Sierra Wines - Placer County Wineries

Placer County
Placer County has one of the oldest wine histories in the foothills dating to the early days of the Gold Rush. Like so much of California wine country the influx of immigrants from Europe brought with it an influx of European winemakers. These winemakers often came for the gold but soon realized there were greater opportunities that existed in supplying wine to the home sick miners instead. The first wine grapes in the county were Mission grapes planted in 1848 by French immigrant, Claude Chana.

This was followed soon by the first commercially produced wines credited to Italian winemaker Stephen Burdge in 1854. Zinfandel grapes appeared soon after that, around 1855 and the move into the other European varieties began in the late 1850s. By the mid 1860s the industry was thriving and was one of the largest in the state. Click the links below to see a winery list and Interactive Map Links:

Winery Links and Informational Pages:

Wineries of Placer County.

Interactive Winery Maps:

Placer County Winery Map

Placer County winery One of the wineries built in this era, the Bernhard Winery, is still standing today and is once again functioning as a working winery. The Hyatt-Baumbach Winery opened in this historic building, also known as the Old Rock Winery, and offers tours and tasting by appointment. You can read more in the Winery Listing area of this site by accessing the Hyatt-Baumbach winery write-up.

As happened in the rest of the foothills the end of the Gold Rush brought a drop in the production of wine and many of the grapes produced locally were soon being shipped to the Central Valley wineries for bulk wine. Many vineyards switched to a financially more reliable crops, table and raisin grapes. There was also a move towards other fruits like apples and pears. Continued ...