H is for Holly's Hill Vineyards

Another of our wonderful foothill wineries...are we spoiled here or what?  Holly's Hill Vineyards is a short 20 minute drive from our bed and breakfast....from their site....

Visit Us

The Holly's Hill family has created a serene retreat in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains where Holly's family artfully crafts small batches of distinctive wines. Come and relax with Rhône varietal wines while overlooking the Cosumnes River canyons.

Tasting Room Open Daily 10am to 5pm
3680 Leisure Lane Placerville, CA 95667

winery@hollyshill.com
530.344.0227

Pull out all the stops!

This weekend is the beginning of Passport, El Dorado Winery Associations, annual event where they give you a passport for tasting and sampling yummy goodies, listening to music and enjoying a lovely weekend in beautiful El Dorado County.  And this is just the first weekend...they do it again in a week!

If you are looking for a great time, great wine, come visit us in Placerville this weekend.

Oh yeah, we still have one room left for this first weekend...the others have been sold out for months.

G is for Geocaching...and David Girard Vineyards

Yep, they really do go together....as one of my passions is geocaching and the other is wine, I have been guilty of mixing the two at this winery....yes there is a cache there, but the real find is the wine.

Our favorite is the
2006 COEUR ROUGE
El Dorado-Estate Vineyard

This blend creates an elegant impression of fruit. A very lush and velvety mouthfeel seamlessly delivers big fruit. Framed by granitic tannis that expand with a never ending finish. Over time this wine expresess many nuances of spice and meat. Aged in 2 & 3 year old French oak for 18 months.

Enjoy the wine tasting year round at David Girard Vineyards

11:00am - 5:00pm Open daily!

Oakstone Winery destroyed by fire July 7th, 2012

For those who have been wondering about Oakstone Winery, here is the article that was in the Mountain Democrat

Oakstone: Fire destroys winery

By Cole Mayer
From page A1 | July 11, 2012 | Leave Comment

Oakstone Winery in Fair Play was destroyed in a fire early in the morning of July 7.

The fire was reported at 4:05 a.m. and fire crews were on scene at 4:19 a.m., said Pioneer Fire Protection District Chief Robert Gill, who also acted as the incident commander.

“When we arrived, the facility was already 75 to 80 percent already involved,” he said. “So much was already on fire. We took a defensive (stance) to keep it confined.” There was no other exposure, he said, and no wildland caught fire.

The fire, which began on the south end of the facility and worked its way north, took between 20,000 and 25,000 gallons of water to put out, mostly shuttled in from a nearby mobile home park, Gill said.

By 5:57 a.m., the fire was out and an “extensive” mop-up phase began, Gill said. The winery had no smoke or heat detectors and had no sprinkler system. At 11:10 a.m., the operation was complete, he said.

“It was a multi-million dollar loss,” Gill said. “Luckily, it’s covered by insurance.” He said that John and Susan Smith, who have owned the winery since 1996 and opened it for tasting in 1997, are “going to rebuild” what they have lost.

El Dorado County Fire, Diamond Springs Fire, Amador Fire and Cal Fire also responded. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Passport weekends....are here again

The biggest wine event in El Dorado County is here, this weekend and next (we still have rooms for April weekend, April 2 &3).  Both weekends allow the wineries to pull out their award-winning wines, and pair with yummy foods, along with barrel tasting, art, music and breath-taking scenery.  For more information visit the El Dorado Wine Association website or call 800-306-3956.  Tickets are $65 per person.

Passport weekend, this Sat and Sun...we still have a room...

Passport is upon us!  This wonderful wine weekend is finally here (okay, two weekends)! Passport Weekends feature plenty of luscious wine and food pairings, barrel tastings, enjoyable art and music, and fun-loving participants. Warm weather and green surroundings along the wine trail add to the excitement of this springtime event.

January White Sale!

Our pals at Wofford Acres are having a January White Sale...wine that is...

20% Off  2 or more WAV White Wine bottles
Weekends in January and February

Stock up at these great prices:

White Oak Point- Sauvignon Blanc
Crisp, clean lots of fruit AND acid- How about pairing it with cheese fondue?
Regularly $17.32/ bottle- buy it now for $13.86 (prices include tax.)

Dulcinea- Viogner/Rousanne blend
Soft and fruity, but still dry- Try it with proscuitto wrapped around mango and grissini... Lovely, easy winter appetizer...
Regularly $27.06/ bottle- buy it now for $21.65 (prices include tax.)

(Wine Club members- you'll get 25% off the regular price-
White Oak Point is $12.99 and Dulcinea is $20.30 at your price, which includes tax...)

They are open Saturdays and Sunday, noon to 4pm,
or by appointment with 24 hours notice, until March.

F is for Fenton Herriott

One of my favorite books as a kid was All Creatures Great and Small about a vet by the name of James Herriott, but I digress. This El Dorado County Winery has our pal Debbie in the tasting room and this to say on their website.
"At Fenton Herriott Vineyards we have long held a great passion for wine, and it is for this reason that we chose to plant our vines amidst the steady sun and rich soil of Placerville, California. And while we are still a relatively new winery, we believe that our sincere appreciation for the noble grape is reflected in the complex yet infinitely drinkable wines that we create." So, if you are in the area, tell them the Albert Shafsky House gals said, Hello!

Back to wineries...E is for EDWA

Okay, so I did not find a winery in lovely El Dorado County that starts with E....any takers? But we do have EDWA, aka the El Dorado Winery Association. They are a group of winemakers (not all of the County wineries belong) who put on our famous Passport weekend every Spring.

Their next gig is coming up soon, maybe in a town near you...if you happen to live near Danville, CA. More below....

THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS WINE TASTING EXPERIENCE

Presented by the Wineries of the Sierra Foothills
3 - 6 p.m. Sunday, September 19
Blackhawk Country Club in Contra Costa County
If you or your friends live near Contra Costa County or the Bay Area, don’t miss the opportunity to taste a multitude of fine wines from the Sierra Foothills, being poured at one beautiful location on Sept 19.
To celebrate California Wine Month, El Dorado’s vintners are teaming up with Amador and Calaveras to present our first joint wine tasting at the luxurious Blackhawk Country Club in Danville. More than 40 foothills wineries will pour their finest wines, accompanied by delicious, Mediterranean-style finger foods and live flamenco guitar music.
Advance tickets are available at www.sierrafoothillswine.com for $35 or at the door for $50.

Sweets for Your Sweetie!

Please consider joining us for Valentine's Day at the Albert Shafsky House B&B and then spending some time at the wineries. Boeger Winery is having a great, sweet event....details below. They are located just a few minutes from our Placerville bed and breakfast.

Saturday, February 13, 2010
11am-4pm

Fall in love with our Valentine's wine and chocolate event. Snuggle up to your sweetie in our Historic 1872 Wine Cellar while enjoying scrumptious chocolate and other sweets paired with our fantastic wines in a one of a kind Boeger logo glass. As if that were not tempting enough - join us as we release our 2007 Tempranillo and Primitivo wines.

$20/pp (includes glass)
$15/club (includes glass. Limit two per membership)

Proudly Featuring-
Beyond Baked, Fudge Factory Farm & Lavender View Farm of El Dorado County.

Sweet deals...
~Buy one get one free 2008 Vin Rosé. A $30 value for just $15!
~A limited number of Sweetie Sampler Packs will be available this weekend only. The sampler pack includes two library wines -1999 Merlot and 1999 Meritage Reserve.

RSVP today to Tara at 800/655-2634 x: 18

Weekends in Placerville for the holidays

The downtown area is just a block from our Placerville bed and breafast, and is all aflutter, prepping for the tree lighting and fun that will be happening starting on Friday, Nov 27th.  Historic Main Street transforms itself with decoration, and lights, and there are even about 50 decorated trees lining Hwy 50 again now that the road construction is completed.

NOVEMBER 27th
Festival of Lights, 5:30PM – 8PM
On Historic Main Street in Placerville, the old-fashioned festivities will close Historic Main Street and begin around 5:30PM at various locations up and down Main Street with music, entertainment, Santa, stagecoach rides, Holly Jolly Trolley rides (to outlying parking lots), and the tree-lighting at 6PM at the Courthouse.  Sponsored by the Placerville Downtown Association.  For info call (530) 672-3436.

NOVEMBER 27th & 28th
Merchants Open House, Extended Hours.
Historic Main Street merchants welcome visitors with coffee, cider and seasonal goodies.  Enjoy hometown holiday shopping and hospitality in one convenient setting.  Free parking, entertainment, stagecoach rides and visits with Santa.  Sponsored by the Placerville Downtown Association.  For info call (530) 672-3436.

DECEMBER 6th
32nd Annual Christmas Parade 1PM.
This big parade takes place rain or shine and starts at the Mountain Democrat parking lot on upper Broadway in Placerville and continues down Main Street.  Sponsored by Jim & Cathy  McIntire.  For info call (530) 621-5885

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Musical directed by Peter Wolfe

December 4 to December 27, 2009

IT! Box Office

(530) 642-0404

El Dorado County Fairgrounds

Still need more reasons to stay?  Winery are open and so are most places at Apple Hill thru Christmas Eve.

Springtime at our Placerville bed and breakfast

Was a lovely, if a bit unseasonably warm, Spring day yesterday in El Dorado County. Just a short drive from our bed and breakfast are many foothill wineries to sample, so we decided to zip up to Camino and see our friends at Wofford Acres Wines and enjoy their view and the afternoon.

Colibri Ridge Winery near our Placerville B&B

Colibri Ridge Winery & Vineyard is releasing 2 of their latest premium wines this weekend and they are just a short drive from our Placerville bed and breakfast, in beautiful El Dorado County.

In this release they have the latest vintage of their award winning El Dorado Zinfandel (2004) and the latest vintage of estate grown Fair Play Primitivo (2006). Both of these wines will pair nicely with most pastas or lighter meats.

As a tidbit of superfluous information DNA fingerprinting has revealed that it Zinfandel is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grape Crljenak Kaštelanski, which found its way to the United States in the mid-19th century. DNA fingerprinting has also confirmed that Primitivo and Zinfandel are clones of the same Croatian variety that was traditionally grown in the "heel" of Italy, where it was introduced in the 1700s. Comparative field trials have found that "Primitivo selections were generally superior to those of Zinfandel, having earlier fruit maturity, similar or higher yield, and similar or lower bunch rot susceptibility.” Now you can taste these 2 wines side by side to determine which one is your favorite.

They currently have some of our 2003 vintage wines on sale for 50% off. These include award winning 2003 El Dorado Zinfandel ($9.25 / bottle), award winning 2003 El Dorado Syrah ($9.50 / bottle) and award winning 2003 Fair Play Cabernet Sauvignon ($9.50 / bottle). Quantities of these sale wines is limited so hurry in to take advantage of great deals on spectacular wines.

Colibri Ridge Winery & Vineyard
6100 Gray Rock Rd.
Fair Play, CA 95684
Phone & Fax: (530) 620-7255
Open Fri. - Sun. 11:00 to 5:00