Long Creek Winery is a boutique winery encompassing thirty acres neatly tucked away in the Sierra Foothills within a stone's throw of massive Lake Oroville, seventy miles north of Sacramento, California. The vineyards and winery are uniquely situated on the western side of the Sierra mountain range where the four seasons are relatively mild. The vineyards enjoy a micro-climate that is comparable to some of the hillside country of central and northern Italy. The winery's close proximity to Lake Oroville with its 177 mile shoreline and 15,000 surface acres of water tempers the long hot days in the summer with gentle evening breezes giving the grapes a long growing season maximizing sugar and tannin development. Within this unique micro-climate the grapes enjoy the right combination of soil, sun, wind and water (the French call it "terroir").

This beautiful combination produces grapes of deep color, balanced acidity, soft tannins and intense fruit flavors. The water to irrigate the vineyards is crystal clear and pure and flows through the ranch, free of chemicals and chlorine. This water originates from a very small town in the Sierra known as La Porte at an elevation of 5,000 feet, and is fifty miles distant from the vineyards. This water then flows into our two acre pond, which is also spring fed, and not only irrigates the vineyards, but also is a constant supply for our pure bred angus cattle, olives and satsuma mandarins. 

As a boutique winery total emphasis is placed on quality and not quantity. The vineyards are meticulously pruned to provide low yield grapes. It is our philosophy that low yield vineyards provide the greatest quality grapes. Premium wines are influenced from quality grapes and our winemaking techniques in the winery render the wine's style and it is in this style that we cater to the modern-day wine enthusiast.

By design our winery is highly efficient and produces approximately 1800 cases annually. Our grapes are grown on the winery premises from single-vineyard varietals, except for the Merlot and Chardonnay, which are obtained from premier growers in Napa and Sonoma. Every facet of grape growing and winemaking is done by the Cecchis--from preparing the soil, installing the trellis and drip irrigation systems, planting the vines, and culturally tending and pruning the vines and harvesting. And in the winery we pay close attention to crushing, fermenting, aging, bottling and packaging. 

Our winemaking process is a combination of modern-day technology and old-world Italian tradition. We strive to achieve long, gentle fermentations in small lots so that we can produce wines with deep color, robustness, and soft tannins. By using small lot fermentations we can accurately control temperature and sugar conversion optimally and this is crucial for producing superior wines. We use minimum sulfite and do not use filtering or fining agents, but let the wine age naturally in American and French oak barrels for a minimum of one year. We achieve clarification of our wines through "racking". Racking is a procedure of draining the clear wine off its lees, or sediment, from one oak barrel into a clean oak barrel--and we do that six times over a one year period. This is highly labor intensive--but the reward is deep colored and clear wine naturally.

Harvesting is one of the more exciting times at the winery and is the only part of our vineyard operation where we need assistance--and we obtain it from our friends. We use forty friends who help us pick the grapes and they look forward to this event each year. It is truly a rewarding experience to see the fruits of our labor in beautiful grapes hanging from the vines. We pick our grapes in the very early morning when they are cool and crush them immediately. We are usually finished by mid-day each time we harvest and then we all sit down to a big Italian meal and enjoy last years' wine.

The Vineyards: