Amador Wineries | New Wineries
Our Getaway to New
and Interesting Boutique Wineries in the Gold Country of Amador
County and El Dorado County - February 2005
Presidents’ Weekend means our annual trip with friends to
Sutter Creek to visit the wineries in Amador and El Dorado Counties.
Sutter Creek is simply the best little town in the Gold Country
and the perfect home base to find many interesting small wineries.
Several new wineries have opened since our visit last year, and
we are eager to find out what they have to offer to the wine adventurer.
There
are ten of us and we meet for lunch in Sutter Creek at the Caffé Via
d'Oro at 36 Main St. This is a popular spot with the natives and
it is a great place for lunch. While eating lunch we plot our wine
tasting schedule for the next two days. We call two wineries, Il
Gioiello and Cedarville, who are open by appointment only and arrange
a visit for the following day.
We begin our wine tasting adventure
in the Shenandoah Valley. Three new wineries have recently opened
on Shenandoah School Road. See our wine
road map if you want to
follow this wine trail.
The very first winery is Wilderotter
Winery, located
to the right just after turning onto Shenandoah School Road. The
tasting room is quite cozy and decorated with local artists’ paintings.
Jay Wilderotter is the owner and winemaker. Jay had been selling
his grapes to local wineries but in 2003 decided to produce his
own wines. In his first year, Jay produced 650 cases of wine and
plans to double that for next year’s production. Available
now are a 2002 Zinfandel and Syrah, and a 2003 Viognier and Roussanne.
The Syrah is delicious. The tasting room is open Friday to Sunday,
10:30 a.m. to 5.
From Wildrotter we continue on Shenandoah School
Road. We pass Bella
Piazza Winery on the right. Bella Piazza is
an attractive Napa-like winery but seems a bit out of character
in this charming wine country of family-owned wineries.
Just to
the left is Kelson
Creek Vineyards. Kelson Creek is not actually
new. The winery was Sonora Winery but with a change in partners,
the winery became Kelson Creek. Along with the new name is a new
approach to the wines.
The tasting room is new and is decorated
with all types of sports memorabilia. If you are a wine lover and
sports fan, you have come to the right spot. There is variety of
wines to taste including fine tasting ports. We end up getting
a fabulous deal on a case of Kelson Creek Screaming Eagle Zinfandel.
At $84 a case, it is hard
to pass up. The tasting room is open Friday to Sunday, 11 a.m.
to 4:30.
We continue on Shenandoah School Road and shortly after
passing Montevina Winery we arrive at Cooper
Vineyards. The Cooper
family has been growing grapes for years and is now producing some
fantastic wines under the guidance of winemaker Rich Gilpin. The
tasting room is Mediterranean style and displays some terrific
views of vineyards. The tastings are set so that one can try a
series of wines: a set of Zinfandels, Italian varietals, and Rhone
type wines. The Italian varietals were our choice
and we soon discover that these wines are outstanding. The Barbera
is a standout. It is priced at $20 and we consider it a value at
this price. The tasting room is open Friday to Sunday, 11 a.m.
to 5.
It is time to check in at the Hanford
House B&B in Sutter
Creek. Later that evening we walk a half-block to Zinfandels restaurant. We are never disappointed with our meals here. The
staff is friendly and the menu varied and the prices very reasonable.
The chef is Greg West who was formerly the chef at the famous vegetarian
restaurant, Greens, in San Francisco.
For Sunday, we plan to visit
three wineries, Il Gioiello, Cedarville, and Story. On the way,
we stop in Plymouth at the Pokerville Market. The Pokerville Market has
a great selection of local wines and a nice choice of picnic foods.
We stock up here for our picnic lunch later in the vineyards.
The
first winery on our list is an 11:30 appointment at Il Gioiello,
a winery that opened just a few weeks ago. This is what you call
a hidden winery. We get lost after taking a wrong turn in
the tiny town of Fiddletown. Eventually we get there through
some backroads and are welcomed by the owners, Robert and Christine
Morse. They give us a quick lay of the land pointing out how they
have planted hillside vineyards in relationship to the sun. We
also see where the tasting room and a barrel room will eventually
be built. It will be a few years before the vineyards mature, so
for now they are purchasing grapes. Il Gioiello currently has two
wines, a Syrah and Barbera and later this summer will release a
Zinfandel. The goal at Il Gioiello is to produce food friendly
wines that are full flavored yet do not overpower the food. We
taste all three wines, and end up purchasing the Zinfandel on a
futures price that is a great value. We will pick up the wine in
July at a release party at the winery. It’s a good excuse
to make another trip up to this beautiful wine country.
Our next
stop is Cedarville
Vineyards. This winery is in El Dorado County,
just over the county line in the wine AVA called Fair Play. Fair
Play is a very small wine area and has about 15 wineries. Cedarville
is by far is our favorite winery here for the simple reason that
all their wines are so good. Jonathon Lachs and his wife Susan
Morse, are the owners and winemakers. They make about 3000 cases
of wine per year. We taste all their wines, except for the Grenache,
which has been sold out. It is so hard to decide which of these
wines to buy.
As we prepare to leave, the sky opens up with a heavy
downpour. This puts a crimp in our plans for lunch at Story Winery
back in Amador. But Cedarville comes to the rescue. Jonathan and
Susan pull out some tables and chairs and we sit under their sheltered
crush pad and enjoy lunch while sipping fine Cedarville wine. The
rain just adds to the beauty of this wine country.
Our final stop
of the day is Story Winery. Last year at this time, the winery
had a barrel tasting event and some of us purchased “futures” and
they are now available.The winery is a beautiful setting overlooking
a small valley. Surrounding the winery are vineyards of old vine
Zinfandel (see photo). Story is famous for its Zinfandels, producing
eight different bottlings of this grape. This is a great spot for
a picnic lunch, provided it is not raining.
Now, it is back to the
Hanford House. We agree to skip going
out for dinner at a restaurant. Instead, we opt for hanging around
the Hanford House conference room. Here we can relax, snack on
hors d’oeuvres and sip on some of the bounty from our two
days of wine tasting.
The next morning we have a delicious breakfast
and say goodbye to this wine country. One last thing to do, reserve
our rooms for next year.
See more trails in the Sierra Foothills
Lodging, Restaurants, Picnic Information
Fine more information at:
The Amador Wine Association
The Wineries of Fair Play
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