Fair Play AVA
Fair Play is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in El Dorado County, California. It was established on February 26, 2001, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) after reviewing the petition submitted by Brian Fitzpatrick, President of Fair Play Winery Association, proposing to establish a viticultural area in southern El Dorado County known as "Fair Play." Fair Play viticultural area encompasses encircling the town of Fair Play and located entirely within the existing boundaries of the El Dorado and vast Sierra Foothills viticultural areas. The topography of Fair Play includes rolling hills at elevations between above sea level, making it the second highest average elevation after Squaw Valley-Miramonte viticultural area in the state. The soils are decomposed granite as part of the Sierra Nevada Foothills region, and the area is within the Cosumnes River watershed. In its cultivated, the most popular red wine grape variety is Zinfandel, although varieties popular in Rhône Valley and Italy, such as Syrah, Grenache, Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, Sangiovese, Tempranillo and Barbera are the common varietals. White wine is less popular in Fair Play, but significant plantings of Viognier and Grenache Blanc, along with Sauvignon Blanc are most common.
History
Fair Play viticultural area takes its name from an old gold mining camp during the California gold rush. Although Fair Play was at first only a mining camp, the town later became a trading center and post office for drift and hydraulic mines in the area. The Alta Californian newspaper dated December 21, 1853, mentions Fair Play as a prosperous little mining town with several stores and hotels.The first commercial vineyard and winery in the viticultural area was
established in 1887 by a Civil War veteran, Horace Bigelow. Bigelow planted 4,000 grape vines and by 1898 was producing between 600 and 1,000
gallons of wine each year. Today, the Fair Play viticultural area is gaining
recognition as a wine growing area and is featured in the media and on some wine
labels.
The modern era started in the late 1970's and early 1980's, when Brian Fitzpatrick, Bill Naylor, Les and Lynn Russell, to name a few primary vineyard builders started in earnest. Today these are the vineyards and wineries along Fair Play Road and Perry Creek Road. An early established winery where the original owner is there, is Cedarville Vineyard, it established in the 1990's. Many more vineyards ensued in the later 1980's and throughout the 1990's, as the area developed for viticulture.
Terroir
Topography
The arable terrain within the Fair Play viticultural area is generally composed of rolling hillsides and rounding ridge tops. At these elevations,, each vineyard's topographic location in relationship to the immediatesurroundings is of utmost importance to minimize the negative effects of late
spring frosts. Most of the existing vineyards are situated on the ridge tops
or hillsides so there is lower ground for the cold air to drain. To the east and southeast, the boundaries include terrain too rugged for commercial viticulture. This is also true of Coyote Ridge to the south. Although little vineyard activity is
anticipated in these steep canyon lands, the use of the Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River, Cedar Creek, Scott Creek, and South Fork of the Cosumnes River make easily understood and prominent boundaries.
The lowest elevations in the area, about, occur along Perry Creek and the North and South Forks of Spanish Creeks where they flow west out of the Fair Play viticultural area. The lowest existing vineyards sit at about near Mt. Aukum. The elevation rises to the north, east and south to a maximum of about above Slug Gulch Road and Walker Ridge.
To the north, the steep sides of the canyon of the Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River are not suitable for viticulture. The bottom land along the river, ranging from elevation, is at least lower in elevation than the lowest points included within the boundaries. The rugged terrain east of the boundaries, and the volcanic "caps" to the southeast and south quickly rise above. Elevation is significant because of its effect on growing conditions in the Sierra Nevada Foothills.
Climate
The U.S.D.A. Soil Survey shows that in this part of Sierra Foothills, rainfall generally increases along with the elevation. The isobars generally run from the northwest to southeast, similar to the general run of the elevation contour lines. The Fair Play viticultural area receives between of rain in an average year, while the lower areas to the west and southwest of Fair Play receive or less. The U.S.D.A. chart for the length of growing season follows the reverse pattern; as elevation increases, the growing season decreases. Fair Play enjoys an average growing season of between about 230 and 250 days; theareas to the west and southwest show over 250 days. Thus, the Fair Play
viticultural area enjoys more rainfall, but with a shorter growing season, than
the areas to the west and southwest. Based on the standard University of
California at Davis temperature summation definition of climatic regions or zones, the Fair Play viticultural area would appear to fall into high Region 3. The areas to the west and southwest fall into low Region 4.
Soil
The Fair Play viticultural area is characterized by deep, moderately to well drained, granitic soils of the Holland, Shaver, and Musick series. These soils consist of sandy loams and coarse sandy loams, with an effective average rooting depth between. The soil maps taken from the USDA Soil Survey show the specific areas where each of these soils predominate; the boundaries were specifically designed to include these three soil series, and to exclude othersoils which are either not granitic, or shallow, or poorly drained. The areas to
the north and east of the boundaries are predominately shallow granitic soils of
the Chawanakee and Chaix series. The northern and eastern boundaries are drawn primarily based on terrain and ease of description, but with the intent to generally exclude these soils. The southeastern and southern boundaries of the Fair Play viticultural area, the waterways of Cedar Creek into Scott Creek into the South Fork of the Cosumnes River, lay out a clear geological demarcation where the granitic soils predominate and the volcanic soils begin. Thus, the Fair Play viticultural area has a soil association that sets it apart from the rest of the Sierra Foothills and El Dorado viticultural areas.