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Carpe Vino’s “Placer & Beyond” Partners

Your Source for Wines from One of California’s Fastest Growing Regions

Gary with Placer Wines Placer County, with Auburn as it’s commercial hub, was one of California’s first wine growing regions. When gold miners flooded the area after 1848, some brought grape vines to plant. When the Gold Rush faded, many people stayed behind to dig the soil rather than pan the rivers, and grape growing flourished. But after the passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, Prohibition nipped a fledgling industry in the bud, and vineyards were replaced by vast tracts of orchards.

There were a few bonded winemakers operating in Placer County in the 1990s, but when Mt. Vernon Winery opened a tasting room in July of 1999, it signaled a true resurgence of winemaking here that was solidified with the passage of a winery ordinance in 2008. Today there are 15 bonded wineries in Placer County—many with tasting rooms—and new operations pop up on the radar regularly.

Carpe Vino was launched in 2002 with the idea of focusing on wines of the Sierra Foothills AVA, but over time, we segued to serving wines from all over California. Now that Placer County wines have matured over the past decade—both the vines which are producing great fruit, and winemakers who are vinting excellent wines—we have created a special section of our facility to celebrate local wines.

Called “Placer & Beyond,” we are showcasing wines produced in Placer County and in nearby wineries just across our border (that share similar growing conditions). While we have always offered local wines, we are now showcasing them in a major way. Our goal is to work with our friends to help drive visitors to our emerging wine trail and to be an always-open source for their products. . .both in our brick and mortar shop as well as our new online store (which also features the most popular wines we sell sourced from all over California, Oregon and Washington).

Purchase from Carpe Vino or from the wineries direct, we don’t care. Our goal is to get you to try and then embrace wines from Placer County. If you like big reds, this is the place. Rhone wines love the terrior, as do Italian and Spanish varietals. If you enjoy zinfandel, barbera, syrah and red blends, you’ll love Placer wines.

Click here to go directly to Carpe Vino’s Online Wine Shop.