El Dorado County Wineries

Young Sierra Foothills Wine Region Recalls Old California

by Linda Murphy

Driving southeast from Placerville toward the wineries around the tiny burg of Fair Play, I had a reverse-Dorothy moment: Toto, I don't think we're in Napa anymore.

 View from Mount Aukum Winery in Fair Play, CA

This was more like Kansas, with Bill's Taxidermy over there, and Double Diamond Tack & Feed, and two-pump, mom-and-pop gas stations, and roads with names like Squirrel Hollow and Buzzards Gulch. Even the name Fair Play has old-timey roots: It's said that when two Gold Rush miners got into a fight, an intermediary broke it up by saying, "From now on, we'll have fair play here."

When I pulled into Fair Play, a wide spot in the road if there ever was one, I felt deep in the heart of nowhere, yet also cognizant that this was a place that's becoming "somewhere" -- an emerging wine country that harkens to Napa Valley and Sonoma County in their early oenological days.

Fair Play is both a village and a 6-mile-by-6-mile American Viticutural Area (AVA), which means the government recognizes its distinct grape-growing climate, soils and history. Ten years ago, you could count on your hands the number of wineries in the Fair Play AVA; today there are two dozen, and 350 acres of vines, with more of each on the way.

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Visiting the Apple Hill Wineries

The Apple Hill wineries are scattered among apple orchards just off of highway 50 in the Sierra Foothills in El Dorado County in California.  Most are in the town of Camino with a few in Placerville.

 Lava Capa Winery in Placerville, CA.

The area is known for its rural ambiance and apple orchards offering pies and cider. The wineries are family-run and make small lots of wines. There are over a dozen wineries in the area and wine tasting is typically complimentary. 

You can reach the wineries by taking three different exits off of highway 50.  The first exit traveling east on highway 50 is the Schnell School exit in Placerville.  This takes you to the west end of Carson Road where you will find Boeger Winery.  Fenton Herriott Vineyards is also near by.  The Carson Road exit is next, but can be very busy in the fall during the peek of the apple season.  This exit takes you to five different tasting rooms on Carson Road that includes Jodar Vineyards, Aurgia Wine Cellars, Ursa Vineyards, Illuminare Estates and Coulson Winery.  The last exit, the Cedar Grove exit, is at the east end of Carson Road near Primus Vineyards.

Boeger Winery features the award wining Estate Zinfandel and Barbera wines.  Boeger also produces a varietal Merlot and other innovative blends from over twenty-five varieties of grapes.  The original tasting room, which is still standing today, was built in 1872 from stones cleared to plant the vineyards.  Boeger has beautiful grounds complete with a pond. 

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