Fall Beauty & Fine Wine

Fall in Nevada County means crisp sunny days, bright fall colors and clear blue skies. For wine enthusiasts, it is also the chance to visit our excellent local wineries and vineyards, sampling their wines while meeting the owners and winemakers.

The second weekend in October, the Golden Harvest Wine Trail Tour, sponsored by the Nevada County Winery Association, combines fine wines, gourmet food and many other treats during this festive weekend celebration. All the wineries will offer special prices, tastings of library or older wines, along with cave tours and barrel tastings.

"The Sierra Foothills is the least-known wine region in California. You get the most `bang for your buck' in terms of discovery here. Our warm days and cool nights are perfect for growing grapes," said Rod Byers, director of sales and marketing of Nevada City Winery.

Labor Day till mid October is the crushing season, and visitors will be able to watch the crushing going on downstairs at Nevada City Winery.

The Nevada County wine industry began during the Gold Rush and then gradually died out during Prohibition. In 1980, Nevada City Winery was the first winery to revive the wine industry here. "We've recreated what was once a thriving industry, with 10 wineries now.

We're particularly proud that we got that going," Byers said.

Phil Starr, current president of the Nevada County Winery Association and owner of Sierra Starr Vineyard and Winery with his wife Anne, has been growing grapes and bottling wine since 1995. "For the Wine Trail, it is easy to get from winery to winery, there are no crowds or traffic jams and the quality of the wine is excellent.

We're an undiscovered bargain," Starr said.

The Starrs have 12 acres of Estate grapes in production. They will welcome visitors both at their tasting room in downtown Grass Valley and at their vineyard, at the end of a country road in Grass Valley.

Last year at their vineyard, they had a watercolor artist doing paintings, an antique car, and lots of stuff to see and do. "The tour weekend, is all so much fun, I always wish I could go on it," Starr said.

"The wine industry is growing in this county. The climate and the soils create good quality wine grapes. It is an attractive and successful agricultural industry and the price of land here makes it still possible to put in grapes," Starr said.

Indian Springs Vineyards in Penn Valley, with 450 acres, 227 planted in Estate grapes, is the largest vineyard in Nevada County and produces 25,000 cases a year. "The food and wine pairing for the Wine Trail is all very romantic and fun. We're a lot like what Napa used to be: simple, friendly and absolutely beautiful," said Julie Holmes, retail sales manager for Indian Springs Winery.

Dennis Ball, owner and managing partner of Indian Springs Vineyards, will be on hand to meet visitors and to talk about the wines and the growing process. "The area is excellent for wine. We have water, the weather is superb, the soils great. Our area is a pretty well-kept secret," Ball said.

"There is an intimacy, a personal touch that we still have here and hopefully always will. You grow the grapes and produce the wine and then it is a fulfilling experience to talk to people as they are enjoying your wine and your vineyard," he said. Their food will be served next to the lake in the center of the vineyard, under the canopy of majestic oak trees.

Just outside of Nevada City on the San Juan Ridge, Bob and Ginny Hilsman, owners of Double Oak Vineyards and Winery, produce 1,000 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Chardonnay.

They have about seven acres of their 50 acres planted. The Hilsmans have been growing grapes since 1980 and in 1997, began to use their grapes to produce their own wine.

Their winery is set back off the road amid madrones, oaks, and pines and is worth the drive for the warm welcome they provide. Ginny's garden will provide the fresh basil that will become pesto tapenade on crustini and vine-ripe tomatoes for tomato bruschettas.

They also plan to serve a variety of cheeses, fresh fruits from the orchard, olives. "People like being in touch with something, being close to where it all happens. They always remark on how quiet it is up here," Ginny said.

Small wineries can also provide distinctive wines. "We can have three Cabernets from three different years, in the same soils, same grapes, but the different climate conditions from year to year will make them distinct from each other in flavor," Bob said. "The larger, more corporate producers are trying to maintain a consistency in flavor from year to year. With us, it is an intensely personal experience, the individual natures and flavors of the wines," he said.

Nevada County Wine Guild owner and enologist Tony Norskog has been making certified organic wine for 22 years in Nevada County.

He has been growing Portuguese varieties of Touriga and Sousao grapes to create a Nevada County Port and hopes to have a barrel to sample at the tour.

"Nevada County is unusual in the ability to produce good red wine. We're just scratching the surface of how good the wines can be here," he said. Check the Wine Trail map for the location of his tasting and sales.

Iron Mountain Winery, which has a tasting room in downtown Nevada City, uses Sierra Foothill grapes to create Rhone varietals in the tradition of the Rhone region in France. They produce Syrah, Petite Sirah and Viognier, an alternative to Chardonnay, which takes about five years to produce. They also have two Muscats, fruity complex wines, and just 2,300 bottles. Their tasting room also offers local organic olive oil and handmade chocolates.

Russ Jones, owner and winemaker at Truckee River Winery, produces 800 cases a year and uses Sierra Foothill grapes for his Merlot and Zinfandel and Monterey County grapes for Pinot Noir.

Jones, an enologist, experiments with different yeast strains and

ages the wine in barrels upwards of 18 months.

"My style is to create wines that are really well balanced and that have lots of fruit character. I make the call when to pick the grapes at the optimum maturity," Jones said. Jones plans to have a Nevada County tasting location for the Wine Trails weekend.

Sierra Knolls Foothill Vineyard and Winery, located south of Grass Valley, produces 600-700 cases a year of handcrafted Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. They use Sierra Foothill grapes for all their wines and their own grapes for their Merlot. The winery is owned and operated by two couples who have been close friends for many years and who all work together in the wine-making and vineyard management and care.

"The wine industry is growing in Nevada County and it's exciting. We've been mentored by local winemakers who have been wonderful to us. We love what we're doing," said Brenda Taylor, one of the owners. For the Wine Trail, they plan to have a classic car show, a fiddler in their cave and of course, wine tasting and lots of

good food.

So plan to stay overnight and savor what fall has to offer in Nevada County, including some fine wines. Julie Holmes, of Indian Springs Winery sums it up: "The weekend is about experiencing the wine, walking in the vineyards, enjoying the colors of fall. It is magical in a vineyard, watching the changes the seasons bring, watching how life unfolds before you," Holmes said.

For a map and all the up-to-date information on the weekend, including new wineries, check out www.nevadacountywine.com or pick up a Wine Trail Map and brochure at the Nevada City or Grass Valley Chambers of Commerce offices.