Dallas Morning News, The (TX)
SUZANNE MARTA Staff Writer
Published: October 16, 2005
PLACERVILLE, Calif. - A trip to Apple Hill is best made hungry. Even then, it can be hard to muster up the stamina for all the treats available in the scenic area nestled between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe.
This meandering route off Highway 50 can offer an afternoon's scenic drive or a long weekend in the country.
Fall is the best time for Apple Hill, when the apple orchards and wineries are in high gear.
Start in Placerville, a former Gold Rush town named for the placer gold deposits found in its riverbeds and hillsides in the 1840s. Back then, the city was a key supply stop for gold miners seeking their fortune in nearby Coloma.
Today, the quaint main street offers tasty eateries and plenty of antique shops and galleries to peruse.
Breakfast at Sweetie Pies, 577 Main St., is a good starting point. The cozy morning and lunch spot welcomes visitors with its sunny brick patio and homey dining room. The restaurant is known throughout the area for its gooey-sweet fresh cinnamon buns. One is easily enough to share, and they come with and without pecans. Plate-sized pancakes are another specialty, especially those punctuated with the sweet-tart tang of ollalieberries, a type of blackberry grown locally.
Just a few minutes east of Placerville on Highway 50 is the entrance to Apple Hill.
The scenic area dotted with farm stands, orchards and wineries used to be better known for its pear production. After disease devastated the area's 5,000 acres of pear orchards in the 1950s, a group of inventive ranchers looked for ways to fetch better prices for their apple crops than the local co-op.
The result was Apple Hill, an area marketing effort founded in 1964 that now draws 500,000 visitors each fall to buy fresh produce direct from the grower.
Soon, local farmers added other things such as baked goods, preserves and various locally made treats to show visitors how the farm produce could be used.
The apple-filled pies and other treats "really put us on the map," says Dave Bolster, whose father was one of Apple Hill's founders with Bolster's Hilltop Ranch.
The farm stands offer locally grown produce with freshness that's hard to beat.
"It's so much better than what you get at the grocery store," says Placerville resident Tye Hesler as she suns herself outside Boa Vista Orchards and enjoys a cup of coffee and fresh apple-cinnamon donuts.
Ms. Hesler treats herself at Boa Vista about once a week, or whenever she's craving something sweet.
"Their blackberry pies are to die for," she says. Fresh produce is the main attraction at Boa Vista, with its jugs of fresh-pressed apple cider, seasonal veggies and several types of apples.
An apple and pear-tasting station can help you winnow your favorites. Not all varieties are available at the same time, so call ahead if you have your heart set on one with a smaller production.
On weekends, several crafters sell their wares.
The Barn offers preserves and fresh produce, but it's a favorite for its pie shop, and the aroma grabs you the moment you walk in. Owners Brad and Patricia Needham offer up to 15 varieties, baked fresh onsite or from the freezer to take home for around $10. If you simply can't wait, there are also picnic tables on the deck outside.
Abel's Apple Acres is a favorite for kids with its family-friendly activities and hay maze. Ask for a sample if you can't decide among the dozen kinds of homemade fudge, whose fall lineup includes a pumpkin-flavored concoction. The farm stand has a generous deck area overlooking the kids' play area and several apple orchards. Relax on a porch swing and enjoy the view.
An Apple Hill trip also rewards wine lovers. This part of El Dorado county was one of the first places in California were wine grapes were grown when settlers came searching for gold in the mid-1800s.
The foothills of the Sierras offer hot summers and a cool fall to produce big-tasting reds that have a fruity aroma and dry finish, similar to those produced in better-known wine regions such as France's Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhone areas. Whites are crisp, leaving a clean taste in your mouth.
The fall crush starts at the beginning of September and runs through early November. The wineries here are small and personal.
"We all grow our own grapes, you so know you're going to talk to someone who knows about what's behind the wine," says Paul Bush, whose parents started Madroña Vineyards in the early 1970s.
At Coulson Winery's unassuming tasting room, owner and winemaker Ed Coulson walks visitors through up to five complimentary tastes. That's not unusual in Apple Hill, where most tasting rooms still pour for free.
"We're sort of like what Napa was in the '60s," Mr. Coulson says.
Coulson's tasting room is cozy, with a bar that would be snug if more than 10 people were there.
Like many Apple Hill wineries, direct sales is the chief way Coulson distributes its products, either through the tasting room or through its mail-order wine club.
If libations of the malty variety tempt, don't miss Jack Russell Brewing Co. The laid-back farm brewery has a large lawn area with picnic tables for visitors. Tours are available on request.
E-mail smarta@dallasnews.com
1. Applefest is a popular celebration in the Apple Hill area of El Dorado County, Calif.
2. Abel's Apple Acres is a popular spot in the Apple Hill area of El Dorado County, Calif. CHART(S): GOING TO APPLE HILL.
Copyright 2005 The Dallas Morning News