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Explore Pinot Gris in the Sierra Foothills |
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Pinot Gris is the same thing as the Italian Pinot Grigio. It is a sweet, somewhat acidic white wine with melon, lemon and pear fruit flavors; a somewhat floral, honey bouquet and almond, vanilla and smoke oak character. Though it is a relative newcomer to California it is gaining some favor over Chardonnay. Pinot Gris is a clone of the Pinot Noir grape and this is why the berries are various shades of reddish/purple although the juice is pale. The wine is straw colored. Like it's parent, the grape prefers cooler climates although in California it is also grown in some warmer regions. Pinot Gris goes well with light pasta, seafood, crackers and cheese. Because of its relative acidity, avoid citrus or tomato based foods, however the wine loses some of its acidity when it is grown in the warmer Napa, Carneros. Examine the label to make the best
How Great Pinot Gris is Created - Terroir
The vineyards in the Sierra Foothills are relatively remote and are found at elevations between 1,200 to 3,600 feet above sea level which is well above the fog line. This makes for long, sunny, summer days. Nights are cooled by breezes flowing from the Sierra Nevada. The soils from 1,200 to about 2,000 foot levels are made of decomposed granite and at elevations above the 3,000 foot level are crushed volcanic rock. Both soil types provide good drainage but lack many nutrients. A distinctly different region in the foothills is the California Shenandoah Valley. Its valley position and the sandy and clay loams as part of the soil make-up along with the Sierra Series granitic rock that make this a unique viticultural area in the Sierra Foothills.
Pinot Gris and Food Pairings
Pinot Gris goes well with light pasta, seafood, crackers and cheese. Because of its relative acidity, avoid citrus or tomato based foods.
Create Your Own Tour
Explore one region or sample the highlights of several. Find links in the navigation bar to the left to move back and forth between the different California AVA regions where Zinfandel is grown or visit different varietals. Those links will take you to pages like this that will direct you to information including list all of their sub AVAs that include lists of wineries and links to additional information about food, lodging and area highlights. Stay tuned as, over time, we will provide more information for you to fine tune your exploration.
These pages will provide the tools for you to create your own self guided tour. Your exploration can focus on one region or follow a route to sample the highlights of several. Not all wineries have a great Pinot Gris focus those that do are listed in black and those that don't are listed in lighter colors. Find links in the navigation bar to the left to move back and forth between the California AVA regions where Pinot Gris is grown. Those will take you to pages that list all of their sub AVAs with lists of wineries and links to additional information about food, lodging and area highlights. Stay tuned as, over time, we will provide additional first hand information to give you more finely honed information for your own use.
Click on the Sierra Foothills sub-AVA links in the navigation bar on the left to go down the page to explore the AVAs listed in the table below. In the Navigation bar you will also find links to vineyard and winery associations and Chambers of Commerce which will direct you to information about area restaurants, lodging and local highlights.
California American Viticultural Areas (AVAs)
American Viticultural Areas are unique legally designated grape growing areas that are defined by the ATF. These regions are most often defined by their topography, soil types, climate and sometimes historical relevance. Below are the AVAs for The Sierra Foothills.
| North Yuba | El Dorado |
| Fair Play | Fiddletown |
| CA Shenandoah Valley |
***A functioning website is the criteria for winery/vineyard inclusion in the lists below.***
Below are tables with lists of the wineries in each AVA. There is overlap between counties and AVAs. For example, El Dorado County and Amador County share the California Shenandoah Valley AVA. These are important designations on wine labels and are a way of communicating about the basic characteristics of the wine. Wineries are part of Counties as well as part of AVAs and may list their wines with the different designations. In addition, while most Sierra Foothills vineyards and wineries are single vineyard affairs although quite often they have premium offerings with grapes from other sources. These are reflected on their labels. The codes below can be found at the end of each winery listing and indicate the AVAs with which they overlap.
| CA SV = CA Shenandoah Valley | ED=El Dorado | FP=Fair Play | FT =Fiddletown |
A label with the AVA name, such as "El Dorado" often means that grapes were sourced from two or more vineyards within that region. Wineries that offer wines where the majority of their grapes come from outside of that region will list that on the label as the source, such as "Paso Robles." We indicate that by OS=Out Sourced. SV=Single Vineyard wines are often but not always the same thing as Estate Wines . Estate wines are indicated by ES. RE=Reserve Wine which is a special edition produced by the winery. The letters above can be combined in different ways, for example SV+OS=Single Vineyard+Out Sourced from another region. OV=Old Vine.
| ES=Estate | SV=Single Vineyard | OS=Out Sourced | SV+OS=Single Vineyard+Out Sourced | OV=Old Vine | RE=Reserve |
The lists below show only those wineries that produce or offer Pinot Gris. Click on the Zinfandel logo above to go to The Sierra Foothills Zinfandel page to see the complete list of wineries in the region.
***A functioning website is the criteria for winery/vineyard inclusion in the lists below.***
If you go, North Yuba will be a quick tour since Renaissance Vineyard and Winery is only winery in North Yuba. The AVA is in the northwestern region of the Sierra Foothills. The vineyard is located at an elevation of 1,700-2,300 feet. This is a steeply sloping terraced vineyard that produces estate bottled wines. The soil is a mixture of decomposed granite and volcanic subsoil, clay and ash. Microclimates provide enough acres that produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and many more varietals.
Cabernet Sauvignon is among North Yuba's premier selections. The color is bright ruby red. Aromas are of black cherry and plum and flavors of berries and cherry fruit with a long finish and ripe tannins.
| Renaissance Vineyard and Winery | 12585 Rices Crossing Road (PO Box 1000), Oregon House CA 95962; Phone: 530.692.8229, 800.655.3277, Fax: 530.692.2497; email: sales@rvw.com, website: www.rvw.com. Tours and tasting Friday and Saturday by appointment only. Call the toll free #. ES |
The county of El Dorado has two wine regions, El Dorado AVA and Fair Play AVA, with their own unique geology, soil types and elevation: The El Dorado AVA region in the north has an elevation from about 2,000 feet to 3,600 feet. The soil is composed of crushed volcanic rock. The Fair Play AVA region in the south has an elevation from 1,200 feet to about 2,500 feet. The soil here is unique being composed of decomposed granite. The vineyards in these two regions benefit from their higher elevations which put them well above the fog line and allows for long, sunny days tempered by cool nights. Both regions are made up mostly of small, family wineries, which focus on small batches of single vineyard estate wines.
| Colibri Ridge Winery & Vineyard | 6100 Gray Rock Road, Fair Play CA 95684; Phone: 530.620.7255; email: info@colibriridge.com, website: www.colibriridge.com; Open Friday-Sunday, 11-5. FP SV |
| Coulson Winery | 3550 Carson Road, Camino CA 95709-9507; Phone: 530.644.2854, (toll free) 877.253.9672, Fax: 530.644.3653; email: ed@coulsonwinery.com; website: www.coulsonwinery.com. Open daily 11-5. SV |
| Latcham Vineyards | 2860 Omo Ranch Road (P.O. Box 80) Mt. Aukum CA 95656; Phone: 530.620.6395, 800.638.6041, Fax: 530.620.4884; email: granitespr@directcon.net; website: www.latcham.com. Open daily 11-5. |
| **Oakstone Winery | 6440 Slug Gulch Road, Fair Play CA 95684; Phone: 530.620.5303, 877.OAKSTONE (toll free), Fax: 530.620.5304; email: oakstone@innercite.com, website: www.oakstone-winery.com. Open Wednesday-Sunday 11-5. OS ES |
In the Fair Play AVA there are 19 wineries that are all family owned, and they are located all within a 5 mile radius. The Fair Play Region is 2,000 - 3,000 feet above sea level giving the growing season long, warm days and cool evenings. Soils are deep, decomposed granitic sandy loam and produce distinctive and intense wines. The topography is responsible for a variety of microclimates which contribute to the wide diversity of wine varietals. Here we will focus on the wineries that produce Zinfandel. Visit the wineries' websites for more information including events, maps and for their lists of the other varietals they grow. No wineries in Fair Play produce nor offer Pinot Gris. Click on the Zinfandel Logo above to see the complete list of Fair Play wineries.
The Fiddletown AVA is part of Amador County and is located at an elevation between 1,500 feet and 2,500 feet. Zinfandel is the primary grape grown in the appellation. No wineries in Fair Play produce Pinot Gris. Click on the Zinfandel Logo above to see the complete list of Fair Play wineries.
The CA Shenandoah Valley AVA is the newest Sierra Foothills appellation and it is located in Amador County. The designation comes because of geographic and historic reasons. Does the name sound familiar? It was named by settlers from the east after the Virginia Shenandoah River Valley from which they came. Shenandoah is north west of Fiddletown and north east of Plymouth in Amador County. The soil is well drained decomposed granite, sandy loam and clay. The elevation is around 1,100 feet. Summer temperatures can be very warm, ranging from 80 to 100 degrees.
| Montevina | 20680 Shenandoah School Road (P.O. Box 100), Plymouth CA 95669; Phone: 209.245.6942 Fax: 209.245.6617; website: www.montevina.com. Open daily 11-4:30. SV |
| Renwood Winery | 12225 Steiner Road, Plymouth CA 95669; Phone: 209.245.6979, Fax: 209.245.3732; email: info@renwood.com, web site: www.renwood.com. Open daily 10:30-4:30. OS |
Amador County is not itself an American Viticultural Area but it does contain and share regions as described below. The elevation is 2,00-3,000 feet but Amador has relatively warm summer days and the typical foothill cool evenings which prolongs the growing season. The soils are loam and/or sandy loam. The California Shenandoah Valley (settled by former Virginians) and The Fiddletown Appellation are part of Amador County. The wines produced in the Fiddletown AVA have less alcohol and more refined fruit character. Fiddletown AVA's elevation is between 1,500-2,500 feet. A * marks the wineries below that are part of the Fiddletown AVA. Many of Amador's wineries farm organically. Amador shares the California Shenandoah Valley AVA with El Dorado County and the Amador wineries that fall within that jurisdiction have the letters: "CA SV" at the end of their addresses. Because of the overlap, you will find many of these vineyards and wineries listed in the AVAs described above.
No wineries in Amador County produce nor offer Pinot Gris. Click on the Zinfandel Logo above to see the complete list of Fair Play wineries.
Calaveras County, home Mark Twain's jumping frog. Calaveras County is the southern most region of the Sierra Foothills and the vineyards lie at an elevation of 1,500 to 2,400 feet. The county has the distinction too of being at the northern edge of Yosemite National Park. French and Italians settled here during the gold rush so that Rhone and Italian varietals predominate in the region.
Pinot Gris (otherwise known as Pinot Grigio) is not common in Calaveras County. The typical flavors are those of apples and pears with spice.
| Brice Station | 3353 East Highway 4, Murphys CA 95247; Phone. 209.728.9893, Fax: 209.728.8805; email: wine@bricestation.com; website: www.bricestation.com. Open Fri-Sun, some Mon, 12-6 and by appointment. |
| Indian Rock Winery | 1154 Pennsylvania Gulch Road, Murphys CA 95247; Phone & Fax: 209.728.8514; email: dave@IndianRockVineyards.com; website: www.IndianRockVineyards.com. Open Fri-Sun 12-5 ES |
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Click the Foothills link below to see a summary of our trip.
| The Sierra Foothills |
Explore Pinot Gris in The Sierra Foothills AVA. Click on the links below to learn more about Pinot Gris in those AVAs.