BIG wines in Amador, CA

Twelve of us--six New Englanders and six Arizonans--spent four days visiting small, family-owned vineyards in Amador County, CA, last week. Many of the wineries employ sustainable operations, including solar power, wind power and biodynamic farming. As important, they produce fantastic wines for very reasonable prices! Lots of new, big, chewy reds and luscious whites were tried ('quaffed' is more like it), and I've listed a few below. All I can say is, LOOK FOR 'EM!

This yummy, salty and savory plate contains many goodies that I turned our friends onto while out there: fresh asparagus and fennel that I tossed in local olive oil and s&p and grilled for serving; three varieties of olives that were super buttery and perfectly brined; organic salami; various crackers and breadsticks from local CA bakers; and, last but not least, chunks of delectable, creamy and firm goat cheese called 'Roussette' made by a local cheesemaker who dined with us (along with her winemaker husband!).

Olives included Green Cerignola Olives (in front, the largest of the three shown), Nicoise Coquillos (in back, the small deep purple ones) , and to-die-for Castelvetranos--a meaty, buttery, bright green olive (nope, no food coloring - just a perfect brining solution) that is sure to convince any olive-hater otherwise! All from Italy, I must confess.

Where did I find all these ingredients while driving from San Francisco up over to our final destination in Amador County? Why, at the famed, independently-owned Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op of course! :) While perusing Google's map of the area (for determining a good route for us New Englanders), I came across their website. Talk about a perfect location off the highway--it took us all of 5 minutes out of our way, and was well worth the effort. We loaded up on the groceries for the "big feast" (14 people), which, if you recall, was detailed in my previous blog titled 'My Favorite Coffee Mug'! And guess what? The were only a couple of deviations from my original menu, one of which was the squid.  It ended up fried calamari the night before the feast. I obtained glisteningly fresh, sustainably-fished Pacific squid at the co-op, cleaned them, and lightly coated them in a mix of flour, corn meal, garlic powder, chili powder and s&p before frying in a bit of olive oil (alas, these were the available pantry items for me to choose from). We squeezed fresh lemon over them and loved every bite!

As for the wines, they were delish. Lots of Barberas and Zinfandels and Petite Syrahs well worth looking for. Here are a few names and harvests to seek out:


Dillian Barbera '08 - super chewy and full of fruit (raspberry and plum), with cherry and cedar on the nose; ~$24

Dillian Vino Nostro '08 - a blend of zin, barbera and syrah that is also super chewy and full of fruit (boysenberry, strawberry and plum), with plum and anise on the nose; ~$24

Cedarville Vineyards Viognier (vee-on-yay) '08 - probably the best viognier I have ever tasted! Beautifully rich, clean and lingering on the palette, with pear and honeysuckle on the nose; ~$20

Cedarville also produced a Petite Syrah that was my most favorite: an '07 that blew us away with flavor (not to mention its pairing with a manchego cheese offered by the vintners). Peppery with hints of cocoa and cherry, and well worth the ~$27!

We visited many vineyards, and all provided great photo ops. Here's a vine performing its solo act at Story Winery:

...and the vines and barrels at Cooper Vineyards (where we also bought a "derishuss" port-like blend of zin and barbera called Dicembre):

Amador vintners are pleasant, casual folks who love to share their wine (and the local cheesemakers aren't bad either!) All in all a great way to try new wines!