Category Archives : El Dorado County


Where to Eat in El Dorado County

You’ve arrived in El Dorado County and you’ve stopped at a few wineries to taste and buy some wine. Now you’re feeling a little peckish. Where can you grab a bite to eat? When we first started going up to Gold Country for the wine, finding a place to eat was the biggest challenge for […]

johnny_automatic_pizza_and_wine

Cooler or Ice Chest

5 Essentials For Summer Wine Tasting

This post was originally posted on June 22, 2012. Last weekend’s jaunt up to El Dorado for the Pleasant Valley Wine Makers’ Rocks & Rhone event reminded me that Summer tasting has some specific requirements! It is almost officially Summer and I’m sure your mind is wandering in the neighborhood of “where can we go […]


Passport 2014: Skinner

The second day of the 2014 El Dorado Passport event started out over cast and chilly, but by the time we left the hotel, the sun was shining and the temperature was warming up. It is a beautiful drive from El Dorado Hills to our first winery of the day, Skinner Vineyard & Winery. The […]

Detail of the gate to the Skinner Vineyard & Winery. Photo copyright 2014, David Locicero

The bottles for the 2012 Reserve Chardonnay and the 2012 Barbera. Photo copyright 2014, David Locicero

Passport 2014: Gold Hill Vineyards

My tasting companion and I started our Passport 2014 at Gold Hill Vineyards. I like starting here for a couple of reasons. First, I think they are one of the first wineries you can get to as you drive up from the Bay Area. Second, the drive from Highway 50 to the winery is beautiful […]


Crystal Basin Cellars Cabernet Franc

A couple of days ago I made a mustard/wasabi encrusted pork roast. I wanted to serve it with a Grenache. For some reason (glug, glug), we had no Granache in the house. Shock! So I rummaged around in the racks and cases of wine until I found a wine that I thought might pair well. […]

CBC 2009 Cab Franc

2010 skinner dry diggings

Tasting Notes: Skinner 2010 Dry Diggings

I’ll come right out and say it: this is a perty darn good wine. The Skinner family has deep roots in the Sierra Foothills. The winery hit the ground running when they opened a couple years ago with some nice reds. They continue to improve with every new release. Sharing it’s name with the original […]