Sierra Vintners Wine Trail on May 19

THE FOOTHILLS HAVE SOME EXCEPTIONAL wine trail experiences on “roads less traveled”: Grape Days of Summer in Placer County, the Amador Four Fires Festival in Amador County, and Passport in El Dorado County, among others.

Sierra Vintners, which includes wineries in Placer and Nevada Counties, is offering two regional wine trail experiences in 2018 — on May 19 and September 22. This allows visitors to linger and enjoy wine, food and music at a smaller cluster of wineries in a single day, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., rather than feel rushed to enjoy all 16 of them at once.

The wineries offer delicious food pairings to go with their wines and music in bucolic settings. Wineries such as Avanguardia, Double Oak, Lucchesi, Naggiar, Pilot Peak, and Szabo are in places where you can see wildflowers, coveys of quail and other wildlife along the way. Others are in historic downtown locations such as Nevada City Winery.

Some of the wineries offer other activities, such as bocce ball at Bent Metal Winery. For in- formation and to purchase tickets, visit SierraVintners.com.

TWO WINE TRAIL TOURS

May 19
Avanguardia Wines, Bent Metal Winery, Double Oak Vineyards and Winery, Gray Pine Winery, Lucchesi Vineyards & Winery, Nevada City Winery, Pilot Peak Vineyards and Winery, Smith Vineyard and Szabo Vineyards.

September 22
Bear River Winery, Bonitata Boutique Wine, Fawnridge Winery, Lone Buffalo Vineyards, Mt. Vernon Winery, Sierra Knolls Vineyard, and Vina Castellano.

(Photo: Dan Senkbeil)