Wineries in Murphys?

WINE TALK
1

Hello

I will be visiting Murphys this weekend and heard there are many wineries there.

Looking for recommendations of wineries to visit.

2

My most recent visit to tasting rooms along Main Street in Murphys was about six years ago, but hopefully my write-up from then will still be of some help:
Sierra Foothills - November 2012
Scroll down the page to the last three stops from that brief wine tour and you’ll find visits to Lavender Ridge, Twisted Oak, and Hovey. Of the three, Hovey was my favorite on that occasion but all three places poured some good wines and were quite different from each other. I didn’t visit Tanner on that trip but I’ve had some nice wines from them in the past.

In case you haven’t seen it, this webpage has a good listing of wineries in Murphys:
Wine Tasting in Murphys

Another possibility would be to see if you can arrange a visit with Matthew Rorick, whose vineyard and Forlorn Hope winery are just a couple of miles north of town. I stopped in for a visit with Matthew just over two years ago:
Visit to Rorick Vineyard / Forlorn Hope Wines - August 2016

My overall experience with Calaveras wines has been hit-and-miss but there are some good ones out there. Hope this info helps - look forward to hearing about your visit to Murphys!

3

“How many Murphy’s does it take to find a winery in Murphy?”

Sorry. Couldn’t help. Made me chuckle.

4

I would not hesitate to contact Mike Dunne for recommendations.

5

Great suggestion, Nate! Or at least search Mike’s columns in the Sacramento Bee for recent info on wineries in the Murphys area.

6

I like:

  • Gossamer Cellars: Doing pretty much every grape that no one else is doing in Murphys. Particularly like their Nebbiolo. Winemaker is typically pouring, so nice experience.


  • Milliaire: Wide variety of modestly priced wines. I really like their Alicante Bouschet. They have a sparkling and Gewurtraminer which are pretty good too.


  • Four Winds: I join their club, quit their club, join their club… Started with their Cab Franc, which has been pretty good but not great in recent vintages.


  • Val du Vino (far end of Main Street): Expensive for Murphys. Worth tasting because the quality is high.

Do report back on what you liked and didn’t like.

7

Milliare bottles some pretty good old vine Zinfandel, they used to bottle one from the Fiddletown Vineyard, but I haven’t been there in a while -
Millaire now owns the great little Black Sheep Winery down the street from Millaire’s tasting room- they still produce two very nice Zins - one from Amador fruit, the other from Calaveras fruit -

8

I’ve long been a fan of Twisted Oak, although it seems their style may be moving a bit away from my preference. Definitely worth a stop at the winery in Vallecitos if you can - there’s nothing like a drive through Rubber Chicken National Forest!
We’ve also enjoyed Brice Station in the past - they are a few miles further east up Highway 4.

9

We visited Murphy’s a couple years ago. You wont find anything that will really blow your mind, but I really enjoyed the wines from Newsome Harlowe and Hatcher. NH has a zin they bottle from Shake Ridge Ranch fruit that is quite tasty!!