One of the more startling personal experiences I had in publishing my first book this year, called Opening a Bottle: Italy, was to learn how many colleagues of mine had no idea I was a photographer. In fact, this even included friends and family. You mean, you took all the pictures, too? Uh, yeah.
Since Opening a Bottle’s creation in 2014, this site has served the dual purpose of showcasing my ideas, opinions and impressions of wine through writing, as well as my perspective as a photographer. Of course, I’ve had rely on some stock images when covering a region I’ve never visited, but by and large, this site has shifted to be mostly about wine regions, wineries and events that I attend. I’ve been perhaps too subtle in promotion of the photo work — my primary vehicle has been photo credits in the caption.
So this year, I thought I’d share the best images from the entire year in one large-scale photo essay. The emphasis here is on wine photography, and since this year’s itineraries were exclusively confined to Italy, it’s an all-Italian portfolio. But after that section, I’ve included a few choice images from travels with my family: to London, as well as Joshua Tree and Acadia National Parks (in California and Maine, respectively), Cape Cod, and “my backyard,” Colorado.
And now, a bit about my kit. Last year, I made the leap from Canon to Leica. I still bring my Canon 5D MKIV, which had been my workhorse camera since 2017. With it, I usually have a 45mm tilt-shift lens, a 28-105mm zoom, or a fixed 50mm lens. But now, my primary camera is the compact, lightweight Leica Q3 which has a fixed 28mm lens with a macro option. You might think that shooting entirely at wide-angle would be limiting, but it has actually been the opposite. The Q3’s ability to absorb light, render striking detail, and provide enormous RAW files that can easily be cropped to 50mm without much loss, has made it an indispensable addition. I’ve included exposure details under each image so you can see how these images were capture. Not a single one required a tripod.
Enjoy.
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Featured image: A farm cat “just kickin’ it” at Bajaj, a winery in the Roero region of Piedmont, Italy. ©Kevin Day/Opening a Bottle – Leica Q3, 1/100 sec at f/3.2, ISO 6400
Wine Photography in Italy
This year was bookend by travel, with the middle portion occupied by finalizing the book, publishing it, and promoting it through wine dinners, wine festivals and private events. In January, I visited the city of Alba and the village of La Morra to pursue Barolo and Barbaresco wines and to research my final chapter with Luca Currado Vietti and Elena Penna Currado. The next month, I was in Florence for the Chianti Classico Collection and the Anteprima di Toscana. I wouldn’t return to Italy until October, this time for a visit to the Collio DOC in Friuli, which was followed in November by Benvenuto Brunello in Montalcino, Tuscany.
Share in the Passion
This publication has been going for more than 11 years, fueled almost entirely by a passion for wines of distinct character. You made it this far in my photo essay, so you get it. Check out my Top 12 Wines of 2025 to see how I approach wine writing, and then share in the passion by becoming a paid subscriber for just $79/year. You’ll unlock the entire site and all of its in-depth profiles.
Six Days in London
In August, my wife and I took a much-needed break from all-things Opening a Bottle: Italy and flew to London for a few days with our two daughters. For this trip, I packed only the Leica. “Street photography” is still something I feel like I am figuring out despite more than 20 years of doing it, but the Leica Q3 is tailor-made for it. The fast pace, the hard surfaces, the lack of colors, and most of all, the need to respect the privacy of passersby — catching them without compromising anything about their character or the moment — requires an incredibly fine-tuned skill set that I am still developing, and likely always will be.
Elsewhere: Joshua Tree, Maine, Cape Cod & Indian Peaks
Landscape and nature photography is where I started, way back in the late 1990s when I was armed only with a Nikon FM, a fully manual film camera that taught me the fundamentals. Flower photography had become boring for me for many years, but the Macro mode of the Leica Q3 has made it fun again.
Over spring break, my family and I traveled to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park (I am a huge U2 fan), and then we joined my parents in Cape Cod in June where I proofed my final draft. Before Cape Cod, we swung north to Acadia National Park in Maine.
Parting Shot
