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Large
appellation
that runs through California's "gold
country." It's about 160 miles long and
includes parts of Yuba, Nevada, Placer, el
dorado,
amador,
Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Mariposa Counties. There
are more than thirty wineries scattered throughout
the region, mostly in El Dorado and Amador
Counties. The Sierra Foothills AVA includes the
smaller AVAs of El Dorado, Fiddletown,
and Shenandoah
Valley.
This Appellation
is one of the largest in California and
incorporates several counties and numerous
micro-climates.
The seven major counties in the Sierra
Foothills Appellation are:
Amador
County
With it volcanic soil and hot summers is home to
some of the states oldest producing vines.
Zinfandel predominates here, though other red
grape varieties are also grown.
Calaveras
County
Winemaking came to Calaveras County with the gold
rush. By 1870 over 100 wineries operated in the
Si erra Foothills, more than Napa and Sonoma
combined at the time. Today there are eleven
wineries, and approximately 600 acres of wine
grapes throughout the county. The mountain climate
and varied
elevations bring out the best personality of each
varietal.
El
Dorado
The El Dorado AVA has a minimum elevation of 1200
feet: thus the vineyards are all in mountainous
settings. This means that there are a myriad of
diverse microclimates adaptable to varieties from
the Southern Rhone to Chablis and Bordeaux to
Germany. Much of the region is especially suited
to thevarieties of the Northern Rhone. The grapes make
award winning wines in this cool climate
appellation."
Nevada
County
Nevada County is an old wine-producing district
dating back to the days long before Prohibition,
when red wine from the varietals, Mission,
Alicante, Bouschet and Zinfandel were most
prominent. Vineyards ranged from east of Grass
Valley to the Cement Hill area north of Nevada
City.
Wine Regions From Around the World
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