A Different California Wine Country
Everyone has heard of California’s famed Napa Valley, home to many a cult Cabernet. It’s a wonderful place to visit, with top-notch restaurants and beautiful wineries set in a picturesque wide valley. But since everyone has heard of it, Napa Valley is best enjoyed on a weekday or off-season, when the traffic abates and tasting rooms have elbow room.
Some Sacramento-based friends recently introduced me to another wine country northeast of Napa and Sacramento: Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley (not to be confused with the Virginia AVA of the same name) in the Sierra Foothills.
The rolling, golden hills and unpretentious tasting rooms made this region a joy to explore and hop from winery to winery. Because it was so lovely, I thought I would try something a little different and post a series of photos of the experience, with tasting notes in a subsequent post. Enjoy!
Barrel Tasting at Villa Toscano
Villa Toscano's Gardens - a lovely spot for lunch
The very contemporary Andis Winery
We had a lot of fun tasting at Andis with Scott
A vulture in the vineyards of Dobra Zemlja
Up close to the vineyards of Dobra Zemlja
Amador County
Tasting notes to follow…
Amador County is one of my favorite wine regions. Where else can you enjoy scenic mountain beauty, world class wines, rural country roads, an abundance of wineries close to each other, and small friendly tasting rooms.
If you haven’t been wine tasting in this area, you are missing out on something unique!