It is that time of the year again.  The El Dorado County Wine Makers Association’s Passport event is only a few weeks away.  The food and wine pairing event will be held on the weekends of 14-15 April and 21-22 April.  The roads around Placerville will be buzzing with wine-o’s! (In the best possible way).

This year there will be 32 wineries participating, including several new ones.  I, for one, can’t wait to get up there and taste at the new places…and of course to check in at some of my favorites.  I’m looking forward to tasting at the new places, Cielo Estates, Shadow Ranch and Synapse.  And I’ll be sure to drop in at Gold Hill, Jodar, Crystal Basin, Holly’s Hill, Miraflores and Skinner.  I’ll also be dropping in on others that aren’t my favorites just to see if and how their wines have changed and if I need to return to give their wines more consideration and maybe change my assessment of their wines in future editions of my book.

Pour Me Another is one of the highest rated books about California Wines at Amazon.com

We’ll be going up with a small group of folks this year.  As much as this is work for a wine writer, it is also a wonderful get away with friends.  Up in the Foothills, the cell service can be spotty.  But I will be trying to tweet (find me on Twitter as WineDavid).

If you are going, do you have a copy of my book, Pour Me Another: An Opinionated Guide to Gold Country Wines?  Now is a great time to order it so you’ll have it in hand when you go.  Find your way around the back roads of El Dorado County using my maps and keep your tasting notes in the book on the tasting note pages provided for each winery.  Not all the wineries will be listed, as there are new wineries participating, but it’s a good start!  The book is available as a paperback and as a Kindle book.  And remember, you don’t need a Kindle to read Kindle formatted books.  Just download the no cost Kindle app to your smart phone and go to town!

If you are going, what are your can’t miss wineries?