North Sierra Wine Trail Day I – Grey Fox Vineyards and Hickman Family Vineyards

The first day of our participation in the North Sierra Wine Trail event was wonderful. We started by visiting Long Creek Winery and Quilici Vineyards. The other two wineries we visited on Saturday were Grey Fox Vineyards and Hickman Family Vineyards. Both of these vintners offered consistently very good wine.

Grey Fox Vineyards – Oroville, CA

Stop three on our drive through the North Sierra Wine Trail was at Grey Fox. Their tasting room featured live music and artwork by a local artist. We made our way to the tasting counter, and began the adventure. The Grey Fox wines have no vintage years on them because their vineyard is small. While at Grey Fox, we didn’t encounter a wine we didn’t like. Here’s a rundown of the impressions we had of the wines we tried.

1. Viognier – NV – The Viognier had a citrus nose and citrus undertones. It was a very easy drinking wine. It’s perfect for summertime. I could see myself lounging outside with a book while drinking a glass of it.
2. Chardonnay – NV – The Chardonnay had an oak nose to it, so at first I was worried that it would be too much oak. Upon sipping, olive oil undertones came through. We enjoyed it a good bit.
3. Barbera – NV – The barbera had a smokey nose and a lovely smokey flavor to it. This is the wine you drink when you’ve grilled up some bbq chicken. It was easy-drinking and light-to medium bodied.  
4. Syrah – NV – This wine had a cigar box aura, and it was also smokey –  there were also hints of bacon and maple in the wine.
5. Cabernet Sauvignon – NV – Quote from my husband: “Wow, fruit forward done right!!” This had blackberry and vanilla, as well as rosemary and sage. It was very nice. I wrote “WOW!!!!” next to my tasting notes for it.
6. Port Syrah – NV – We had this paired with hot and spicy chocolate port nuggets. Oh my goodness, this wine was completely amazing. It was very chocolate-y like chocolate syrup with berries.
7. Cabernet Port – NV – This was also very amazing. Grey Fox definitely does really great with ports.
8. Zinfandel – NV – This was light! It was a big surprise, because you generally expect zins to be quite robust. It was peppery and spicy and good.
9. Cabernet Franc – NV –  This had a lot of cherry and spice to it. It was also very nice.

We wound up walking out of the Grey Fox Vineyards having purchased a case of wine, and a membership in their wine club. Their wines were simply amazing, and I strongly suggest getting your hands on some of them – you will absolutely not regret it!

Hickman Family Vineyards

This tasting was a real treat. Not only did we attend their tasting the first day, but we returned on Sunday for a second run-through. I sincerely hope that they do well, because their wines were consistently amazing. They paired each of their wines with a different course of food, which added to the experience. Not to spoil the ending, but we did wind up purchasing several of their wines. It was hard to choose what to take home with us from here. The Hickman family began their vineyard ten years ago, but only opened to the public a year ago in 2011.

1. 

   2009 Pinot Grigio – This was paired with orzo-tomato salad. It was an easy-drinking wine, quite smooth, almond-flavored, and very light. This wine is a great summer drinking wine.

2. 2010 Petite Syrah Rose – This was the second rose on the tour that I found myself enamored with, it was smokey, sweet, and had orange notes on the nose. It paired nicely with the orange olive oil. This was one of the wines we brought home from here. The neat thing is that they have refills on their Rose and their Chardonnay wines.
3. 2008 Zinfandel – This was paired with sausage awesomeness. Oh my goodness was this an outstanding wine! This was smooth, robust, peppery, with the hint of bell peppers. We brought this one home with us as well.
4. 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon -This was deep, clovey, and just amazing. This had spice and it was peppery and it was amazing. It was paired with tri-tip roast.
5. 2009 Petite Syrah – This one had a honey-jammy but in the very good way vibe going on. There were hints of cloves and vanilla. It was good and sweet – and it was paired with a marinated mushroom that was just divine.
6. 2006 Desert Sauvignon Port – we had this with chocolate fudge. It was amazing. It was chocolate and raspberry amazingness.
7. 2009 Chardonnay – This one behaved almost like a sauvignon blanc, except it had some oak – in fact, it was *perfectly* oaked. We went home with this one, and we’re not huge chardonnay fans.
8. 2008 Mourvedre – This was the first time I had had this wine. I won’t lie to you, we had to take this one home with us. It was absolutely amazing. It was very nice, and I caught hints of cayenne pepper in it.
9. 2009 Reverse Red – This was a very unique wine. It was 1/2 red and 1/2 pinot grigio skins. It had nutmeg, cloves, cayenne pepper. It was just amazing. While they were billing it as a table wine, I’d be interested to see what this one does as it ages. It is definitely not to be missed!
10. Barbara – This wine was tart! However, we were told it was supposed to be tart, robust, and paired with something big.

That sums up the first day of our tasting tour. I was absolutely astounded at how amazing these two wineries were – and how consistently good their wines were. It was very difficult to choose what we would bring home with us, but we made our choices, and they were very good. Since Grey Fox is in Oroville, CA and Hickman Family Vineyards are in Bangor, CA, they are pretty close. I’m pretty sure we will be watching what they do for a while.