I visited a lot of El Dorado County wineries during my recent visits to the region. Edio Vineyards at Delfino Farms was the biggest surprise for me, in a really good way.
Considered one of the ‘newest’ wineries (therefore most locals I spoke with at wineries had not yet tried the wines…), Edio-Delfino is so completely unassuming (in name and recognition) it might easily be missed by visitors. Yet this organic family farm is by no means new to to the region, and should be on everyones’ ‘must visit’ list while in El Dorado County.
The farm was started in the 60s by Edio Delfino, an Italian immigrant who had studied agriculture at Cal Poly before moving to St. Helena. Edio and his wife Joan made the move to El Dorado when he took the position of Ag Commissioner in the region.
Fast forward a few decades, and the family (including the two eldest of Edio’s granchildren) started planning for the future winery they envisioned building, and planted grapes on 15 acres, taking into account the soil and unique micro-climates of each site before choosing the varietals that they planted.
Today, Edio Vineyards, which had its first vintage in 2018 and opened its winery and tasting room doors in 2020, is run by Edio’s grandchildren, Christine, Peter, Derek, and Ben. Christine, Derek, and Peter all studied at Cal Poly (agriculture, viticulture, and enology). Christine directs Hospitality and operations, Derek is the viticulturist, Peter makes the wines as well as helps with overall operations, and Ben hangs out mostly behind the scenes helping with the farm and bakery.
All three spent years working at respected wineries on the Central Coast (Chamisal) and in Sonoma and Napa Counties (Ridge) and traveled through France visiting different wine regions before coming back home to start their new winery at their Family’s Delfino farms and vineyards. This background contributes to the siblings’ modern-day, fresh, and highly professional approach to business and hospitality. The winery’s tasting room, views, and customer service are absolutely fantastic.
The winery and vineyards also became certified as 100% organically farmed in 2020.
And then there are the wines…
Edio Vineyards’ wines wines are fresh, lively, and utterly quaffable. The wines display the restraint exercised in the cellar (Peter uses little to no new oak on most of Edio’s wines), which is intentional. As described by Christine and her brother Derek when I was tasting with them at the winery, ‘We want to make wines that we want to drink. We all lived on the Central Coast and then traveled to France and regularly tasted a lot of wines from around the world. Our palates have always leaned towards balanced, elegant wines with lower alcohol, not too much new oak, and good amount of acidity and freshness.’
Sitting down for a tasting at Edio Vineyards, offers visitors a unique hospitality experience, sweeping vineyard and mountain views, and a winning lineup of fresh, balanced, wines made with obvious attention to detail in the vineyard and the cellar.
A few of my personal favorite Edio wines are the Grenache (light, fresh, and juicy this is best served slightly chilled), Albariño, rosé of Mourvedre, and MGS blend (Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah). Though, I really liked all of the wines and even their craft hard cider and this is rare for me to experience at a winery (truly liking everything they make!). I also love the fact that Edio has a draft wine and cider program where you can fill up a growler of wine or cider and come back to get it re-filled when you need more.
More ways to visit the winery and farm:
The Delfino Farms bakery, Joan’s Apple Bakery, and their farm grounds are open the last weekend of every month during Summer. The winery also hosts live music events and concerts featuring popular bands Saturday nights from June through August.
Book a winery tasting or check out upcoming events on their website.
Other California winery and wine region-related posts:
Mendocino Wine Tasting-7 Must Visit Wineries
Paso Robles Wine Tasting: 3 Unique Experiences
Sonoma Coast Wineries You Should Visit