Amador County, Home to Some of California's Oldest Wineries and Vineyards

About 80 miles due east of the hustle, bustle, and high prices of Napa is one of California's lesser known and lightly visited wine regions. Amador County is part of the larger Sierra Foothills wine region. Within Amador is the central wine hub of Shenandoah Valley that you enter from the town of Plymouth (pop. 1,100, founded in 1852 as a mining camp). In some ways, you are entering Napa Valley 40 years ago.

from historichwy49.com
click on image to enlarge

 
  Getting There

Plymouth is an hour drive from downtown Sacramento, 2.5 hours from either San Francisco or Reno, NV, and two hours from Napa. Most visitors come from the Sacramento area.

  History

This is the California Gold Country, where you'll find remnants of mining all around. Most of the little towns were founded in the 1850s as immigrants came to seek their fortunes. The Kennedy Gold Mine is less than 20 minutes from Plymouth and offers tours.

  Lay of the Land

Highway 49, named after the California Gold Rush of 1849, follows the base of the Sierra Foothills from south near Yosemite National Park and north to Nevada City. The road is mostly two lanes and curves its way along the base of the mountains. The counties that border Amador, El Dorado to the north and Calaveras to the south, also have quite a few wineries. The road is lined with Gold Country history, lodging, and restaurants.

  Wines

Amador's main grape crop is Zinfandel. You'll also find Vermentino and Viognier in white wines, plus Barbera, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, and Syrah in reds, and others.  

The oldest winery, originally Uhlinger, now D'Agostini, dates from the 1850s. The oldest vineyard, called the Original Grandpere Vineyard to distinguish from later plantings at that site, is from the 1860s.

  Wineries

There are about 50 wineries in Amador with most clustered in the Shenandoah Valley. The average tasting fee is about ten dollars. Remember when I said this was like Napa 40 years ago? Reservations for tasting are accepted, but usually not needed. 

Some suggestions of wineries to visit are Amador Cellars, Casino Mine Ranch, Cooper, Helwig, Jeff Runquist, Scott Harvey, Shenandoah, Sobon, Story, Vino Noceto, and there are plenty more to discover.

Sutter Creek, Amador County, founded 1844
Population 2,300. Not much different
from what it was during the Gold Rush