Longtime friends Todd Williams and Rodney Strong created Toad Hollow Vineyards when they released their first vintage of unoaked chardonnay in 1994. As one of the leaders in unoaked Chardonnay, their consistent style featuring bright, crisp fruit flavors, continues to be a favorite.
Stephen and Jamie had a dream of owning their own vineyard someday. Their idea was to buy 5 to 10 acres in the Napa Valley and establish a vineyard. They created a five year plan to save the money they would need. Meanwhile Napa land prices skyrocketed from $35,000/ acre to well over a million dollars an acre. In the spring of 2000 their search lead them to the historic Amador County.While continuing to work full time jobs, they traveled to their ranch in Amador each weekend. Five wells were dug to find the water they would need to supply the vineyards. In 2004, they had their first crush as a bonded winery. 2006 saw the first crop from their estate vineyards. They expect to grow the winery production to around 2,000 cases annually, which they only sell in the tasting room and through their web site.They are now open with nine wines: Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Barbera, Mourvedre, Zinfandel, Syrah, ZinRah, Petite Sirah and a Gnarly Vine Zinfandel Port.
Husch Vineyards is a small, family owned and operated winery. It is the oldest winery in the Anderson Valley appellation, located in Mendocino County (Northern California) just 2 1/2 hours north of San Francisco. The tasting room is in a hobbit cottage straight out of the Shire. Worth stopping just to see it. People were friendly. The wines were very earthy and herby, almost gamey. Definitely distinctive. The tasting is free, which is rare even in Anderson Valley, so you have nothing to lose but a little bit of time and room in your stomach for something else.
Continuum Wine was founded in 2005 and is located on Pritchard Hill in the Vaca Mountains, the mountain range that forms the Eastern boundary above Napa Valley. This location was purchased in mid summer 2008 and there are plans to build a new winery on site. The winery is about 3 miles in from Sage Canyon Road, on a windy narrow steep road about 25-30 minutes from the town of St. Helena. While not an officially recognized sub appellation of Napa this area has long produced excellent wine. In fact, vines have been planted in the vicinity of Pritchard Hill since the late 1880's by Italian American Vintners. Two of Napa's typically 7 recognized cult wineries are here: Bryant Family and Colgin. Other nearby premium wineries include Chappellet, Ovid and David Arthur.
This was also a fabulous winery to taste at. They let us picnic in their beautiful courtyard, complete with bocce court, and supplied us with complementary glasses of wine to enjoy while we ate. The employees were chatty, knowledgeable, and not at all pushy.
Adobe Road Winery is a great place to hang.
Uniquely connected to the thrilling world of professional sports car racing, Kevin Buckler understands that achieving victories at speeds of 180 miles per hour requires extreme focus, attention, and a relentless pursuit of perfection. This same dedication applies to his passion for winemaking.
Following the remarkable success of his professional racing team, The Racers Group (TRG), Kevin and his wife Debra established Adobe Road Winery in the heart of Sonoma County in 2002. Their mission is to craft wines that embody the true essence of California’s most esteemed winegrowing regions. “We work hard to ensure that each bottle of Adobe Road wine showcases the best attributes of each individual vineyard within the appellations we source from,” Kevin explains. “We select the finest sites in Sonoma and Napa Valley for our elite Cabernet Sauvignons, while Dry Creek is chosen for our hedonistically rich Syrahs and Zinfandels. The Russian River and Petaluma Gap provide the ideal conditions for our ethereal Pinot Noirs and lavishly flavored yet sleek Chardonnays.”
Jason Moore is the winemaker and founding partner of Modus Operandi Cellars in Napa Valley. He believes that wine is one of those rare things that can evoke a wide range of feelings and emotions. Wine is enchanting and mysterious; it brings joy, confounds, and inspires. For many, these complexities spark a love that grows into a deep passion for wine. For Jason, this passion led to the creation of Modus Operandi Cellars.Modus Operandi Cellars puts out some truly fantastic wines and Jason is the perfect host for the tasting experience. We found him years ago almost at random, joined the club, and haven't looked back since. Both Jason's whites and reds are something special and still rank among my favorites of all time.
A 12,000 Sq ft world class facility, is perched on a hillside and has spectacular veiws of the nerby vineyards of the Sierra Foothills. Using the natural terrain, the architectural design of the winery was constructed on 2 plateaus, thus creating, "gravity feed" as part of the winemaking process. This facility, which features 2 art galleries, is built to enable the winey to produce a maximum of 16,000 cases annually.
This place is great! The people that work here are always extremely nice and are very educated on their product! Mike is always such a pleasure to sit and chat with.
Findleton Estate and Vineyard is a small, family-owned and operated winery that has earned the title of "Best Kept Secret in El Dorado County."
Visitors can enjoy the award-winning wines crafted by winemakers Tom Findleton and Carrie Golden at their charming tasting room at 3500 Carson Road, Camino, CA. With over 18 varietals to choose from, guests can also appreciate a "Fine Art Gallery" experience, as the tasting room features the artwork of Pamela Findleton. Producing approximately 2,500 cases of wine annually, the estate’s vineyard sits at a 3,000-foot elevation in the Sierra Foothills of El Dorado County.
The vineyard enjoys a distinctive microclimate, with Pinot Noir vines flourishing creekside, benefiting from cool mountain air and well-drained, chalky soils. Historically known as "Pneumonia Gulch" by early settlers, the site has proven to be perfect for growing Pinot Noir, resulting in wines reminiscent of the celebrated Pinot Noirs of Burgundy, France.
