Recent Award Press Release
January 24, 2023

Truckee River Winery is proud to once again be recognized by the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. At this year’s 23rd annual event, Truckee River Winery took home three awards:
Gold for 2019 Pinot Noir
Silver for 2020 Old Vine Zinfandel
Bronze for 2019 barrel aged Chardonnay

The highest and coldest winery takes home three awards at San Francisco Chronicle’s 23rd Annual Wine Competition The winery’s flagship 2019 Tondré Pinot Noir is an unfined and unfiltered pinot with full aromas of cassis and sweet spice, with a hint of fresh earth. The palate is heavy and rich of dark cherry with subtle toasted French oak. Truckee River Winery’s 2019 Tondré oaked Chardonnay is full bodied and well rounded, with crisp apple flavors and subtle French oak. Produced in Truckee with 12 months of French oak aging, the cooler temperatures create a smooth medium body Chardonnay. “For 34 years we’ve been climbing the ladder. Every year we learn and every year we make better wine,” says founder and winemaker Russ Jones. “It's great to be recognized for all of our hard work." And recognized, they have! This year marks the 23rd year Truckee River Winery has medaled in the annual San Francisco Chronicle Competition. With nearly 6,000 wines from over 1,000 wineries entered into this year’s competition, medaling every year in such a high profile judging event is quite an accomplishment. There were over 60 judges representing various North American wine regions. For more information and a list of all award wining wines check out the SF Chronicle’s website here.

About Truckee River Winery: Founder and winemaker Russ Jones started Truckee River Winery in 1989, encouraged by friends who had enjoyed his homemade wine for years. Russ converted his two-car garage into a bonded winery, making about 1,000 cases that year. He’s been fine-tuning his craft and producing quality wine for the 30 years since. Almost all of the grapes are hand-picked in California, then driven up to Truckee where they are crushed that day. In 2020, Truckee River Winery consolidated to their downtown Truckee production facility, closing the doors on their tasting room. They offer tours, tastings, by the glass and bottle on their petite patio in front of their iconic winery in the red barn. A lawn bocce court, and corn hole are onsite for customer enjoyment, and picnics are welcome. ​