Some of the original settlers of Chicago Park were first-generation Italian-Americans from Chicago, Illinois. The orchards and vineyards of Chicago Park bear witness to their quest to start a community in the untamed West that mirrored their homeland. Their spirit lives on at Montoliva Vineyard & Winery. Founded in 2000, Montoliva Vineyard & Winery creates Tuscan-inspired wines of uncommon depth and character.
At Rodrigue Molyneaux, they believe that the great wine must come from great grapes. Nancy & Garry Rodrigue see to it that their grapes recieve intensive monitoring of the watering and pruning techniques. These farming practices keeps the yield down to three tons or less per acre. Although the yield will be smaller, the grapes will be larger with more fruit flavor. This is the reason Rodrigue Molyneaux red wines are so robust with a fruit-driven complex flavor.
Although Caddis is new it is quickly becoming one of my favorite wineries in Livermore. The winemaker Chris has had years if experience in the Livermore valley and it shows in his wines. It's no surprise the Caddis took home a number of Chronicle wine awards, their wines is phenomenal! Caddis is located next to Wood Family and are only open a select amount of days throughout the year.
Volcan Mountain Winery is nestled at the base of the picturesque Volcan Mountain. Our tasting room, winery, vineyard and orchard area only a mere 2 mile scenic drive from the historic town center of Julian, which began it’s roots in the 1870’s gold rush. Get away from the hectic rush of city life…discover the charms of Julian.
We intended on just tasting a few wines but to our surprise we were being served by the owner John, he kept opening up wines for us to try. Before we knew it we were sitting out side at one of the tables with full glasses and talking about his passion for making wines.
It was such a beautiful day he offered to take us on a tour of the vineyards, as we walked the estate we discussed the grapes, soil, vines and the care taken to produce these delightful wines.
Karmere is a good gateway winery. It has the light, fruity champagnes almond, raspberry and regular. They offer a wide range of Zinfandels and other reds here too. The wines are named after the females members of the family. Could the the place for a wedding or special occasion, beautifully designed for events. Spent quite awhile there, tasting at the counter and barrel-tasting as well.
Kings River Winery sits on the 40 acre farm that owner Bob Bagdasarian was raised on. Since 1954, Bob and his family have grown everything from grapes for wine and raisins, to peaches, plums, and apricots. In 2012, Bob decided to follow his passion and focus only on what he loves most, wine. With that passion came a lot of hard work and he planted 12 different varietals of wine grapes on the 40 acres and began building a state of the art winery, with wine making equipment unmatched by any winery in this region. Adding the finishing touches in 2014, Bob’s vision for a premium boutique winery, that would also fill the need for special event venues. Bob and Ashley (the Winery Manager) were so gracious on our first visit and made us feel at home. Bob even took the time to not only walk us through his winery but took John Krause of CaCorks for a walk through the vineyard and we got some video included in a short video presentation on a few of the wineries located in the Central Valley you can see HERE While we haven't tasted all of the wines produced at Kings River Winery, and we will be back, be sure you try: Alicante Bouchet, Barbara, Petite Sirah and Karmir to mention a few.
Hours:
Mon-Fri Closed
Sat 12:00 to 5:00pm
Sun 12:00 to 5:00pm
AURIGA WINE CELLARS is located in El Dorado County in Northern California. "Auriga" is the ancient Greek and Roman name of a constellation in the Northern hemisphere and is commonly referred to as the "charioteer." Auriga wines are made from Sierra Foothill vineyards. This is the historic location of California vineyards, which supplied the gold miners (49ers) with wine in the last century. The soils in the foothills are thin and vines have to struggle to survive, resulting in intense concentrated wines.
Lava Cap is a family-owned winery in Placerville, California. The Jones family planted their first vines in 1981 and opened the winery in 1986 on a special site in the heart of the Sierra Foothills. The family of geologists specifically selected this location for its prime volcanic soil that is particularly well suited to growing fine wine grapes. They named their new business after this unique "lava cap," where their grapes flourish in the volcanic soil, warmed by the foothill sunshine and cooled by gentle Sierra night breezes.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a valley known more for cattle ranching than vineyards that the story begins.
It was the Winter of 1999 when Frog's Tooth Vineyards began its life as a tadpole with the purchase of 67 acres of land in the Salt Springs Valley of Calaveras County.
It slowly grew through infancy until the Spring of 2003 when it began its transition to adolescence with the planting of approximately 10 acres of premium wine grapes.
