The Fair Play AVA of California's El Dorado County was awarded AVA status in 2001. Centered around the town of Placerville, 35 miles (55km) east of the state capital Sacramento, Fair Play lies high in the Sierra Nevada foothills. With most of its vines planted at altitudes of 2000–3000ft (610–915m) above sea level, Fair Play has the highest average elevations of almost any wine-growing area in California. The Mount Harlan AVA, several hours to the south, is one of the few AVAs to rival Fair Play in this regard, and the similarity between their wine styles owes a lot to their terroirs.
The AVA centers on the town of Fair Play, a small settlement that began life as a gold-mining town in the 1850s (taking its name from the outcome of a disagreement between two miners). Viticulture didn't really play much of a role in the region until the American winemaking renaissance of the 1970s, when an experimental vineyard demonstrated the potential of the region.
The climate in Fair Play features warm days followed by considerably cooler nights: one of the benefits of the region's altitude. This affords the vines high sunshine levels and warm temperatures during the day, and allows them to cool down at night. Without this diurnal temperature variation, the berries would ripen too quickly without having the chance to develop complex tannins, sugars and phenolic compounds.
Soils on the hillsides are largely loam based and drain fairly freely. This, combined with the area's low rainfall, means vines in Fair Play vineyards are forced to develop deep, strong root structures in order to find water.
Wine regions with lots of sunshine and a long growing season typically produce wines with ripe, bright fruit flavors and balanced acidity in the grapes: thus, Fair Play wines are often very aromatic. The area's vine plantings favor the two classic Californian red-wine grapes, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. Although less common, another one of California's robust red favorites, Petite Sirah, is also proving successful here. Thanks to the acid-retaining coolness of night-time temperatures, Fair Play Zinfandel, Fair Play Cabernet Sauvignon and Fair Play Petite Sirah wines tend to display a balance between alcohol, sugars and acids. In particular, Fair Play Zinfandel displays fresh, red-berry fruit flavors with hints of spice and impressive depth.
The Rhone Valley's Syrah and Piedmont's Barbera are also prominent among the vine varieties here. This seems logical, as the topography here is similar to Piedmont's, while the climate is quite similar to that found in the Rhone Valley.
