First of two parts

Since the 1840s, people have ventured into Lake County largely to take something out.

Early on, it was cattle fattened on lush valley grasses, then quicksilver and borax, butter and cheese, walnuts and pears, largemouth bass and catfish, and cures from simmering mineral springs.

Today, add loot from casinos, energy from geothermal pools, photos from birdwatching and, increasingly, wine.

Draped high on ridges overlooking Clear Lake, sweeping up the slopes of Mount Konocti and spreading across plains from the lake's shores, vineyards now cover 8,304 acres of Lake County, with another 500 acres being planted.

Lake County today has 32 wineries, approaching the total it had before Prohibition. The recovery has been slow and often overlooked even by wine enthusiasts.

"For years, we were treated like an Eastern bloc country, with Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino buying our grapes," says Jed Steele.

He came to Lake County in spring 1983 as winemaker for Kendall- Jackson and got so smitten with the area that he established his own winery, Steele Wines, on the west side of Clear Lake in 1991.

Most Lake County grapes are shipped out of county – 85 percent of the total, figures Shannon Gunier, executive director of the Lake County Winegrape Commission.

Nonetheless, there are those 32 wineries now in Lake County, all trying to establish recognition for the area as a fine-wine region by bottling their wines with such local appellations as Clear Lake, High Valley, Red Hills and Guenoc Valley.

We ventured into Lake County recently to see what those wineries were up to, in part as judges at the first Lake County commercial wine competition, which drew 168 entries in a broad cross-section of classes.

Along the way, we visited Ceago Vinegarden, a genuine touch of Napa Valley in laid-back Lake County. It also is the center of biodynamic grape growing in the region, a discipline that practices a naturalistic approach to maintaining soils and controlling pests.

Thus the flock of sheep out front and the cow horns on the tasting counter, to be filled with a manure-based "tea" and buried in the vineyard.

The estate is the creation of Jim Fetzer, scion of a pioneering Mendocino County winemaking family (Fetzer Vineyards). Given that background, how did he end up in Lake County?

"A big part of our growth (at Fetzer Vineyards) was fed by Lake County," says Fetzer. "We (The two counties) have a lot in common. We both get beat up on grape prices."

While his approach to grape growing is revolutionary, Fetzer subscribes to the prevailing belief in Lake County that its viticultural and enological esteem will rise largely on the strength of sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon.

Almost 95 percent of the county's vineyards are planted to the two varieties, though several vintners, including Fetzer, see potential in such grapes as cabernet franc, tempranillo, malbec, syrah, barbera and even muscat.

We head south to Lake County's most remote appellation, Guenoc Valley, home to 22,000-acre Langtry Estate & Vineyards, site of the competition.

Going in, judges expected sauvignon blanc to show well, given the county's extensive plantings and its established history with the varietal, and they weren't disappointed. Of the 21 sauvignon blancs to get an award, four got gold medals, while 13 were given silver.

The results weren't so encouraging for cabernet sauvignon, on which growers and vintners also are gambling. Only one of the 27 cabernet sauvignons won a gold medal, though 11 others got silver.

The varietal to generate the most buzz among judges, however, was an old Lake County workhorse, though growers and vintners don't much talk it up nowadays – petite sirah. Each of the 13 petite sirahs in the competition won a medal, five of them gold, more than for any other class.

"We have just one little section of petite sirah," says Fetzer. "I wish I'd planted more of it."

Until he does, several other releases are available, giving today's visitors something else to bring home from Lake County.

Coming Thursday in Living Here/Outbound: As you amble through Lake County exploring vineyards, keep in mind that there's much more to the trip.