Fair Play wineries Archives - Wine Country Getaways

Latcham Vinyards in the Sierra Foothills

January 9, 2015 by Joe Becerra

Latcham Vineyards in the Fair Play area of El Dorado County

About Latcham Vineyards

Latcham Vineyards is one of the earliest wineries in the wine AVA of Fair Play. We have visited several times and enjoy the “throwback” nature of the winery and tasting room. The winery began in 1981 when Frank Latcham retired from his San Francisco Bay Area law practice. The winery remains family owned to this day. The tasting room is a popular spot and jumping with visitors. Latcham makes several different wines each year. The Zinfandels are the most popular and they are big and robust Zinfandels. One the most popular wines is the entry level Gold Rush Red. Each year it is made a little differently, but it is essentially a blend of several red grapes. The price is excellent and the quality good. The Gold Rush Red sells out quickly. Latcham Vineyards is located at 2680 Omo Ranch Road in Somerset. The tasting room is one of the few that is open daily. The hours are 11 to 5 pm.

Latcham also owns the nearby Granite Springs winery.

Additional information and wineries to visit in Fair Play

Gwinllan Estate Vineyard and Winery

March 18, 2014 by Joe Becerra

On the road to the wine cave

Gwinllan Estate

Gwinllan Estate is one of the latest wineries to establish itself in the wine Region of Fair Play. Fair Play is a very small geographic area, at approximately 2000 to 2500 feet in elevation in the Sierra Foothills of El Dorado County. This was our first visit to the Gwinllan Estate.

We meandered our way from the Cedarville Winery along Fair Play Road to the entrance gate leading to the Gwinllan tasting room. From there you travel about a third of a mile up to the Gwinllan wine cave. It is a very pretty and scenic road through the vineyards. You are at 2500 feet and the views are excellent. The tasting room has been dug into the side of the hillside and thus called a wine cave. It is just the right temperature and humidity for aging wine in barrels. Once we were in the tasting room, owner Gordon Pack and son Jonathan Pack, winemaker extraordinaire, were there to greet us. That is what we love about visiting wineries in far out wine country. You will not get this type of reception anywhere in the Napa Valley.

Owner Gordon Pack

We learn from Gordon Pack that he once tried to make wine is his native England. No matter how hard he tried, he was not successful. Eventually, he and his wife Chris found their way to California and began a search for the ideal winemaking area. They felt that Fair Play would be the ideal place to establish their winery and make wine. The high altitude, the decomposed granite, and the vineyard management techniques all add up to a unique terroir. Their first vintage was 2009.

We tasted through four wines. For now, only one white wine is produced, a Chardonnay. It’s a mellow Chardonnay, aged elegantly in French Oak barrels. We tasted three reds, the Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and the Winemaker’s Selection. The wines are all well made and very tasty. We thought the best wine was the Winemaker’s Selection. This is a blend of Grenache and Syrah, a blend common in the Southern Rhone of France. The Pack Family plans to slowly increase production over the next several years. It is a winery to watch.

Winemaker Jonathan Pack

Perhaps the only negative for us is the price of the wines. They are steep compared to most wineries in Fair Play. Part of that can be attributed to the low-grape yield per acre of vineyards. According to Jonathan, the grape yields are small. The Packs want to stress the vines and give the remaining grapes more intensity. Still, back up at Cedarville, where the wines are equally impressive, the prices are much less.

If you would like to visit Gwinllan and the other wineries in Fair Play, we have mapped out a wine trail leading to our favorite wineries. You might also consider heading towards Plymouth and visiting wineries in Amador County and in the Shenandoah Valley. Wine tasting is available at Gwinllan Estate every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm.

Wine Adventures in the Fair Play AVA in El Dorado County

February 28, 2012 by Joe Becerra

It was ten years ago that we first began making an annual trip to this wonderful wine country in the Sierra Foothills. Much has changed in that time, with many more wineries having been established in recent years, and very noticeable improvement in the quality of wines from this region.

Our base for our visit to the Sierra Foothills is the town of Sutter Creek. We consider it to be the best little town in the Gold Country of the Sierra Foothills. The town is quaint with many small shops, restaurants and other attractions. We make our home at the Hanford House Inn in Sutter Creek where owners Robert and Athena Gordon are very gracious hosts. On our annual trek to these parts, we always spend one full day exploring the wineries in the Fair Play AVA. It is about a 35-minute drive to Fair Play. The Fair Play AVA located in El Dorado County has the unique geographic feature of having the highest average elevation of any of the AVA’s in California. The average elevation is 2500 feet. Here are three wineries we enjoyed immensely in our visit the past week.

Cedarville Vineyards
Cedarville is always at the top of our list of wineries to visit. Owners Jonathan and Susan are a terrific winemaking team and they put their hearts and souls into making some fantastic wines. The emphasis is on Rhone wines, and in my opinion all their wines deliver high quality at a very reasonable price point. The wines are very balanced and layered, with many delicate characteristics. The winery is open by appointment, so call ahead before visiting. We tasted through the lineup of wines and once again were totally impressed with the overall quality. I must declare that their current release of the 2009 Syrah is the best they have made, and we have tried all their Syrah vintages. The other Rhone wines in their lineup include an organically grown Viognier, a Grenache, and a Petite Sirah. They also make a dazzling Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. All wines are estate grown except for the Petite Sirah. Their Grenache has become somewhat of a cult wine and sells out quickly once released and announced through their mailings.