Amador County Fair Wine Tasting Friday, July 30

Presented by the Amador County Wine Grape Growers Association from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm the event features more than 40 wineries showcasing award-winning wines from the 2010 competition. Appetizers from Beth Sogaard Catering, locally-made sausages from Swingle Meat Company, and gourmet platters of aged cheeses and fresh fruits and vegetables. Your $25 admission includes a commemorative glass. Tickets are available online at www.amadorcountyfair.com, at the Fair Office 1-209-245-6921, or at the event entrance. Designated drivers $12.50. Gates open at 6:30 pm, must be 21 years or older, please no strollers.

The Amador County Fair Wine Competition last Saturday, June 5, offered more than 450 wines for judging in the highly regarded annual Amador County Commercial Wine Competition. Entries were restricted to wines that can be identified as originating in the Sierra Foothill AVA (American Viticultural Area).

The Sierra Foothill AVA runs for 170 miles along the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This designation can be claimed by wines derived from grapes grown from any of following California Counties: Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Tuolumne, and Yuba.

With only 6,163 acres in vineyard production, The Sierra Foothill AVA crushes less than 1% of the State’s total wine grape production. However, the topography and generally infertile shallow mountainside soils combine with a Mediterranean climate to create moderate stress on the grapevines producing low to moderate yields of very high quality grapes.That quality was on display in the 2010 Amador County Commercial Wine Competition.

Seven panels of some of the State’s most experienced judges spent nearly seven hours, swirling, sipping and spitting 464 wines from 72 different wineries. Their time was spent in a concerted effort to determine the “Best of Class” in 34 separate varietal categories plus an additional nine awards that terminated in awarding the Best Red, Best White, Best Blush, Best other Wine and finally the overall Best of Show. As the wines in this competition so aptly demonstrate, the Sierra Foothills is a unique AVA with numerous wineries having a well deserved reputation for delivering well crafted high quality wines that typically are recognized at the California State Fair competition.

What has been a closely guarded secret among some wine lovers is rapidly being discovered by the rest of the State…..head to the hills for some of the best wines in California.

Click here for a listing of the results from the Amador County Fair Wine Competition.