The Winery:
The winery is located at the estate on Starks Grade Road which runs east/west from the higher Foothills at 4000 feet, near Pollock Pines in El Dorado County, to the mid level Foothills near Placerville, at about 2000 feet.  There are no tasting facilities located at the winery, but the estate maintains a tasting room with three other wineries in the small town of Camino, California.  In addition to the estate wines you will find some wonderful art created by Pam Findleton; paintings as well as whimsical wine sculptures. The labels are all original art as well and are quite beautiful. See the winery information at Sierra Wines, Findleton Estate & Winery for other specifics as well as location. 

When the Findletons were looking for a grape for their estate to be the backbone for their flagship wine they chose Pinot Noir based on the terroir of the vineyard as discussed below, but that is not all they produce.  The winery produces several other red wines (Syrah, Zinfandel and two red wine blends) that all carry that upper foothill tendency to higher acid levels, some earthiness and good fruit.  My personal favorite is the Reserve Zinfandel which has great red and black fruit in the attack with vanilla and baking spice in the fairly long finish and just a hint of leather and cedar. They also produce a nicely rounded, lightly perfumed Viognier with a Chardonnay coming soon, as we discuss below.

The Visit:
The tasting took place at the Findleton Tasting room on a late February afternoon. That was the same day Carrie and Tom Findleton were doing Chardonnay blending tests of the 2006 vintage.  The grapes used in the wines were sourced from two foothill vineyards and there was a barrel of Viognier used in the blends as well.  The two winemakers were trying to find the perfect balance between fruit, roundness and acid structure.  What great fun to be able to barrel taste the Chardonnays singularly, then blended together in different combinations and lastly with a little Viognier added to the mix as well.  We were joined in the tasting by a young woman who happened to stop in for a normal tasting and was enlisted to give her opinion, Liz, as well as the wife of the winery owner, Pam Findleton.  We did six different blends in total and all agreed that the first one we tried, with its balance of green apples, light buttery roundness, good caramel and vanilla with an excellent acid structure was the favorite. While tasting the wonderful Chardonnay, Carrie and Tom discussed the challenges of growing Pinots in the Sierra Foothills and the particular influences the terroir has on their specific version. Continued