#20 Tastings & Tours - Wine & Olive Oil

Oroville is home to three wineries, all of which have tastings and tours.

Grey Fox Vineyards, a state-of-the art facility with high-tech equipment housed inside a cinder-block lined cave carved into a hillside, has seven acres planted in vines and is open for tastings on Saturdays and Sundays from Noon-6 p.m. Here you can taste Sangiovese, Syrah, and Barbera wines made from grapes grown on the premises. They also bottle Merlot and Chardonnay from purchased grapes. And don't miss the great new port wines.

"The French word is 'terroir'--the right combination of soil, sun, wind, and water that produces good wine," says Lou Cecchi of Long Creek Winery. Very traditional, old-fashioned wine-making methods are used here. There's no blending or filtering of wines, and all are aged in medium-toasted oak barrels (French or American) for at least a year. View six acres in vines and sample Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. Tastings by appointment.

At Quillici Vineyards enjoy the magnificent view all the way to the Coastal Range and taste traditionally made wines. Truly a small boutique winery, bottling just 1,000 cases a year: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Zinfandel, Sangiovese (a Tuscan grape), Barbera (from the Piedmont region of Italy), and blush wines. All estate grown, produced, and bottled (ten acres with 5,000 vines). Tastings and tours by appointment.

If you've read a recent copy of "Wine Spectator" magazine, you'll know that Oroville is rated as the best place in the nation to grow olives. And that explains why olive oil made from Oroville's olives are taking "Best of Show" awards at the Los Angeles County Fair-the fair in the nation for olive oil judging!

We spoke with three of the local growers and olive oil producers and were impressed to learn that each of them had traveled abroad to the study the process of making olive oil, Meier in France, Johansson (Lodestar) in Spain, and Giannecchini's in Italy.

COR, with 320,000 trees, operates the largest olive oil orchard and mill in the USA. They offer Friday tours from 9-11:30 a.m., May -September where you'll see a two-phase olive mill with 10 tons of fruit-per-hour capacity.

The Wagon Wheel Market on Olive Highway carries many of the local olive oils, but Lodestar Farms has a tasting room and give tours; however, a phone call to any of them can get you an appointment to sample the best extra virgin olive oil in the nation!

The Sierra Oro Farm Trail Map features many of the above-mentioned farms and wineries. The maps are available from Butte County communities' Chambers of Commerce or call 530-566-9849.