A wonderful day trip with our two good friends was just the ticket for a special pre-Valentine’s celebration. The boys spent the day with their friends, K&N, and we spent that day tasting wine in Amador county!
On our way to drop off the boys….a rafter of turkeys in our friends apartment complex…
Amador county is just a little over an hour from us, and almost all is a gorgeous country drive.
First stop, Villa Toscano. We “clicked” with our host, Russ, and had a wonderful start to the day. This is a lovely property, with a large selection of wines. We ended up joining their wine club because its reasonably priced and the benefits are great if you live nearby. They have a pasta buffet every Friday and every other Sunday that’s free for members and three guests. We look forward to seeing our boys faces when they are introduced to unlimited pasta! We picked up their Pinot Grigio, Barbera, and La Via. They also have a sister property (Bella Piazza)next door and did a couple of tastings from them while still at Villa Toscano. We picked up the Old Vine Zinfandel.
Host Russ in the picture…
We took the top off the Jeep and drove slow for the rest of the day. Sublime.
Next stop, CG Di Arie. The owner of this place used to work for General Mills and was one of the creators of “Capt’n Crunch” and “Hidden Valley” dressing. We joked that we weren’t sure if this fact was good or not when it comes to creating wine :). The wine was decent, and we ended up buying their Rose di Arie.
They have a nice little pond, with picnic tables on the grounds. This is where we had our picnic lunch we packed…
Next stop, Terra d’Oro. The tasting room was crowded and we had to wait a bit, but when we had the tasting the host was very friendly. They also have a nice, large gift shop. We picked up a couple bottles of their Sangiovese.
Heading to our next destination…
This spot, I think, was the main highlight for me. I love it because it’s off a main road, down a long, winding dirt road with vines all around. You almost begin to wonder if you should turn around. Then, you come upon a small building, and really begin to wonder if you are in the wrong place. The sign on the door says, “Yes, this really is the tasting room”. You enter into a kitchen, A KITCHEN!, and a sweet woman greets you with wine, cheese, and crackers. You are surrounded by a small collection of gorgeous antiques for sale. (If David weren’t there for accountability…) You feel like you are at a friend’s house. What a nice place to be. This is Karly wines. We picked up their incredible Deerhunter Zinfandel, and Orange Muscat dessert wine.
Russ suggested we check out Story winery. We were done with tasting for the day, but we did enjoy visiting their property. It is located above a beautiful canyon. A great place to picnic next time!
