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Lori and I spent last weekend with her mother, celebrating her birthday. Not too much real celebrating, no party or anything (she had a big birthday last year), just spending some time with her and her significant other (of 30 years or so). Since she lives up in the Sierra Foothills, we thought it would be fun to go visit some wineries. And since have spent very little time in the Amador County wineries, this seemed like a weekend to get better acquainted with the area.
There are three counties in the Sierra Foothills where most of the grapes are grown: El Dorado County, Amador County and Calaveras County. We're pretty familiar with El Dorado County, the northernmost of the three, and the one that is generally highest in elevation. The Amador wineries are in general 500 to 1000 feet lower in elevation, and closer to the floor of the San Juaquin Valley, the central valley in California, and so these vineyards see more heat in the summer. It seems that every winery makes at least one Zinfandel, plus some other wines.
For Day 1 we went to Renwood, Deaver, Terre Rouge/Easton and Karly, with a stop for lunch in the middle. It had been raining for most of Friday, and again Saturday morning as we left. Gray skies don't normally make for the most picturesque views, but it is winter, and the grape vines (and the rest of California) need the water, so overcast seemed just fine for the day. By the time we got to the first winery, we just had some light mist to deal with, nothing that was going to get in the way of hitting a few wineries.
First up was Renwood Winery, founded in 1993, but which has been growing Zinfandel for a long time. Their Grandpere vineyard was planted sometime before 1860. That's a while ago, even for those of us that don't do math. Lots of Zin to taste, some blend, some single vineyard. Some other wines too, but they really didn't make an impression on me, or I'd be talking about them now. My favorite was the Grandpere Zin, but their low priced blend was a good value as well. The owner of Renwood is from Boston, and there is a bit of Boston sports memorabilia in the tasting room. We lived in Boston for a while, and supported most of the local teams (Celtics excepted), so it wasn't so bad. At least there were no Yankees flags in the tasting room!
 Next on the list was Deaver Vineyards, just up the road from Renwood. This property has been in the family for 4 generations, with the first vines being planted around 1853. Their Zinfandel vines are comparatively young at around 120 years old. Very nice people in the tasting room, and a lot of good stuff to browse through and purchase. They also offer a free non-alcoholic drink to anyone who is being the designated driver for the day. Deaver has a bed and breakfast, called Amador Harvest Inn, on the property. Four rooms upstairs, cute but not over-decorated. Guests staying there get to fish (catch and release only) in the large pond on the property, which is home we were told to some very large bass. From the B&B, two of the rooms overlook the pond, as seen in the photo. The other two rooms have a view across the road to 125+ year old Zin vines, and a grove of walnut trees that's even older.
For lunch we went into Plymouth, and ate at the Vintage Market. Nice lunch. They had sold out of their soup, so we didn't get to try that. Too bad, because while the rain had stopped, it hadn't warmed up much. But the quesadilla special was great, served with homemade salsa.
 Terre Rouge and Easton was next, and we were treated to a few splashes of sunshine on the vines. These are two labels from the same winery. The Terre Rouge wines are Rhone blends, with some seriously good stuff going on there. We bought a bottle of one of their red blends. The Easton wines are more the classic California wines, including their Zinfandels, which were also pretty darn good. Terre Rouge / Easton had the most knowledgeable people we found working their tasting room. Ask for Doug, the tasting room manager.
The final winery of the day was Karly Wines. A smaller winery than any of the others, and focused on Zins. 5 different Zins, plus a few other wines. The winery is a bit further off the beaten path than the others, with some real nice views of the foothills. Not only a smaller winery, but also a smaller tasting room, so if others have the same idea at the same time as you, the tasting room can get a bit crowded. But the staff there seemed to handle it pretty well. 
A very nice day in the foothills, then home to the pulled pork sandwiches that had been cooking in the crock pot while we were off enjoying ourselves. The Day 2 report is coming up soon.
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