A Century of Lodi Winegrape Growers

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Carl and Katharina Jenner grew up in Tripp, South Dakota in the 1870's and 1880's.  After starting a farm and a family, they moved to Lodi in 1907 and purchased vineyards in 1913.  Their property extended from Alpine Road to East of Locust Tree Road, midway between Harney Lane and Kettleman Lane.  In the late 1940's and early 1950's, they passed the land to their children, Bertha, Hilda, Richard, and Bill.   

Bill's son, Harold, started working for Guild Wineries and Distilleries at their Bear Creek crushing plant in 1939.  Bill's other son, Lester, started his bookkeeping career at Sanguinetti Fruit Company in Victor in 1941.  After serving in the European theater during World War II, Harold and Lester returned to their jobs in Lodi and farmed the Jenner properties in their spare time.  Harold transferred to Guild's main plant in Lodi to manage the brandy room then spent most of his career as bottling room manager, being promoted to special projects director in 1972.  This photo is of Harold Jenner with aunts Bertha (Jenner) Dietz and Hilda (Jenner) Schlaht at the Jenner Bros. cherry packing shed in 1968

When Bill passed away in 1964, Harold and Lester formed Jenner Bros. They purchased the Alpine Road property from their aunts, Bertha and Hilda. Harold and his wife Opal built their house on Alpine Road. For a decade, Harold and Lester ran the Jenner Bros. cherry packing shed and continued to produce grapes for Guild.  Opal became general partner of Jenner Bros. when Harold passed away in 1974. With the help of Luis "Bill" Veramontes, Opal and Lester continued to farm the 45 acres until they passed away in 2006 and 2008, leaving the property to Harold and Opal's sons, Jeff and Jim.  This photo is of Jeff, Jim, and Opal Jenner in 2003.

In 2011, Jim and Lori took ownership of Jenner Bros. Jeff and  Charlene started Jenner Family Estates.  In 2013, together with cousins Ken and Sandy Levy, Jeff and Charlene harvested one ton of  grapes from their Alpine Road vineyard for a custom crush.  This commemorative vintage celebrated the Jenner family's century of farming in Lodi.  This photo is of Jeff, Lester, and Charlene Jenner in 2007.