19th Annual

Passport Weekend at

Fitzpatrick Winery & Lodge

Special Guest:

Pedrozo Farmstead Cheese

Wood-Fired Oven Pizzas

Katie's Hummus & Chips

Dark Chocolate treats

to enjoy with our estate wines

2008 Eire Ban

2008 Chardonnay

2009 Sangre de Montana

Tippitonia 

Basque Heritage Red

2008 Petite Sirah

2006 Morrissey's Journey

and our 2006 lineup of stellar red wines

El Dorado Wine Country Passport Weekends 19th Annual

April 10 & 11 and April 17 & 18

19 years of tradition that started as a novel idea to obtain an El Dorado Wine Country Passport and visit 8 wineries over the course of two days and enjoy a special presentation of each winery's wines paired with food. The uniqueness was and still is that we're not all neatly together under one tent or in a big hall but you visit each winery on their own turf and enjoy their individual touch and presentation.

This year, the 19th Annual Passport Weekend consists of 23 wineries to visit over two days, an almost impossible task and there's no prize for that accomplishment so take your time and visit as many as you can comfortably. For the 18 previous years this event has sold out way in advance. This year almost sold out  as before except for about 50 tickets each weekend (as of April 5th) and will surely sell out by the day of the event. So if you haven't got your tickets visit www.eldoradowines.org asap.

Here at Fitzpatrick Winery & Lodge we set up a separate area out on the deck (weather permitting) next to the wood fired oven and set up an island bar to present our wines paired with homemade goodies. At Fitzpatrick's we have our own commercial kitchen and therefore we prepare all our own food offerings made from scratch and made form the finest organic ingredients in the world. Our emphasis is always on homemade quality. This year we will make a number of wood-fired oven pizzas specially designed to show off our wines made from organic flours and toppings. Since I sell our wines year round at several Farmers Markets I access the best ingredients like fresh asparagus, onions, garlic and even the cheeses.

And we are excited to have a family farmstead cheese maker, Pedrozo Cheese from northern Sacramento Valley here to sample their delicious cheeses and sell cuts to take home. There special Black Butte aged cheese will help make a very special pizza for Passport holders to enjoy too.

Talking about Pizza our 15th season of Friday Night Wood-Fired Oven Pizza starts April 30th and one of many quality upgrades this year will be incorporating northern California cheese like Pedrozo's farmstead cheese and Petaluma Creamery's Mozzarella and creamy white cheddar.

Passport Weekends are also a great time to stock up on Fitzpatrick Wines which are offered at Duty Free prices plus extra specials on 6 or more bottles.

And one more thing: CHOCOLATE - Belgium Dark Chocolate that I get in big blocks which I make several ganaches (creamy middle of truffles) and then hand-dip in solid dark chocolate. Another specialty here is roasted hazelnuts or almonds and dried cherries soaked in our Syrah wine dipped in this luxuriant dark chocolate. If you've never been here for Passport Weekend, you definitely are missing more than you can imagine.