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.
The Gerken family arrived in Mariposa in 1972, and have been developing their family vineyards ever since. The mountain spring water, clean climate and zesty Sierra Nevada soil provide the perfect setting for the premium wines that Butterfly Creek Winery produces. Butterfly Creek Winery and Vineyards is set on 200 acres adjoining the Sierra Foothills, yet only 45 minutes driving time from the borders of Yosemite National Park. When visiting the winery plan a picnic lunch next to bubbling "Butterfly Creek."
The history of the Bertagna family farming and winemaking began centuries ago in Italy. The Bertagnas have been almond farmers for four generations, a tradition Berton Bertagna continues today. Berton's great grandfather made wine for his friends and family in Italy and continued the practice when he immigrated to Chico through Ellis Island in 1912. While the family continued farming almonds, the art of winemaking skipped two generations before being started again by Berton, through the encouragement of his wife, Carol.
Ursa Vineyards is a collaborative effort between the husband and wife team - Greg Stokes and Deborah Elissagaray. Greg has 25 years experience with vineyards and wine making, Deborah 18 years in wine making. Both were part of the wine making team at David Bruce for years. This small foothill winery produces no more than 2500 cases annually, allowing exceptional attention to be paid in both the vineyard and the cellar. All fruit is fermented in small fermenters and worked by hand. A minimal amount of handling ensures the preservation of the fruit character of the varietal being made. Ursa Vineyards focus is petite sirah from various vineyards in California, but they also produce merlot, syrah and a unique varietal from the Pyrenees, tannat. Open Saturday & Sunday, 11am - 5pm
If you are wondering around El Dorado County and looking for a nice place for a picnic, Iverson is one of the places you should try. They have plenty of tables on their patio. The wine is pretty good too! The people behind the bar are friendly, so don't be afraid to ask questions or make conversation.
Truckee River Winery was established 23 years ago with the vision of sourcing quality grapes, bringing the fruit to Truckee in order 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.
This French-St yle winery is set among the oaks of rural Jackson Valley. It features a wide variety of wines made primarily from Sierra Foothill winegrapes.
In 1995, Jonathan Lachs & Susan Marks found the perfectly situated 20 acre property at 2,500 ft. elevation, located 1/2 mile up a dirt road from Fair Play Road, which would become Cedarville Vineyard. With Cedarville Vineryard 15 acres of vineyard coming into maturity, in 2000 Jonathan & Susan built the winery here on the estate. The panoramic views from the top of our vineyard spread from Mount St. Helena to the west to Pyramid Peak in the Crystal Range of the Sierra Nevada to the east. Jonathan and Susan chose the name, Cedarville, in honor of a nearby ghost town (founded in 1852) that boomed for ten years during the Gold Rush. Now, 150 years later, little remains of the original town, but the winemakers feel connected to the spirit of the pioneers of this historic area.
A cozy tasting room and they were even dog friendly! Wine was delicious and owners were really friendly and great to talk to. The tasting was $6 - not bad at all when you compare them to Napa, but a little different when you compare them to all the wineries in Grass Valley who don't charge for tastings. This is more of a place you spend the evening with a good glass of wine rather than a "learn about each type of wine in detail" because there were lots of people in the tasting room and they didn't have a lot of time to explain every wine to us. However, on a recent weekend visit, a Sunday it was far more relaxed.
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.
