El Dorado County

El Dorado County is the high edge of Gold Country — Placerville at 1,800 feet, Fair Play at 2,500, Apple Hill at 3,000. Elevation keeps the nights cold even in August, and the granite soils give zinfandel and barbera a mountain spine. Tasting rooms scatter along Pleasant Valley Road and Fair Play Road, most of them family operations with porches, goats, and water bowls. The South Fork American River runs cold below. Cronan Ranch trails hold dogs on a long leash through oak savannah. Pair a Fair Play barbera with a creek walk. El Dorado is the foothills poured clean and cool.