Is Amador California’s Last Great
Undiscovered Wine Region?

Our premier Best-of-Appellation tasting inspires a brief history and tour of just one area in the vast Sierra Foothills AVA, along with some tasty wine notes about some Gold and Silver medalists.

by Stan Hock
May 16, 2008

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t’s ironic that what some consider California’s last great undiscovered wine region has a winemaking history dating back 150 years. Long before a handful of wine writers convinced Americans that they should be drinking super-extracted red wines, Amador County in the Sierra Foothills had a corner on the style; yet today it escapes the glare of vinous approbation received by once-overlooked regions, such as Paso Robles.

Amador is in the heart of California's scenic Gold Country, an historic wine region that also encompasses El Dorado, Calaveras and Nevada counties. It was here, in the rugged western foothills of the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain range that the state’s wine industry took flight during the Gold Rush. As fortune seekers, many of them European, flocked to the Sierras to prospect for gold, small wineries arose to help slake their thirst. Within a few decades, there were more wineries in the “Mother Lode” than in any other region of California. Some vines planted during that era survive to this day.

The decline of gold mining at the end of the 19th-century, followed by Prohibition in 1920, laid low this frontier wine community, which remained dormant until the late 1960s. At that time, a new generation of pioneers began migrating to the Gold Country, drawn by the region's rolling, sun-drenched hillsides, warm climate, and volcanic, decomposed granite soils – ideal conditions for cultivating high-quality wine grapes. When their robustly flavored red wines began attracting the attention of wine lovers, the historic Sierra Foothills wine region was reborn.

Today, Amador boasts 40 wineries and 3,000 acres of wine grapes, a high percentage of which are farmed organically. The majority are in the northern part of the county in the Shenandoah Valley and Fiddletown appellations, near the small town of Plymouth.

Growing Conditions

In these areas, vines are planted almost exclusively on rolling, oak-studded hillsides – ranging from 1,200 to over 2,000 feet in elevation – in Sierra Series soils derived from decomposed granite. These sandy clay loam soils effectively retain Amador's modest annual rainfall, enabling most growers to dry-farm their vineyards. Dry-farming, along with the fact that many vines are planted on their own roots or on self-regulating rootstocks like St. George, results in low crop yields. Combined with Amador's high solar radiance - what the French call luminosity - this ensures full maturation of the grapes.

Amador has a warm climate (classified as a high Region 111 in the UC Davis heat summation system) comparable to northern Napa Valley. Although it heats up early in the day, temperatures rarely exceed 100 degrees, a common occurrence in other California wine regions. Equally important, temperatures typically drop 30-35 degrees in the evening as breezes cascade down from the Sierras. This rapid cooling helps Amador grapes retain the acidity essential to balanced wines.

Amador's production of robust, intensely flavored red wines also reflects its high percentage of old vines: roughly 600 acres are 60 years or older, including several vineyards dating to the 19th century. These deeply rooted, head-trained vines are responsible for the intense, concentrated Zinfandels for which Amador County is renowned.

Diversity and change

While Zinfandel remains the region’s signature variety, Amador wineries also vinify high-quality Barbera, Sangiovese, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Rosé (largely from Zinfandel and Rhône varieties), and dessert wines.

Given its history and scenic environment, one wonders why these wines have yet to be fully discovered, especially by fans of blockbuster reds. True, Amador is a bit off the beaten path (45 miles east of Sacramento and a two-hour drive from the San Francisco Bay Area) and doesn’t offer ‘mainstream’ varieties (Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc.), but it’s a beautifully rustic area far from the madding crowd with innumerable wine nuggets of great value. By and large, Amador wines are half the cost of comparable wines from coastal regions.

One needs to revisit the 1970s and ‘80s to understand why Amador has a lingering identity problem. After rugged Zinfandels from Sutter Home, Montevina, Ridge, Carneros Creek and Mayacamas wineries put Amador on the fine wine map in the early 1970s, a new generation of wine pioneers migrated to the region. But, unlike the doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs who flocked to Napa Valley, these folks – mostly home winemakers from the San Francisco Bay Area – lacked the means to hire trained winemakers or purchase new equipment.

Many were weekend wine warriors whose ambition was to sell a few hundred cases annually to visitors to their makeshift tasting rooms. Not surprisingly, wine quality varied considerably, with high volatile acidity, astringent tannins and funky cooperage sometimes marring the region’s intense, spicy fruit. In an era predating the “bigger is better” ethos, many consumers, retailers and wine writers simply didn’t appreciate what Amador had to offer. (On the other hand, many red wine lovers became and remain rabid Amador fans.)

During the 1990s, a group of Amador wineries emerged with the capital, technical expertise and determination to produce quality wines on a consistent basis and market them nationally. These included Montevina, Shenandoah Vineyards (and its sister winery, Sobon Estate), Karly, Amador Foothill, Domaine de la Terre Rouge (a Syrah specialist), Vino Noceto (which introduced Sangiovese to the region) and Renwood (which made a splash with a half-dozen rich, polished Zinfandels.) The rest of the region’s wineries, however, remained fairly provincial.

Since 2000, the quality ethos of the vanguard group has spread throughout the region as grape growers apply modern vineyard management techniques, wineries acquire new, quality crushers and presses, and winemakers more thoroughly master their art. Key to this evolution has been an infusion of fresh blood, as a dozen new wineries have emerged on the scene, many led by savvy young entrepreneurs committed to making fine wine and expanding their reach beyond the region’s traditional – and aging – Sacramento-area customer base. Amador’s tasting rooms are now filled with far-flung Millennial-generation consumers avidly searching the hills for liquid gold.

The Wines of Amador County

A recent APPELLATION AMERICA tasting of close to 100 Amador County wines revealed the effects of this ferment of change. While the roughhewn style of days past is still evident, there clearly is a move toward a more refined winemaking approach emphasizing rounder fruit, smoother tannins and newer oak. Based on our tasting, here’s an overview of where Amador stands today and the wineries that are leading the way to a higher level of quality and distinction.

Zinfandel

Amador’s old, low-yielding hillside vines produce robust, spicy Zinfandels with ripe, dusty, blackberry and raspberry fruit aromas augmented by cedar, clove and licorice spice tones and hints of rose petal, raisin and cocoa. The wines from its primary appellation, Shenandoah Valley, tend to be heavy and brawny, while those from the smaller Fiddletown appellation, while still robust, are leaner and brighter, with more cherry and red berry tones and crisper acidity.

Our tasting of some 40 Amador Zinfandels revealed that the wines are still big and high in alcohol (although no higher than Zins from other regions) with super extract and intense, earthy-spicy flavors. However, many of the wines – especially from Amador’s new guard – are decidedly more polished. This was best exemplified by our gold-medal-winning C.G. DiArie Shenandoah Valley Zinfandel, which boasts bright fruit and supple tannins elevated by French oak tones. (C.G. DiArie is one of Amador’s newest wineries, although its vineyard has produced wines from Amador grapes for years.) Several medal-winning wines from Montevina Wines also reflected a more refined style: the elegant Terra d’Oro, the spicy Terra d’Oro Home Vineyard and the complex, gold-medal-winning Terra d’Oro SHR Vineyard, a field blend of Zinfandel, Barbera and Petite Sirah.

Macchia Winery Grandpere Vineyard Zinfandel and Vino Noceto OGP Zinfandel embody the old, iconic Amador style – intense, saturated and incredibly extracted, with teeth-staining fruit. Splitting the difference is a trio of silver-medal-winning Zins from Scott Harvey Wines, including a wine produced from a Shenandoah Valley vineyard planted in 1869.

Our conclusions? Those who have always favored Amador Zinfandel will continue to enjoy it; recent converts to the big, jammy style who haven’t yet discovered Amador will appreciate its best wines; and those turned off long ago should take another look.

Barbera

Some Amador aficionados believe its best wine is not Zinfandel, but Barbera, the workhorse red of Italy’s Piedmonte region. Our tasting of Amador Barberas lent credence to this view, with roughly 50 percent of the wines meriting special commendation.

Amador Barberas offer plump, perfumed black cherry, plum and blueberry fruit with velvety tannins, vibrant acidity and intriguing licorice, tar and toasted nut tones. Our gold-medal-winning wines came from Renwood and Deaver Vineyards, two well-established wineries, while newcomers Avio and Bray Vineyards distinguished themselves with silver medals. (Bray also makes a wonderful Barbera Rosato.) Scott Harvey Wines and Shenandoah Vineyards, two other venerable Barbera producers, also won silver medals. (Other top Amador Barbera producers include Cooper Vineyards, Drytown Cellars and Montevina Winery.) The award-winning wines were mostly vinified from high-elevation, head-pruned vines and displayed a judicious use of oak, allowing Barbera’s juicy, bright fruit to shine through.

Sangiovese

Our tasting of Amador Sangioveses confirmed that, for the most part, the noble grape of Italy’s famed winegrowing region of Tuscany has yet to make its mark in California, despite widespread planting of the variety throughout the state during the 1990s. Like Pinot Noir, Sangiovese has numerous clonal variations; and it is challenging to grow and vinify successfully. (Among other things, it crops heavily and surrenders its personality easily to oak). Only one of the Amador Sangioveses we tasted earned a gold medal: Vino Noceto Riserva, from an Amador producer that has specialized in the grape since 1990. Vino Noceto has planted the best clones of Sangiovese in its estate vineyard and produces up to nine renditions each year, including several single-block wines. They are among the most impressive Sangioveses produced in California.

Syrah & Petite Sirah

Syrah has gained a foothold in Amador only during the past 15 years, but it commands major attention due in large part to the highly regarded wines of Domaine de la Terre Rouge, an artisan producer that makes five Syrahs annually from vineyards ranging in elevation up to 3,000 feet. While no wines from Terre Rouge were included in our initial Syrah tasting, the flight still shone, with one gold medal and five silver medals.

In Amador’s warm climate, Syrah tends to the ripe, jammy end of the varietal spectrum, with dense, earthy, black fruit flavors more reminiscent of Australian Shiraz than the lean, spicy wines of the northern Rhône Valley. Our gold-medal-winning C.G. DiArie Syrah melded rich fruit with savory French oak tones to create a sumptuous wine whose well-integrated tannins reflect the winery’s practice of submerged cap fermentation. C.G. Di Arie also won a gold medal for its Petite Sirah, as did Macchia, a new Amador winery.

The high percentage of gold-medal winning wines in our small Petite Sirah flight indicates that Amador is a prime site for this mainstay of California winemaking. As with Zinfandel and Syrah, low-yielding hillside vines are the key to producing top-flight Amador ‘Pet’, especially when coupled with careful cap management to temper the variety’s grainy tannins.

White Wines & Roses

White wine is not Amador’s strong suit, but the region’s wineries do produce some excellent Sauvignon Blancs and Viogniers. In our tasting, Cooper Vineyards, owned by a longtime grower family, stood out, winning silver medals for its clean, fresh Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc and a gold medal for its delightful Orange Muscat. Sobon Estate, whose heritage dates to 1856, won a silver medal for Viognier, a specialty of the house. While we tasted few Rosés for this tasting, Amador makes many excellent ones, including perennial winners from Amador Foothill, Bray, Domaine de la Terre Rouge and Vino Noceto.

Miscellaneous Reds

Amador produces tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, as well as a smattering of wines made from Rhône varieties like Mourvedre and Grenache and more esoteric (for California) varieties like Tempranillo, Alicante Bouchet and Pinotage. Last, but not least, if you visit Amador, be sure grab a bottle of Nine Gables Mission, made from the oldest grape variety in California, which was first planted in Amador in the 1850s. It’s a one-of-a-kind wine that earned a silver medal from our panel.

Dessert Wines

Although the Amador wine community downplays it for fear of being labeled a sweet wine region, many wineries craft excellent dessert wines, which often are great bargains. These include port-style wines made from Zinfandel and/or native Portuguese varieties and light-bodied dessert wines from varieties of the Muscat grape. Of ten sweet wines tasted for this report, half earned silver medals, including two excellent port-style wines from St. Barthelemy Cellars.

Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that Amador wineries are a delight to visit. Most are small family operations offering complimentary tasting in congenial settings. You’re liable to be greeted by the owner or winemaker (often the same), who invariably will extend the low-key, gracious hospitality that is another Amador trademark.