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Madera wine trail

The Madera wine trail is something to see withing the Central California wineries.

Not Napa valley or Sonoma, nevertheless, being California, there is some wine production in every region. For a tour of small wineries in the family tradition, you can try the Madera Wine Trail, one of the attractions at Fresno, the Central Valley’s largest metropolitan city. Fresno has the advantage of easy access to Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. It is also host to a harvest fair, rodeos and you other trails to follow, like the Fresno County Blossom Trail, in the spring, and the Fresno County Fruit trail, in the summer and, of course, a wine trail. You can visit the wineries at Madera Vintners, to have a global view, or follow the trail just below.

Westbrook Wine Farm – Grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere grapes. Their flagship wine is Fait Accompli, a co-fermented blend from their grapes; this is a wine in the Bordeaux style. Westbroook Wine Farm is  located in the Sierra Nevada elevations and close to Yosemite park. Their tasting hours are only by appointment.

Quady Winery – Their specialty are aperitif and dessert wines using not so common grape varieties like Orange Muscat and Black Muscat. They also produce a port style wine and vermouths.

Birdstone Winery – Birdstone winery produces wines from Madera grown grapes, buying their grapes from careful selected local vineyards. They make wines from Zinfandel, Merlot, Shyraz, Barbera, Grenache Rose, Chardonnay grapes and have a wine club.

Chateau Lasgoity – Chateau Lasgoity is Another small winery, new to the winemaking business, but experienced in the vineyard area as they have been growing grapes since the 1920’s. Their tasting hours are by appointment only.

Ficklin Vineyards – This winery produces port wines from authentic Portuguese grape varieties. Their port wines are handcrafted using traditional methods.

Mariposa Wine Company – New as a company, Mariposa Wine was born to group two older brands. They offer a large A small winery offering a large portfolio from grapes grown by local vineyards.

Also in the area

Nonini Winery – Zinfandel and Barbera are they main grapes, but they also grow Alicante and Palomino. Their wines are made using preservatives to a minimum during the aging period to produce more natural wines. You can actually taste the grapes in their wine

Golden Valley Wine – They produce wines for many of the larger Napa and Sonoma wineries and they supply wine products -like wine grape juice or grape concentrates.