Truckee River Winery - The Highest and Coldest Winery in California

Enjoy wines by the fireplace!

The wine, the fireplace and the good appetizers are three good reasons to stop into the cozy tasting room at the Truckee River Winery on Brockway Road, Truckee.  Allow time to chat with winemaker Russ Jones, and make sure that you taste his Pinot Noir.  It’s a perfect way to end a ski weekend!



Russ Jones, Winemaker

After Russ earned his B.S. in Oenology UC Davis’ famous winemaking program , he worked at a few wineries and returned to his hometown of Truckee. His vision was to source quality grapes, and then bring fruit to Truckee  to take advantage of the high elevation and cold temperatures, naturally cooling the fermentation and slowing down the barrel aging process. “Thus we became the highest and coldest winery in California,” Russ said. “Our focus from the beginning has been to produce handcrafted wines with great structure and finesse.”

At the Tasting Room you can taste and buy these and other wines:

2009 Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir.  Just released, the grapes for this wine comes from the eponymous vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands. The flavor is of dark berries, cassis, briar and black tea.  There’s a nice mid pallet structure, and medium tannins.   15 percent alcohol.  $45/bottle

The 2008 Reserve Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands, just received a Double Gold at the San Francisco Chronicle competition.  This is an ultra velvet, ultra smooth, and complex wine.  13 percent alcohol.  $55/bottle. 

 2011 White Barn Pinot Gris.  A great affordable white wine that is crisp, clean, and with a hint of pear and apple.  Grapes are sourced from the Apple Hill area of El Dorado County, Sierra Foothills.  13.4 percent alcohol.   $14/bottle.

2009 Red Barn Red-Red Table Wine.  A blend of Merlot and Zinfandel, the result is a very drinkable wine that goes well with many dishes.  12.8 percent alcohol.   $16/bottle.

The 2009 Chicago Park Merlot is vinified from grapes grown in the Bear River vineyard  in Chicago Park, Nevada County, Sierra Foothills.  The grapes from this 3200-foot high vineyard results in wine with a concentrated flavor,  a very berry taste and great structure.   13.2 percent alcohol.  $18/bottle.

The Red Barn Red Apres Dessert Wine is a blend of several traditional port varietals.  Tawny, rich and sweet, it goes well with chocolate and strong cheese.  A perfect after-dinner wine!  18.5 percent alcohol.  $18/bottle. 

The Truckee River Tasting room is located at 11467 Brockway Road, Truckee CA 96161.  530-587-4626.  Open 12:00p-7:00p every day

This information first appeared in The Tahoe Weekly newspaper, where I write the Wine Time column, on February 13, 2013