These are the 6 best — and affordable — wine regions in the Sacramento area

BY BENJY EGEL

California is still America’s wine capital, but day trips to Napa and Sonoma counties aren’t what they once were. Tastings, once free or comped with the purchase of a bottle, have skyrocketed north of $80 at some wineries. Add in the costs and headaches of arranging a ride or booking an Airbnb, and a relaxing getaway starts to come with a sticker shock-induced hangover of its own.

One drinker knew there had to be more out there. So she asked Bee Curious, a community-driven series where The Sacramento Bee investigates and answers readers’ questions on everything from weird sculptures around town to what exactly the Delta Breeze is. “Where are the best hidden gem wine regions in the area?” Carolyn Dismuke asked Bee Curious.

Dismuke has made a career out of posing (and answering) that question. She’s a nomadic California wine taster currently staying in Placerville, the author of “Drink Your Words: Discovering California’s Other Wine Regions.” “Many aspects of the wine tasting experience drive people out of Napa and Sonoma but the most common are prices, crowds and attitudes,” Dismuke wrote in a follow-up email earlier this month. “At a tasting room in Placerville yesterday, the owner and winemaker were pouring (and) sharing vineyard stories with patrons from big cities who exclaimed that was why they chose the location.” California’s capital city is tucked in between more than 200 wineries, according to Visit Sacramento. You can find international producers with local roots, boutique craftsmen and everything in between…Read More