The Wine and Tourism Industries Head for Amador

Amador County (pop. 41,000) in the Sierra Foothills is about 40 miles east of Sacramento, a metro area of 2.4 million people. The county is a mish mash of elevations and soil types, both things that make for interesting grape growing. 

Vineyards have been in Amador County since the mid-19th century, right when the nearby Gold Rush started. Zinfandel has been the star, but diversity has come to Amador in this century. Even with the history and great vineyards, not much attention was paid to the area. Economic reasons are now changing that. Old is meeting new in Amador County.

Amador County is outlined in red
Click on map to enlarge

For visitors who want to avoid the Napa prices and craziness, or even that of Sonoma or Paso Robles, they can set their way-back machine for the 1980s by visiting Amador County. Tasting fees? Sometimes, and it's usually five or ten bucks, refundable with purchase. Wine prices? Lots of wines in the $20s or $30s, but with higher prices on a few for those that need to spend more (they know their visitors). Instead of traffic you'll have narrow winding roads that may get you lost in the mountains.

So growth is coming, but there are plenty of reasons to visit Amador now. Zinfandel is their heritage, but Barbera, Sangiovese, and Syrah are also common. You'll find everything from Albarino to Tempranillo. Barbera may be the new star, as it does really well there. I think it's the best in California. The county has about 50 wineries; ten years ago it was about three dozen. There were two dozen wineries throughout the eight counties of the Sierra Foothills 30 years ago.

The ten acre original Grand Pere Vineyard
Planted 1869 in the Shenandoah Valley of Amador County

There's a new generation of trained winemakers coming to Amador; some are locals, some transplants from Napa and other wine country locations. One pioneer of the change, Scott Harvey, has been in the wine business since the 1970s in both Napa and Amador. His winery is in the Shenandoah Valley of Amador County, but still gets some grapes from Napa.

Helen Turley and Rombauer (now part of Gallo) have outposts in Amador. There's a somewhat fancy Napa-style restaurant, called Taste, in the community of Plymouth (pop. 1,100), though they still have Marlene & Glen's Diner that's open for breakfast and lunch only. Or if you want to drive up to Pine Grove (pop. 2,000)  there is Giannini's Italian Dinners housed in a 1901 brick building, built after the original stage coach stop inn burned down.

Amador Cellars. Nothing too pretentious  :)

Right now, everything is cheaper in the Sierra Foothills compared to coastal California. The land is cheaper, so the grapes are cheaper, meaning the wine is cheaper. There are a few fancy pants wineries coming in and charging fancy pants, but the old-timers are keepin' it real, for now anyway. I don't know how long they will be able to hang onto the local Gold County mountain charm.

Amador City main street