Sierra Foothills

Sierra Foothills

Sierra Vista Winery

clusters of grapes

Sierra Vista: An El Dorado Original Since 1974

In 2024, Sierra Vista Wines proudly celebrates 50 years as one of the first and original wineries in the Sierra Foothills. This medium-sized boutique winery and vineyard is nestled in the picturesque landscape of El Dorado County, CA. Sierra Vista Winery seamlessly integrates the artistry of winemaking with the natural beauty of its 50-year-old legacy vineyard.

Each vintage begins with meticulous vineyard management, where skilled viticulturists tend to the vines, ensuring optimal grape ripening and quality. Harvesting is executed with precision, as grapes are hand-selected at their peak of maturity to capture the essence of the terroir.

Upon harvest, the grapes are immediately processed by a team of experienced and passionate winemakers and barrel hands. The winemaking process—encompassing crushing, fermenting, aging, and blending—focuses on preserving the unique characteristics of each varietal.

Sierra Vista Winery embraces sustainable and eco-friendly practices throughout its operations, reflecting a commitment to environmental stewardship. The winery features a welcoming tasting room where guests can savor a diverse range of wines grown, produced, and bottled on-site.

Knowledgeable Tasting Room staff members provide insights into the winemaking journey and guide visitors through curated tastings, creating memorable and educational experiences.

In addition, Sierra Vista actively hosts on-site wine events, live music, and food pairings, showcasing its exceptional products and engaging with the broader wine community. With a steadfast commitment to excellence, sustainability, and a passion for the art of winemaking, Sierra Vista aims to stand as a beacon of quality in fine wines.

photo courtesy photographer Randy Caparoso

Fenton Herriott Vineyards

cluster of wine grapes

Fenton Herriott Vineyards is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills at the gateway to Apple Hill, and is situated on what was once the old Pony Express Route and resides just 1/2 mile from the Smith Flat house. This region has a vibrant prospecting history, and is just a short distance from the gold mining towns of Coloma and Sutter's Mill. The Sierra Nevada foothills has been used for farming for well over 100 years. The Mediterranean climate of this area combining warm summer nights and hot summer days with free-draining volcanic soils is especially ideal for grape growing and allows us to produce the quality fruit needed for our complex, delicately-balanced and full-bodied wines. As a small, family owned winery, Fenton Herriott is intimately involved in every part of the vintner process - vineyard and vine maintenance, grape crush, fermentation, barrel ageing, bottling, and packaging.

Clos Saron

grape cluster

A cool microclimate in the Oregon House Valley: forty five hundred vines planted on a gentle, well-drained, north-east facing slope. Red loam and clay topsoil on decomposed granite and volcanic ash subsoil, sprinkled with fragments of granite rocks, basalt, and quartz. The virgin soil is pure, uncontaminated, alive with microorganisms and earthworms. The Sierra Nevada Foothills are not the first to spring to mind when thinking about Pinot Noir in California, and yet this site provides an ideal microclimate and soil combination for its demanding nature.

Clarskburg Wine Company

wine corks and glass - pixabay

Neighboring the city of Sacramento, and nestled along the Sacramento River, the Clarksburg appellation provides a premier location for growing high quality grapes. Delta breezes provide a microclimate that brings out the true potential of the grapes. Clarksburg Wine Company is committed to producing world-class wines from these signature grapes and willing to place their wines shoulder to shoulder with wines from California’s other great wine growing regions.

Silver Fox Vineyards

grapes in pastel

Silver Fox Vineyards, established in 1989, is owned and operated
by Karen and Marvin Silver. Dedicated to quality, Silver Fox makes premium hand crafted wines. 

We personally farm and ferment the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc grapes from our 2.5 acre estate vineyard. In addition we also purchase grapes from growers in the nearby Sierra Foothills. 

Silver Fox Vineyards is located near Yosemite National Park, at an elevation of 3000 feet, where the warm days and cool nights help the grapes develop the complex and intense flavors needed to produce our gold medal-winning wines.

Image courtesy of Randy Caparoso

Bertagna Son Kissed Vineyard

glass of wine

Farming is embedded in the Bertagna family and dates back four generations. Located in Chico, California the Bertagnas specialize in making premium traditional and non-traditional Italian Wines.

 

In 2001, Berton and Carol started their vineyard in their front yard with their two young sons. They began making wine for family and friends who encouraged them to make it available to our community. In 2007 they opened their first winery. They continue to grow their winemaking business and have recently opened a new tasting room. Visit Almendra Winery & Distillery where you can enjoy our wine with family and friends.

Truckee River Winery

cluster of grapes

Truckee River Winery was established 23 years ago with the vision of sourcing quality grapes, bringing the fruit to Truckee to take advantage of the high elevation and cold temperatures to naturally cool the fermentation and slow down the barrel aging process. Thus becoming the highest and coldest winery. Truckee River Winery's focus from the beginning has been to produce handcrafted wines with great structure and finesse. Their award-winning Pinot Noir is the winemaker's, Russ Jones, pride and joy.

Image courtesy of Randy Caparoso 

Perry Creek Winery

people sharing wine

The winery’s 40 acres of prime vineyards are located in the Fair Play Appellation which has an average elevation of 2500 feet and a soil composition of decomposed granite. The grape growing sites in this vineyard were chosen to bring out the best quality in each varietal and all of the vines are pruned by hand.Perry Creek’s diverse winemaking team of Garrett Buckland, Stefan Tscheppe and Scott Johnson combine experience from Napa, Austria and the Sierra Foothills. They share a vineyard driven approach, developing a personality and character for each wine they produce.

Oakstone Winery

grape cluster

How many tasting rooms do you know of where the owner / vintner is there pouring? It's an added bonus that lets you know he's not only interested in his passion, but interested in your enjoyment of his wines as well. Winemaker John Smith is not only very happy to pour for you, but is just as willing to tell his wine's story to a seasoned oenophile or neophyte alike.

Baiocchi Wines

clusters of wine grapes

Baiocchi Wines

From the moment the vision to produce premium, small-lot wines took shape, the focus has remained on the land, the fruit, the wine, and the experience of life. With this in mind, the mission of Baiocchi Wines is to create fine wine from exceptional grapes grown in a high-altitude setting. As the team continues to explore the concepts of balance and harmony in winemaking, they consider the individual elements that contribute to wine: soil, water, fruit, and craft. From the composition of the soil to the careful handling of the grapes, each wine reflects this intricate relationship.

The Genesis of Baiocchi Wines

How does one transition from skydiving to winemaking? Very carefully, indeed.

While the path may not be traditional, it is uniquely their own. The passion for crafting great wine stemmed from a love of enjoying it—particularly with friends after many successful skydiving and base-jumping adventures.

This appreciation for fine wine led to formal education in viticulture and winemaking through the U.C. Davis Extension Winemaking Program. During this time, practical experience was gained through hands-on work at two Northern California winemaking properties: Miraflores Winery and Big Basin Vineyards, where they had the honor of being mentored by Proprietor and Winemaker Bradley Brown.

The hope is that a dear friend, who opened countless airplane doors and many bottles of fine wine, will someday find themselves sitting with friends, post-jump, savoring a bottle of Baiocchi wine.

Photo courtesy of photographer Randy Caparoso

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