Fiddletown AVA was granted in 1983. It is one of two American Viticultural Areas in Amador County, and falls within the blanket Sierra Foothills AVA in California. Fiddletown AVA covers 11,500 hectares (28,400 acres) of land and adjoins the upper, eastern end of the county’s other AVA, California Shenandoah Valley AVA, but does so at a higher elevation and east of the town of Plymouth. Fiddletown’s wine industry dates from 1849 during the Gold Rush era. As Fiddletown AVA has few wineries of its own most grapes are sold. The main grape variety is Zinfandel. The soils are low in fertility.

Bibliography

Oxford Companion to Wine 4th edition ed. Jancis Robinson MW and Julia Harding MW (Oxford University Press, 2015), p.667 by Bruce Cass & Linda Murphy