Fair Play Archives - Wine Country Getaways

Organic Cedarville Cabernet Sauvignon

Cedarville Vineyard

In 2002 we were visiting the Everett Ridge Winery on West Dry Creek Road in Sonoma County. There we met an assistant winemaker. We mentioned that we were leaving the next day to head up to the Sierra Foothills near Plymouth. Without hesitation he told us not to miss Cedarville Vineyard in the Fair Play region. We followed his advice and have been back to Cedarville Vineyard each year since then.

Cedarville Vineyard is one of our favorite wineries in the entire California wine region. The winery is owned and operated by the husband-wife team of Jonathan Lachs and Susan Marks. The two met in the winemaking program at U.C. Davis. From there it was a long work stint for both in the Silicon Valley in the high tech world, so that they could eventually afford to buy land in the Fair Play area. They purchased the property in 1995 and would travel each weekend from San Jose to tend to the vines and begin work on their winery, until it was ready for full-time wine production. Their first vintage was 1998.

Jonathan Lachs and Susan Marks

We love coming to visit each year because Jonathan and Susan are the perfect hosts. They are so different than most winery owners. They are eager to see us, along with our group of wine friends. It is a pleasure to hear their enthusiasm as we taste through each of the seven wines they produce. Their vineyards are at 2500 feet altitude in the Sierra Foothills and the soil is granite. In 2010 Jonathan and Susan began a switchover to organic farming of their vineyards. We have always enjoyed their wines, but even more so in the past few years. It is not necessarily the organic farming that has made the wines better; it is the knowledge they have gained from each vintage. They understand their vines better and have fine-tuned their vineyard management accordingly. The Cedarville wines are definitely getting better with age.

Susan Marks with the wine gals on Valentine's Day

Susan Marks center with wine friends on Valentine’s Day

Only one white wine is produced and that is a lovely and enticing Viognier. In the reds, Grenache, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel varietals are produced. Two years ago Cedarville introduced a blend called Turnabout’s Fair Play. Very clever! And the wine is fantastic. The Turnabout is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. We tried a bottle of the 2010. It was fantastic – full flavored and rich with character. Sad to say, only a small amount of the wine was made and it is sold out. The Cedarville Grenache has somewhat of a cult following and often sells out within a few weeks following its release. The only non-estate wine is the Petite Sirah. The vineyard is one that Jonathan and Susan carefully chose for this delightful and elegant wine. It’s one of our favorites in the lineup. In fact, it is our “go to” wine when we cook up some baby back ribs on the barbeque. There is something about our spice rub that matches very well with the Cedarville Vineyard Petite Sirah.

We travel throughout California wine country and we think that the wines of Cedarville are some of the best values to be found. The wines are so well made, and all their wines except for the Turnabout are under $30. Twice a year, we receive from Cedarville a notice of the new releases. Those who purchase early get a discount, plus an additional discount when purchasing by the case. Our wine friends gather and we mix and match wines among us, buying in case lots. We then anxiously await our trip to Fair Play to pick up our wine and chat with premiere winemakers Jonathan and Susan.

If you want to visit Cedarville, check our Sierra Foothills Fair Play Wine Trail for additional wineries to visit and where to dine and lodge. Cedarville is open by appointment only. You will not be disappointed.

We had the opportunity to take a sneak preview of the Skinner Vineyards tasting room that will open in just a few weeks. With its panoramic views, it will easily qualify as one of the “Best Views” of any tasting room in California. And that is just the start of the tale of this remarkable winery in the wine region known as Fair Play in El Dorado County. We met up with winemaker Chris Pittenger at the Skinner Vineyard’s winery this past Sunday, Feb 27, and spent the next couple of hours tasting some excellent Rhone-style wines and learning all about this fascinating winery.

The Skinner wine saga began in 1860 when James Skinner purchased land in the Sierra Foothills and began a very successful business making wine and brandy. When Prohibition struck, the winery and brandy distillery ceased operation. Today it’s the great-great-great grandson of James Skinner, Mike Skinner, who has re-established this historic winery just a few miles from the original site.

Family photos of the original winery were used to recreate the same style

Chris Pittenger gave us a brief tour of the recently-completed winery facility. Chris was brought in as winemaker in 2007. With 20 years of winemaking experience, Chris said it is nice to be able to build a winery and install a selection of his favorite winemaking equipment, which is perfect for this size of a winery. For example, the winery is equipped with small fermenting tanks, some 2 tons and some 4 tons. All are jacketed and fully-temperature controlled. Each varietal clone or vineyard-selected grapes are kept in separate fermenting tanks and then transferred to French oak barrels. Case production now is 1500 cases of 11 different wines and the facility will be able to handle up to 5000 cases of wine annually.

Small and jacket stainless steel fermenting tanks

Chris led us through several barrel samples comparing varietals from the past two vintages. We then journeyed outside and up the path to the almost-completed tasting room. It was a Sunday, and several construction workers were very busy hoping to finish the tasting room within the next couple of weeks. We sat out on the deck of the tasting room and tasted five of the current vintages. What amazing views! We could see snow-capped Sierra Mountains to the east and the west make out the skyline of the city of Sacramento.

Winemaker Chris Pittenger

We were very impressed with the quality of the wines. The Grenache, as Chris puts it, is his Pinot Noir wine. It is light with fantastic berry flavors and subtle spices. The Mourvèdre is a delightful, medium-bodied wine perfect for your favorite foods. Another favorite is a wine labeled “Eighteen Sixty-One.” This wine is patterned after the wines of the Southern Rhone, blended with Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah. Then there is 2007 Stoney Creek Syrah aged in new French Oak barrels. The Syrah is a beautiful wine, quite drinkable now but will age beautifully for several years.

These current vintages were made at the Copain facility in Santa Rosa. They are well-made, sophisticated, and finished wines. These are the early days of this winery. As the new winery comes into full production and the vineyards are fully developed, these wines can only get better. I can’t wait to try the future vintages and go back to the completed tasting room on a beautiful warm and sunny day to enjoy a picnic lunch with the Skinner wines.