7th Annual Van Ruiten Winery BBQ Cook Off, Lodi CA

[Chris Allingham]

It was a beautiful, sunny, breezy day in Lodi, CA, the heart of San Joaquin County wine country, for the 7th Annual Van Ruiten Winery BBQ Cook Off. My wife Julie and I had the privilege of judging barbecue at this event for the first time. The event was sponsored by Van Ruiten Family Winery and featured 28 teams competing for cash and prizes by cooking tri-tip, a mystery meat (whole chicken), and pork ribs. Members of the public were able to purchase tickets to sample barbecue and wine by the glass or bottle, as well as two flavors of popular wine slushies.

In addition to wine, barbecue, and live music, there was a massive silent auction held in the winery's barrel room with proceeds benefiting Autism Speaks. I was pleased to donate a new Weber Limited Edition charcoal kettle in sporty red finish (personally inspected by me to ensure no chips or blemishes in the finish) with matching Weber red kettle baseball cap and chrome Weber kettle bottle opener.

Here are some photos from the event, I hope you enjoy them!

Event sign and sponsors.

Teams are cooking, vendors are setting up. Big Shot took 1st place in the overall comp. Congrats to you!

One of many WSMs at this contest.

Silent auction benefiting Autism Speaks is setup in the barrel room.

I've never seen a larger silent auction at any BBQ contest than this one at Van Ruiten.

I was happy to donate a grill with matching baseball cap and bottle opener. Lots of tickets stuffed into the bag for this prize!

Judges had a very pleasant environment in which to judge three barbecue meats.

Judges await the first entry turn-in at 11:30am.

Tri-tip was the first meat turn-in. These were my tasting samples. (Don't worry, this was not a KCBS sanctioned contest, rules on photography are loosened for this event.)

Three pillars of NorCal barbecue judging await the next meat turn-in...all Master Certified BBQ Judges. Left to right: Aaron Staines, Scott Simpson, Paul Brown.

Continued...

 

[Chris Allingham]

Selfie with NorCal KCBS contest rep extraordinaire Julie Poe. Julie volunteered to be a Table Captain for this contest.

Don't touch my car. If only...

Wine slushies, a popular refreshment for warm Lodi days.

Live music rocked the crowd.

Neat little venue for the band. Hope you brought earplugs, they were loud!

Crowds gather, fun in the sun with wine and barbecue.

Fun competition team name. Hopefully not true! These guys took 2nd place in the overall comp. Congrats!

Bull Grills was an event sponsor and had a nice setup of their products.

Love that pig riding a smoker!

Not what it appears to be.

Continued...

 

[Chris Allingham]

The Weber Egg makes an appearance in one BBQ team's booth.

NorCal KCBS contest reps Ian Schmidt and Julie Poe chat up BBQ competitor Zack Galiste, aka Son of Smoke.

Zack will sell you the t-shirt off of this guy's back if you run into him at a contest. Only $25 while they last.

Thin Blue Que is a local Lodi team with a couple of Weber's in their arsenal. Took 2nd place in tri-tip and 5th place in the overall comp. Congrats!

Each judging volunteer went home with a nice bottle of Zinfandel. Thanks Van Ruiten Family Winery, we enjoyed our visit, you put on a great event!

We often look for the best places for good meat while on these barbecue adventures. Today it's Lakewood Meats & Sausage at 316 N Ham Ln, Lodi. I learned about this place after visiting and posting about Lockeford Meats & Sausage last April - https://www.facebook.com/virtualweberbullet/posts/10160333507780013 - when someone said on Facebook that THIS was their favorite spot for sausages and there's NO LINE here!

Nice selection of fresh and smoked sausages, fresh meat, and gourmet food items.

Just part of the sausage selection.

Very high quality Creekstone Farms meat available.

Plenty of pork ribs for BBQ fans. Bacon-wrapped boneless pork loins on the left.

Continued...

 

[Chris Allingham]

Last Stop: The Ghirardelli Factory Outlet on I-5 in Lathrop.

She'll have just a few of these, a few of these, and a few of these...

A sweet ending to a sweet barbecue adventure. Thanks for looking!

 

[Rich G]

Thanks for the great writeup, Chris! Looks like a great event in which to compete and judge! Thanks for keeping an eye on my ride!

R

 

[Bob Correll]

It looks like retirement and judging bbq is suiting you very well Chris.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and photos with us.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Thanks for sharing Chris, looks like the event was very successful and looks like you two had a great time.

 

[Donna Fong]

Last Stop: The Ghirardelli Factory Outlet on I-5 in Lathrop.

She'll have just a few of these, a few of these, and a few of these...

A sweet ending to a sweet barbecue adventure. Thanks for looking!

I've always wondered what it looked like inside the chocolate factory. Great contest photos. Thank you Chris for sharing.

 

[Chris Allingham]

I've always wondered what it looked like inside the chocolate factory. Great contest photos. Thank you Chris for sharing.

I think it's more of a distribution warehouse than a "factory". It's a medium-sized square room with various Ghirardelli chocolates displayed around the perimeter and a cash register and ice cream service area in the center where you can get cones, sundaes, floats, etc. There's a small number of tables outside where you can sit and eat ice cream. That's it. Prices are somewhat reduced on many chocolates depending on the quantity you buy.

If you were hoping for a Wonka-like experience...no.

 

[JimK]

Looks like a fun day. For a moment, I thought it was Arnold sitting at the "Armed and Hammered" table.

 

[James N]

Thanks for the write up Chris, Looks like it was a great venue to be at