Nature trails allow winery visitors to get a unique taste of the terroir

Wineries have largely transformed from the days when the emphasis was on the tasting bar and providing glasses for tastings. Today, the experience and amenities have become as important, if not more, than the quality and variety of the wine and/or cider and/or mead, depending on the producer. Many are located in rural areas, providing plenty of open space to talk a stroll during a visit. But it’s unusual for any to offer a formal trail like the one you can find at Starfield Vineyards, in Placerville, California, around a 45-minute drive from Sacramento and hour from South Lake Tahoe. The winery, located at 2750 Jacquier Road, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and offers a delicious selection of Rhone varietals, Italian varietal, sparkling wines, Cabernets, Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs that are sourced from their Sierra Highlands Estate and Coastal vineyards. Visitors have the option of wine flights and tastings, as well as being able to purchase by the bottle or glass. Reservations are recommended on the weekend. Several of the locations on the 67-acre property, including the Lake Pavilion and 1750 Lounge, are reserved for winery members and their guests. But all are welcome to the other outdoor attractions, including the Mountain Amphitheater, which offers a view of Starfield Lake. Per the website: “Contoured into the hill, grass tiers flow down to the amphitheater patio, which is surrounded by a patchwork of Japanese maples, gardenias, violets, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and dogwoods.” In. addition, there are 3 miles of dog-friendly nature trails that wind through the mountain property and take guests by lakes, vineyards and gardens. A trail map indicates each trail’s ease or difficulty. In both cases, you can register online. The cost is $5/person, or complimentary with the purchase of a bottle. You can find out more about the trails at this link. There’s also a summer concert series that began July 9 and will continue to Aug. 28/ During a recent lengthy interview with Tom and Ron Stinton, who began working on the winery project in 2011 before relocating to the Ed Dorado foothills to plant their vineyard, the conversation switched to the nature trails. They opened the tasting room in 2019. Tom provided the background, explaining that the idea for the trails germinated during a trip he and his son made to the Rhône region of France. “I forget what town we were in, but it was in northern Rhone. We just drove up onto a hillside, and there was a trail through it, up through the terraces and the vineyard, and you got really nice view,” he said. “You really got a good sense of the terroir, and it was really it was lovely. And I was thinking, you know, there’s not a lot of this in California … a lot of California is flat. OK, so flat doesn’t work well with nature trails, and a lot of the rest of it is hot and dusty.” But the property they purchased in 2012 in the foothills, he said, was unlike much of Caliofrnia, with its 100-foot-tall Ponderosa pine trees. “You could weave a trail through there where people would be comfortable,” Tom said. “There was one area [where] we didn’t have shade between the tasting room and the main part of the property, and we put a rose arbor in so that people could walk underneath it and get over to the shady part. And I do think people like it, and they experience kind of what the area is. I mean, I don’t know that I’d call it terroir exactly, but you smell the scents. You smell the pine trees, the cedars, the firs.” In addition to the trees, the trails take guests past hundreds of azaleas, rhododendrons and hydrangeas in addition to dogwoods, aspen, maples and scarlet oaks in addition to the pines. In all there are roughly 10,000 flowers, according to the website. The trails start at the tasting room, leading guests through the 300-foot rose arbor, which is covered in hundreds of Sally Holmes and Iceberg roses. Per the website, “these beautiful climbing roses produce dazzling sprays of white flowers; whose light fragrance enchants visitors during spring and summer. Throughout the year, you can immerse yourself in the life cycle of the vineyard and see first-hand what is happening.” “You’re in shade generally [through] almost the whole trail system that most people take, and a lot of people do this,” Tom said. “They do think it’s fun for them, and it does introduce … I don’t know how effective I’ve been in communicating that you know you’re out there in the terroir, but you are, and in some sense you’re experiencing it. “There’s some element of the wine that comes from the forest,” he added. “It’s not a huge element, but it is there, and if you’re sitting out on the tasting room on a day when the wind’s just right and it’s warm and all that, you’ll smell more of it in the wine. You might get a tarragon smell on some days, and part of it comes from the wine, and part of it comes from the surroundings. So, I thought it was something I wanted to do, and I thought people would enjoy it. And I do think they like it.” ALSO READ Performance in Paris blind tasting event celebrates ‘how far Virginia wine has come’ United States of Bourbon fulfills duo’s dream of ‘it would be cool if someday someone could’ Unique wine producer in New Hampshire touting a new sparkling