Our favorite Lodi wine country photos of the year (January through July)

ByRandy Caparoso
Close-up of an old, gnarled wine grape vine with textured bark and moss in a vineyard.
Plush carpets of moss growing on ancient vine (over 100 years old) Lodi Zinfandel in the dead of winter.

To me, Lodi wine country is like a gigantic canvas for Mother Nature: There is no end to the beauty capturable, to some extent (although it’s always more compelling seen through your own eyes!), by a camera.

Yet the pictures tell a story; more often than not, more vividly than how it can be described in words. So here are some of our photographic stories of the past year. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

JANUARY
The back straining work of pruning old vines on cold gray winter mornings in Lodi’s Mokelumne River appellation.
Apple tree with ripe red apples in a vineyard setting, Lodi Winegrape Commission.
Persimmons hanging on leafless tree on a misty winter morning in Lodi’s Mokelumne River region.
Lodi Winegrape Commission building in a rural setting with green fields and cloudy sky.
The Ripken family’s iconic sign on their Lodi equipment shed.
FEBRUARY
Farming equipment at Lodi Winegrape Commission during sunset, showcasing vineyard operations.
Winter sundown, old silo and shed in Lodi’s Heritage Oak Winery estate.
Classic own-rooted, head trained Zinfandel dating back to the 1890s in Lodi’s Peirano Estate.
Old wooden barn surrounded by grapevines in Lodi wine country, California.
Whitewash crooked roof old shed on the east side of Lodi’s Mokelumne River appellation.
MARCH
First bud break in Lodi’s oldest vineyard—Bechthold Vineyard Cinsaut, dating back to 1886.
Budding ancient vine Zinfandel—planted on its own roots in 1901—in Lodi’s iconic Marian’s Vineyard.
Wine barrels in a cellar representing Lodi Winegrape Commission's wine production.
Foudres—oversized oval shaped French oak barrels—filled with Lodi grown wines in West Sacramento’s Haarmeyer Wine Cellars.
Close-up of a gnarled grapevine trunk in a Lodi vineyard with a support stake and green foliage in the background.
Sexy ancient vine Carignan (planted in 1901) in Spenker Ranch on the west side of Lodi.
APRIL
Typically colorful graffiti on boxcar rolling along the historic railroad tracks going through Lodi’s Jahant appellation.
Emerging cluster of old vine Zinfandel on a bright, cool April morning.
Brilliant swaths of wild roadside California poppy on the west side of Lodi’s Mokelumne River appellation.
The old Roma Winery water tower (dating back to 1915)  looking down over a 1929 block of own rooted Zinfandel.
MAY
Muscular arm of trellised Zinfandel on the east side of the Mokelumne River-Lodi AVA.
Close-up of grapevine leaves and flowering clusters in Lodi wine region, California.
Zinfandel in bloom on the east side of the Mokelumne River-Lodi AVA.
Vineyard drone dropping populations of beneficial insect larvae in Vino Farms’ sustainably farmed Grand Vin Lands vineyard (Clements Hills-Lodi).
JUNE
Morning light and colors on the Mokelumne River waterway running into Lodi Lake Park.
Vast Lodi winegrape vineyard under a clear blue sky with distant mountains.
Lodi Delta vineyard, planted at least 15-ft. below sea level on the far west side of the appellation, with a clear view of Mount Diablo.

Typically spectacular sunset on east side of Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA.

JULY
July veraison—the annual changing of colors—in a block of old vine Mokelumne River-Lodi Zinfandel, also demonstrating the variety’s typical “hens-and-chicks” (i.e., uneven sized berries) cluster morphology.
“Dragon head” shaped dead arm on 100-year-old Zinfandel on Lodi’s east side.
Close-up of a ripe white wine grape cluster hanging from a vine in Lodi, California.
Golden orbs of Assyrtiko—a grape of Greek origin eminently suited to Lodi’s Mediterranean climate terroir.
Close-up of a gnarled wine grapevine with ripe dark grapes in a vineyard.
Well muscled arm of ancient vine (over 100 years old) Zinfandel on Lodi’s east side.
Vineyard with lush grapevines and a water canal under a bright blue sky in Lodi, California.
On a July day hitting 100 degrees, old vine Grenache being furrow irrigated in the “old style” on Lodi’s east side.

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