Shenandoah Valley in Amador County--Must Stops for Tastings?

My wife and I will be taking our 48th wedding anniversary in July in the Shenandoah Valley in Amador County. We will be there 2 1/2 days. Any wineries that are MUST GO TO in the area? And what wines should we try in these wineries? We will be bringing our famous Spongebob sippy cups to spit into, and are looking forward to a great time. We plan on taking our Pontiac Solstice and enjoying it too. Cats at home will be on their own, and will be pissed at us when we get back, but too bad!! Really looking forth to this!

Love and miss Vino Noceto. I’d reach out to Chaim at C.G.Di Arie as his place (not the tasting room) is amazing and the Zin really top shelf. Jeff Runquist makes fabulous wines. Scott Harvey and Story are also terrific. Marshall Gelb spends time there so hopefully he will chime in here.

I highly recommend Terre Rouge/Easton, which is located very close to Vino Noceto (which I also love). Wonderful syrah and zin (and others) that are built to age. They’ll usually have some special case deals on library wines where you can find some aged gems at very good prices. My folks used to be wine club members and would pick up their club shipments in person and would end up taking home an extra case or two each time because of these deals.

I second the Terre Rouge/Easton recommendation. They were pouring both library Syrah and Roussanne when I was in last month- both were outstanding.

Yup Terre Rouge/Easton and Vino Noceto are always must stops for me, highly recommended. I will also throw in Dobra Zemlja has a fun stop. You are really close to the Fair Play area of El Dorado county and would suggest making a trip up there. Make an appointment to visit Jonathan and Susan at Cedarville and Holly’s Hill. Sierra Vista is right next door and worth a visit as one of the original Rhone Rangers.

Check out board member Ken Zinn’s posting Winery Visits and Wine Tastings by Ken Zinns. Lots of info there.

Websites https://amadorwine.com/ and http://eldoradowines.org/

If you are venturing as far as Fair Play La Clarine Farm is a must visit.

Easton and Turley are close to each other, and both good stops.

We get there on a Wednesday, and check out on a Friday. Looks like we will be able to fit 8 wineries into our time there that have been recommended. Thanks to everybody, and bless you all for your help. The Spongebob Squarepants sippy cups ride again!!!

Reach out to Bill Easton - a great guy and wonderful producer of Rhone varieties who’s been at it for a few decades.

Cheers.

That’s my home turf, but Ken Zinns still knows it better than I do. As was mentioned, his reports on Grape Nutz are your best starting point.
I’ll echo the praise for Terre Rouge and Noceto. I’d add Cooper, Borjon and Dillian for barbera (an emerging Shenandoah Valley specialty), and I’ve enjoyed semillon at both Dillian and Andis .

Dillian definitely has a good Semillon.

Well, with the help of this board, we will hit the following places:

WEDNESDAY, JULY—VINO NOCETO 11AM TO 5PM
DOBRA ZEMLJA 10AM TO 5PM

THURSDAY, JULY-----JEFF RUNQUIST WINES 11AM TO 5PM
TERRE ROUGE/EASTON 11AM TO 5PM
TURLEY 10AM TO 5PM

FRIDAY, JULY----------STORY 10AM TO 5PM
C.G. DI AIRE 11AM TO 4:30PM
SCOTT HARVEY WINES 12N TO 5PM

Looking forward to a great 48th!!

I just spotted this thread (and thanks to Sean and Stewart for the shout-outs) - looks like you have some very good places lined up! I actually had an email exchange with a friend about this very area a couple of weeks ago, and he went to Vino Noceto, Terre Rouge/Easton, Turley, and Andis. He mentioned that Andis had a really nice Sémillon so if that interests you, you might try to squeeze in a stop there - it’s very close to many of your other planned visits.

If you end up with any spare time, consider a visit to Sobon, just a couple of miles northeast of Shenandoah Valley. The wines can be variable (though some can be quite nice) but it’s one of the area’s most historic wineries and they have a fun wine-focused museum next door to the tasting room.

A brief mention of food options: If you’re looking for a picnic lunch, try picking up something from Amador Vintage Market in Plymouth. The deli at Pokerville Market on the edge of town is also pretty good. And if you feel like coffee and a pastry in the morning (or very good breads for lunch), check out Andrae’s Bakery a few miles south in Amador City. For dinner, Taste (right in Plymouth) is one of the best restaurants in the Sierra Foothills - a little on the pricey side but top-notch food and service for the area. I’ve had a couple of good dinners at the Imperial Hotel in Amador City too, although it’s been a number of years since I’ve been there.

Happy Anniversary and have a great time!

I am almost positive Andis gets the Semillon grapes from Dillian.

Aha! Didn’t know that.
Dillian is very highly regarded as a grape farmer, locally. I don’t hear as much about his own wines, which I thought were impressive.

We will be adding Andis to our list for the first day for the Semillon. Also plan to visit Amador360 in Plymouth to taste St. Amant and Fate Vineyards Tempranillos. Taste restaurant is not open the first night we get there, so will nosh at the Plymouth Hotel, and the 2nd night eat at Taste.

St. Amant makes some very nice wines. Their winery is in Lodi but the family vineyard is in Amador.

As long as you’re at Amador 360, give the Kendric Sangio a whirl. Su-poib!

Yes - highly recommended!

Love seeing the love for Easton / Terre Rouge. His Syrahs and Zins with are built to do some time in your cellar and as Matt mentioned, the Roussanne is off the hook good.

Obviously Turley is a good stop and they usually have some Amador tasting room only wines available.

One time when I was out there, Bill Easton turned me on to Amador Foothill winery. They make a zin from the Esola vineyard (super old vine - I think Bedrock now sources from them too Sherman’s gold?) Anyway the wine is very ageworthy and a ridiculous steal at something like $20. They had a vertical open the day after Thanksgiving and the wines were drinking amazing for the price and amount of years they had on them.