With Cappelli wines on demand, you taste, you like, they bottle it! The newest thing on Main Street in Placerville sounds innovative. But Cappelli Wines is embracing a European time-honored tradition: offering affordably delicious wines in bottles that are filled on the spot for you to refill on your next visit. And you’ll most likely be visiting a lot. Since they opened recently, they’ve already added to their menu with new varietals. Small production means they sell out fast and easily replace with other wines. But all are local and elegantly balanced, thanks to Marco’s expertise.

These wines are priced to be taken home and enjoyed with your daily bread. They are locally grown, support nearby farms, and delightfully hand crafted to show off the potential in the bounty of this Golden State. The Sierra foothills have a vast array of micro climates that cultivate varietals of all kinds. Here, vines are cooled by elevation rather than fog so they can remain on the vine longer, developing more complexity and enhancing the characteristics of each grape.

It’s no surprise Marco Cappelli chose this region over Napa, where he branched out. But it was a surprise to see him working in the tasting room, mingling with the locals, and sharing his creations. He’s quite comfortable in this role and proud to be offering $5 glasses of wine or a tasting flight of 6 wines with a wine club that’s only $40 bucks for 4 bottles! Reasonably priced means something different to everyone. But these prices and wines are designed for every palate to indulge. With the pride of a pioneer, Marco said, “We wondered if we could afford to do this but knew we couldn’t afford not to.”

More from my time in this lovely region.