The Wine Road Least Travelled
Fairfield’s Burgeoning wine industry is reinventing the California wine experience.
ARTICLE BY Sean O’ Keefe | PHOTOGRAPHY By Jolie Loren Photography
Fairfield, California is one of the states’s last relatively undeveloped wine destinations and it is ripe for the picking. Fairfield’s Rush Ranch is dedicated to preserving land for ranching and farming and also ensuring locals access to nature preserves that support hundreds of species of plants and animals, including many endangered or threatened species.
The sprawling wetlands and iconic rolling hills of green spread across the horizon are an important part of the San Francisco Bay Estuarine Research Reserve, beckoning everyone who visits to get lost in the rich, untouched wilderness of North California. Fueled by the same coastal winds and many of the same microclimates as neighboring Napa County, the Solano County’s Green and Suisun Valleys have a rich history of wine-making dating back to the 1860’s. Fairfield is home to some of the world’s best cabernet sauvignon and petite syrah. Most wines in this region are rustic, fruit-forward, and yet to be discovered.
Village 360 is a full-circle community anchored by Backroad Vines. Featuring a tasting room, fine dining restaurant, casual cafe, coffee shop, event shop, event space, and markers market, its sleek design is juxtaposed against the Vaca Mountains, offering respite and wood-fired pizza.
Be sure to include a stop at II Fiorello Olive Oil Company. It is simply amazing. Owner, grower, miller, and olive aficionado Ann Sievers hosts the most insightful olive oil tastings. Milled from more than 13 varieties of olive trees grown on her farm, its easy to see her passion for the finest olives and olive oil. With an “all healthy olives are welcome” attitude toward milling, II Fiorello’s annual community milling program gathers some 65 families, and their olives, to a harvest celebration. Ann believes that “that program represents the diversity of our community and its dedication to good oil.”
Mankas Grill and neighboring Vezér Family Vineyard are but a few of the must-see businesses that occupy the intersection of Clayton Road and Mankas Corner. This is a little bastion of old-world California and satisfies the ultimate California wine country get-a-way. Whether it’s the fireside patio table at Mankas Grill or a back yard wine tasting at Vezér, it seems that everyone you meet is connected to the local wine industry.
“With so many outstanding wines in the Suisun Valley, it was a simple choice to feature only local wines,” said Kyle Barraza, chef and owner of Mankas Grill. While visiting, be sure to swing by Mangels Vineyards. It is a wine tourist’s perfect hidden gem.
Whether you day includes a tour of the Jelly Belly Candy COmpany, a train ride into the past at the Western Train Museum, a delicious craft beer at Heretic Brewing, or a visit to the eclectic Pioneer Tap Room, do make wine tasting the beginning and end of your day in Fairfield.
