150 years of winemaking in Lodi

Gold first drew settlers to the Lodi region in the mid-1800s. But when they arrived, they discovered that the region was also a prime farming area.

Lodi lies in the northern San Joaquin Valley, near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The nearby Mokelumne and Cosumnes Rivers deposit rich minerals and deep, sandy loam soils on the valley floor. Warm, sunny days and cool night breezes off the Sacramento Delta create the perfect conditions for growing wine grapes with ripe fruit flavor balanced by natural acidity.

An impressive fact: more wine grapes come from the Lodi Appellation than from Napa and Sonoma Valleys combined.

The start of something special: Woodbridge Winery is established

Cesare Mondavi was among the immigrants who settled in Lodi during Prohibition in the 1920s. He brought his wife and four children to California to start a business shipping wine grapes to Italian-American families back on the East Coast.

Cesare's son, Robert Mondavi, grew up in Lodi. Years later, after he established his famous Napa Valley winery, Robert returned to Lodi with one simple mission: to make delicious, affordable wines that families could share each night around the dinner table.

And in 1979, Woodbridge Winery was born.