a situation where they could (/can). Had the city been functioning competently, there would have been DUI checkpoints close to the parking areas (at least one would have been nice to see).


This brings me to my second point: during the three hours I was there, I only noticed one empty police car parked at the entrance to the fest and two officers walking through the crowd. What you say? I respect our police department and know the officers have a calling to do what is best for our community; yet I wonder if they were ordered to do otherwise regarding the ZinFest. One would think at a gathering of this size, with the majority being young drinkers, the police would be present in full force.


Unfortunately, one female warranted a police report because of her consuming too much nectar of the gods. The real issue was the reporting (in the LNS) of a group of individuals fighting after the fest. Additionally, there was a possible stabbing involved in the scuffle. Perhaps if the fest had been properly staffed, this situation might not have happened.

I think the above two mentioned issues are just the prelude to what the Zinfest is to become in the future—a place to go and catch a buzz. If one took notice of the people at the fest, sophisticated wine drinkers were rare; however, Zinfesters looking to drink as much as possible in small amounts, littered the gathering.

Aside from the aforementioned issues, adequate bicycle parking was obvious absent from the mentalities of the planners. There was a standard bicycle rack available but it could only accommodate six bikes, because the other half was positioned against the fence. For those that did not arrive in time to use it, they had to either lock/lean their bike on the horseshoe railing or use the fence.


The reality is that we will never know how many people were shuttled to their vehicles that were over the legal limit of alcohol consumption.

The telling tale of the Zinfest was the fact it did not appear on the front page of the LNS. The headline should have read: “Zinfest Has Lost Its Sophistication.”