California Wine Country

I feel fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the country famous for its wine.

Preparing the vineyard The vines are in New vineyard New & old Winter vineyard Cover crops are used between the rows in winter Mustard keeps the soil from washing away Keeping frost off the vines Pruning small vineyards... ...and large vineyards Half pruned Burning the prunings Ready for growing season Cycling wine country roads is popular Early Spring view The zinfandel is ready to bud Crimson clover is another common cover crop Wineries range from the new... ...to the old From the simple... to the sublime And everything in between Rustic Colonial and Classic Summer vines Old Glory guards the vines Grasses turn brown while the grapes grow In late summer... ...the clusters mature The autumn sun warms the vines... ...and ripens the grapes The leaves... ...begin to turn colors Autumn colors abound in vineyards Greens, yellows... ...golds & reds Late afternoon in the vineyard The whites are first to ripen And the Reds.... ...ripen later Mt. St. Helena looms over wine country Fall vineyard Ready for picking Harvest cluster Almost wine Harvesting Tanks & barrels for processing... ...and wine caves for storage Sampling the final product In the tasting room After the harvest, late autumn Leaves are almost gone The rains return