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...off the beaten wine tasting path - Plymouth Wineries - Amador County
We visited here over Labor Day weekend. There are about 50 wineries in this area which is about 30 minutes southeast of Sacramento. Most tastings are free, $5 or $10 and apply to a purchase. The area is known for zinfandels and most wines are $30 and under.
Top 4 wineries rated by winery ambience
1. Skinner - about 10 minutes east in Fairplay. Gorgeous setting atop a hill with spectacular views. Covered seating on 2 levels with comfortable chairs and couches to taste outside, with a fireplace downstairs. The wines were good - a number of GSM blends with other grapes. I like their Estate Syrah the best. They were sold out of zinfandel.
2. Il Gioiello - off the beaten path on Lawrence Rd. Beautiful new tasting room with vinyards up the hills on 3 sides. Comfortable outdoor seating with a pizza oven on the patio and 2 boccie ball courts. I had tasted their montepulciano at dinner and it was my favorite of the 3 wines I tasted. Some decent red blends and a zin.
3. Renwood - Very nice and upscale with covered outdoor seating and food service - more Napa than Amador. 3 excellent $45 zins - my second favorite wines but a little overpriced for the area. Samples of good cheese, chocolate sauce and olive oil inside the tasting room.
4. Cooper - Pretty spot - tasting in a big barn that looks out on covered tables and the vinyards. Good sangiovese, zin and barbera.
The others:
Deaver - We had the most fun here - they had a rock band playing outside and a big tent covering picnic tables to eat barbeque sandwiches they were selling. Pretty spot with lots of grass and ponds. 3 or 4 good zins all under $30 - I liked their Signature zin the best. Interesting dessert wines.
Windwalker - in Fairplay. We had the most fun with wine here. Big tasting room but we were the only ones there on Friday afternoon. There were two women behind the counter - a younger one who grew up in Concord and an older one with a lot of personality who may have been the winemaker's wife. After tasting maybe 4 wines, the older woman kept handing me glasses of red and asking me what I thought they were - I didn't guess many of them correctly About a dozen different reds to taste all around $25 and all pretty good. Good sangiovese, zin (I bought one), syrah and a petite syrah/petite verdot blend that will knock your socks off.
Turley - their newest wine tasting room has been here for 2 years now. The best wine I had the whole trip was their $23 2013 Juvenile zin - big, rich and fruity. I tasted 3 others, all highly rated, around $45 - Estate, Mead and Dragon I didn't like as much. They also had some newer local zins I didn't taste. Excellent cheese and crackers served with the tasting - but they had none of the cheese left to sell.
Scott Harvery - new, next to Turley. He was the winemaker for Renwood when it started in the 1990s, started the Menage a Trois wines at Folie a Deux before it was sold to Sutter Home and he has been with a couple of other labels before starting his own winery here. The 1869 zin was excellent and the others were pretty good. A good, big $55 pinot noir.
C G de Arie - some decent wines. I liked their $30 2007 American Legend zin the best. Their $18 2010 Breakaway zin was my second favorite at dinner but they had not released it to the public yet.
Jeff Runquist - ok wines, little cheese and bread bites to go with the wines - I liked their syrah the best.
Sobon - regular zins are light and not that good. Reserve zins are much better - my favorite was the 2012 Tannat - and a good petite syrah.
Terrra Rouge/Easton - Decent wines, none great.
Food
Amador Vintage Market - in Plymouth. Most of the wineries have picnic tables where you can eat. Great sandwiches here, interesting side salads and truffled potato chips.
Taste - other than a couple of diners, this is the only restaurant in Plymouth. The ambience is very nice/comfortable and the food is as good or better than anything I've had in the Bay Area. Not cheap but worth it. They are known for their 'mushroom cigars' appetizer and the Colorado lamb. Desserts are very creative and delicious. A good selection of wines - in flights, make your own flight, tastes, half-glasses or glasses.
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