Marco Cappelli greets us with a broad, engaging smile. The unpretentious, wood-lined tasting room right on Main Street in Placerville, California, is warm and comfortable. It feels like a community hub, the neighbors strolling in and huddling around the tables. Dramatic, attention-grabbing portraits splash the walls — if you go, be sure not to miss the art in the toilet.
My first foray into the Sierra Foothills’ El Dorado AVA landed me on what turned out to be the doorstep of one of its pioneers.
Placerville: Wine in the Sacramento Foothills
Marco Cappelli entered viticulture in Napa Valley in the 1980s, tenuring with pioneering legends. Priced out of starting his own vineyard in Napa, he discovered the foothills here near Sacramento. Farming in this region of apple orchards and gold mines seemed promising. The cool high-elevation air, some of the highest in California, and volcanic soils underfoot were optimal for wine grapes.
The region was shaped into pioneer towns during the gold rush and was notoriously known as “Hangtown” back in the day.
Placerville has continued to morph as it has shifted from various agricultural crops to wine grapes. It has now gained a slight sheen as a high-value-to-dollar wine region in the Sierra Foothills, but with no pretension. “Hangtown” is still used by locals as a kind of throwback badge of honor.
Cappelli’s 17 years in Napa under the tutelage of one of Napa’s pioneering legends, Andre Tchelistcheff, and making wine at Swanson Vineyards made him realize the value and potential in the foothills, so he made the move.
As in Italy, Wine is Food
Cappelli’s Italian heritage and time spent after earning a degree in fermentation science at the University of California, Davis, then in Bordeaux, and on to the small towns and rolling hills of Tuscany, led him back to appreciate the basics with a keen eye. As his Italian ancestors had perceived, wine in Italy was an everyday “food.” (Interestingly, that idea skipped a generation as Marco told me his parents were teetotalers.)
No need for pretension or fanciness, wine was simply on the table. It was easy to pick up a new bottle or fill your jug at locations everywhere. Family-made, simple wines were easy to access. Indelible impressions were formed.
It would take some time, but his dream of simplifying and democratizing wine in a similar fashion here in California was developing.
Purchasing property here, growing “the vine,” and then supplementing his operation by vinifying for many wineries brought him into the barrels and hearts of many in the region. He developed relationships and made wise wine-making decisions. Over the past two decades, people relied on him, and he earned the respect of everyone I spoke to about him.
A Community of Wine
Cappelli’s long-time dream of designing an affordable and sustainable way of enjoying wine in the forested foothills came to fruition. After an opportunity came to acquire a historic building on Main Street several years ago, he grabbed it. With the community’s trust and now a fully subscribed wine club, he is living the dream.
The casual and unassuming wine pick-up and meetup space that exists in Italy – not a pushy, retail tasting room like some slick storefronts you’ll find in upscale wine communities – is now here in California. I believe it is the first and only of its kind, with its unique sustainable values.
Refill Your Empty Bottles
A return visit here, empty bottle in hand, gets you a refill. It also gets you a discount. Bottles are $14-$16 with your empty (they cost $16 to $18 when you buy them for the first time). Six dollars ($6) will get you a glass to enjoy in his cozy hangout.
Enchanted by Cappelli’s business model of refilling bottles that are returned, guests happily comply. They reduce the excess energy needed for recycling, going straight to reusing, while saving 10 tons of glass each year. He does not filter his wines. He told me that it gives them a “savory quality,” and I must agree. It fits his model of fewer inputs, resulting in higher-quality wine.
The neighbors cheerfully enter, empties clanging, and leave with wine for dinner. Labels are uniform to cut waste (they last for 20+ refills). He places a small sticker of the varietal at the top that can be easily swapped out. From Alicante Bouschet to Zinfandel, they are small-production wines with a rotating menu to hold your interest.
There is no compromise in quality here. The wines under his label, Cappelli Wine, are nuanced and structured. Capelli knows his craft well. The wines are meant to be drunk right away, or within a few months, like the jugs and bottles filled in rural Italy.
A Look Behind the Scenes
Our group moves behind the tasting bar to witness the nuts and bolts of his model. His power washer whirs, his sparge removes the air in the bottle. Then the keg below the table whooshes up the wine, refilling the bottle from the tap. The result of reducing waste is an innovative and inspiring experience in California. His simple but high-tech machinery cleans and sanitizes the bottles and reuses glass closures in a few easy steps.
Making it Sweet
Cappelli’s name is spoken in many of the Placerville tasting rooms and vineyards I wander through in the region over the next few days. His handprint is on many a dry wine produced here, as well as his own sweet fortified dessert wine, Mission Angelica. You can sample his Angelica for yourself in his tasting room.
Angelica dates back to the California mission era, when a string of missions – religious community centers – opened up and down the state. The Mission grape lives on as the earliest Vitis vinifera in California. Originally used for communion wine, it is now turned into a delectable after-dinner treat.
With Angelica, Cappelli is proud to do his part in preserving the history of the Mission grape. He has been making Angelica since his time at Swanson. He starts with slightly fermented juice, which is then fortified with high-proof brandy. Aged in barrel for six to eight years, it develops nutty coffee and toffee flavors, and is enjoyed for dessert. This wine is indeed heavenly.
Fifteen miles away, Toogood Estate Winery has a line of Ports that have grandfathered approval to carry that moniker, which are also Cappelli’s progeny. These harken back to his college days of fermenting honey into wine in his UC Davis dorm (setting off his passion for wine). He then studied wine-making in Sauternes, an area in Bordeaux highly regarded for dessert wines. In other words, his connection with sweet wines is long and strong. He also still consults for the dry wines at Toogood and other wineries in this forested foothill region.
A Man in Full
Whether directing the wine-making for various Sierra Foothills wineries or for his own label and unique tasting room concept, Cappelli is loved and well respected. It’s easy to see why. He clearly knows his craft inside and out, has an easygoing demeanor, and is introducing an ecological (and logical) sustainable way to deliver and enjoy affordable wine. He is also fostering a healthy community spirit.
Cappelli’s statement, “Wine tastes like food,” reminds me of something another winemaker, Wes Hagen, said: “ Wine is groceries.” As part of our connection to our land, our community, and our dinner table, wine brings us together to relax, open up, and enjoy one another’s company.
I sense a feeling of contentment from Cappelli. Having done his due diligence and having proven himself over and over, he is now able to bask in the relative calm of his success.
If You Go
- Placerville, California, is about a 45-minute drive from Sacramento via US-50 East.
- It’s an easy day trip from Sacramento. It is also a great overnighter on the way to Tahoe or Yosemite from Los Angeles. You can easily fill up a few days with winery visits, shopping, and a gold mine tour.
- The town is not bougie; it is full of rustic gold country “Hangtown” history. You can stay at Cary House Hotel on Main Street. It’s a stone’s throw from Cappelli, a historic brick structure, built in 1857 to replace the wooden structure that burned in 1849. It has the original worn-in hardwood floors. It is also full of antiques from that era, including an ornate cast-iron O’Keefe & Merritt, not to be missed, downstairs. Cool fact: The fourth floor was built by cashing in gold dust found in what’s now the courtyard.
- Or stay at the homestyle Extraordinary Camino Hotel, a 15-minute drive away, run by the vivacious Raven. You can rent the entire hotel for an event like a wine country wedding (sleeps 26 adults), or book a single room, each with its own charm, like the Country Bumpkin Room. Be sure to eat at The Forester Pub and Grill directly across the road for extraordinary (and big) homestyle German fare.
- The Cappelli Wine tasting room is where to meet the man himself. I hear they are now serving pizza on Friday and Saturday from 4-7 pm alongside the wine.
- For tourism information: Visit El Dorado
BethEllen Clausen blogs at Organic Wine Travel.
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