About two years ago we had some good friends from New York who wanted to go on a wine tour. We suggested they go into the foothills because the wineries there had two characteristics that the ones in Napa and Sonoma did not. First, they did not charge to taste. Second, many of the wineries made excellent wines which probably would not be available outside of California. Unfortunately, our friends decided that they wanted to go to Napa and we went to some of the bigger wineries there.
This weekend we had a friend from Mexico who also wanted to go on a wine tour but understood the possibilities of getting a bit off the beaten track. So we went to Amador county. We visited Youngs, Monteviña and Bella Piazza. All three offered hospitality and great wines. The best wines up there are reds. D'Agostini and Monteviña were the first two I knew about. In recent years the area has blossomed. We found great wines at each place we stopped. We also went to Villa Toscano which had a wonderful sandwich and grounds to have a light lunch. The pictures are from Young's and Bella Piazza.
The Amador vintners offer some interesting reds. Monteviña has a large enough production so that it can be purchased almost anywhere. They claim that their estate label (Terra d'Oro) is much better - I am not so sure, although some of the TDO wines are special.
I have done wine tasting since the early 1970s. I had the opportunity to taste with August Sebastiani, Joe Heitz and Louis Martini and Jim Nichelini. This was a different experience but was still a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
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