Amador County
Amador County has made some of my favorite big red wines,
especially Zinfandel, Barbera and Mourvedre. My visit in December
'02 found a few disappointments, though. Several of the wineries
seem to have slipped into an overripe style which creates flabby
smells that remind me of boiled vegetables (brocolli, cauliflower).
I consider this a big fault, although some people don't seem
to mind it. Some of the wines that had this fault actually tasted
good on the palate, but it's hard for me to get past the nose.
On the other hand, Amador still has dozens of brilliant wineries
(such as Story, Terre Rouge, Karly, etc.), and the grapes here
can achieve an astonishing massiveness of flavor.
Dobra Zemlja Winery
12505 Steiner Road
Plymouth, CA 95669
(209) 245-3183
www.dobrazemlja.com
Owner and winemaker Milan Matulieh presides over one of the
more unique wineries in the area. His grapes give him some impressive
ripeness and good varietal character. My only complaint is that
(what I guess to be) the low-toast American oak profile tends
to dominate many of his wines with a dry splintery wood finish,
rather than the sweet or spicy character of medium-toast French
or better quality American oak barrels. Many of these wines could
benefit from less heavy-handed oak treatment.
2002 Viognier ($16) (tasted 6/04)
For my tastes, the best wine at Dobra this year, with a softly
spicy and floral nose resembling honeysuckle and Christmas stollen
bread (a Scandinavian sweet bread with dried fruit and spices.)
Fragrances of lemon, nutmeg, allspice and citrons permeate this
wine. Clean and dry on the palate, with lemon custard and those
same Christmas spices, it shows an excellent expression of this
very complex grape.
N/V Milan Ruz ($16) (tasted 6/04)
Blended Solera-style between different years, this red table
wine includes Sangiovese, Syrah and Zinfandel. It has a light
nose but shows big fruit in the mouth, with ripe cherry and berry,
pepper, sweet oak and a tobacco finish, with strong tannins.
2002 Sangiovese ($24) (tasted 6/04)
Clean light earthy nose, showing hints of olives with ripe fruit,
and structured acidity. The finish ends up splintery like oak
sawdust, overpowering the fruit.
2001 Syrah ($24) (tasted 6/04)
A hint of dirty socks, lightly oceanic, black cherry with oaky
peppercorns and splinters. Tough and tannic in the mouth. Probably
needs a few years to soften into warmer fruit while the oak hopefully
subsides.
2001 Zinfandel ($24) (tasted 6/04)
Musky sweaty smells combined with chocolate cherries, strawberry
and cinnamon. Very dry oaky finish fights a bit with the giant
tannic fruit, leaving behind some puckery woodshop dust.
Domaine de la Terre Rouge and Easton
Dickson Road
Plymouth, CA
Tel: (209) 245-3117, Fax (209) 245-5415
Email info@terrerougewines.com
I am beginning to consider Terre Rouge as one of the best
wineries in Amador county. They show consistent high quality
throughout the line, and with reasonable prices considering the
quality. I especially like their Rhone varietal blends.
2001 Terre Rouge Vin Gris d'Amador ($12) (tasted 10/03)
A dry rosé blending grenache, mourvedre and syrah, with
a toasty nose, a bit smokey and spicy, with lots of glycerin
on the palate, a hint of strawberry?
*2001 Terre Rouge Enigma ($18) (tasted 10/03)
A wine that blends several white Rhone grapes, marsanne, rousanne,
and viognier. Spicy fruit nose dominated by apples, with apricots
and peaches. In the mouth it tastes very dry and a bit oily,
with more apple fruit characters.
*1998 Terre Rouge Noir ($22) (tasted 10/03)
An approach toward a Chateauneuf style blend, with grenache,
mourvedre, and syrah. Quite lovely and balanced, dominated by
a silky smooth fruit profile, with cherry palate, pepper and
cinnamon, spices and liquorice. Might be my favorite from this
winery.
1998 Terre Rouge Syrah ($30) (tasted 10/03)
Blue/black fruits, smokey nose with large dose of caramel oak.
Still tastes young, a good sign for a 5 year old release.
1998 Easton Merlot ($20) (tasted 10/03)
Large ripe fruit character, but also brambly in the mouth, a
bit minty with cedar and black tea.
1999 Easton Merlot ($20) (tasted 6/04)
Lots of sweet oak, big tannin in the mouth, but center-palate
fruit seems slightly thin.
1999 Easton Zinfandel, Fiddletown ($25) (tasted 6/04)
Portlike nose, slight hint of VA, with dry oaky profiles of tobacco
and cinnamon, with cassis-like fruit. Dry in the mouth despite
the sweet nose, quite large and structured.
1999 Easton Zinfandel, Estate ($30) (tasted 6/04)
Nose of dry grasses, strawberry, chocolate. Tannins seems soft
in the mouth until the long grippy finish with a lot of spicy
oak.
2000 Easton Barbera (tasted 10/03)
Earthy smells, with blueberry in the nose. In the mouth it shows
relatively low acid for a barbera, with a lush smooth palate.
Quite nice.
2000 Terre Rouge Muscat-à-Petits Grains ($15) (tasted
6/04)
A sweet muscat without being cloying, showing lovely citrus and
minty overtones, with no trace of the paint-like terpines that
sometimes plague sweet whites in Amador. Excellent.
2000 Terre Rouge Mourvedre, Amador County ($20) (tasted 6/04)
Interesting austere nose hinting at oregano, cedar, pine resin
and pencil shavings. Not what I would expect from Mourvedre,
almost like a Cabernet. Hints of cocoa tannin in the mouth but
quite soft. Unique expression of this varietal.
2000 Terre Rouge Syrah, Sierra Foothils ($24) (tasted 6/04)
Rich ripe nose with slightly medicinal undercurrents hinting
at iodine. Round and oaky in the mouth with big lasting tannins.
*2000 Syrah, Sentinal Oak - Pyramid Block ($35) (tasted 6/04)
The best wine I tasted this day, a huge and juicy complex syrah.
Nose of oily spices, tar, black tea. Palate with lingering soft
tannins, not tough, but ripe and sensual. The finish shows balanced
tobacco oak which doesn't overpower the fruit. Excellent!
2001 Terre Rouge Tête-à-tête, Sierra foothills
($13) (tasted 6/04)
Soft rose-petal smells of Grenache, with hints of green olive
in the mouth, soft with low tannins.
2002 Easton Zinfandel ($13) (tasted 10/03)
Charred oak in the nose, with cinnamon and green pepper. Indications
that the fruit wasn't fully developed at harvest? Strawberry
finish, and more oak at the end. Maybe will settle down in a
couple years.
Karly
11076 Bell Road
Plymouth, CA 95669
(209) 245-3922
www.karlywines.com
This small friendly family-run winery has made some affordable
and balanced zinfandels (their Pokerville in particular is easy
to find and quite good.) At the tasting room you can find small
runs of vineyard designate zinfandels that tend to sell out quickly.
These vary in quality from good to excellent, with prices that
have climbed a bit in the last few years. However, the last time
I visited the tasting room, all the wines had a strong smell
of Brettanomyces. I think this secondary fermenting yeast has
been growing in their cellar.
2000 Rousanne ($20) (tasted 3/03)
Beautiful floral nose, dusty orange oil, like fine French perfume.
Soft fruit, tropical and nutty in the mouth. Dryness wil pair
well with many foods.
2001 Zinfandel Buck's Ten Point ($18) (tasted 3/03)
Big and spicy, Amador zin profile of sweet raspberry/strawberry,
pepper, and chocolate. Palate but a bit thinner in the mouth
than indicated by the nose, with high acidity and tannin, and
almost a chalky finish. Fireplace toast smells towards the end
complement this burly wine.
*2001 Warrior Fire ($24) (tasted 3/03)
Very ripe nose hinting at dark deep fruit, with some grassy/barnyard
qualities (Brett?) Palate is tannic and intense, serious and
(for lack of a better term) "masculine". A powerful
earthy zinfandel.
2001 Zinfandel Sadie Upton ($26) (tasted 3/03)
Big nose with pepper and cinnamon, an aromatic explosion of red
fruit and spice. High acidity with a chewy feel in the mouth,
slightly bitter unresolved (oily liquorice) tannins in the finish.
Might need a few years to soften.
2002 Orange Muscat ($16/375ml) (tasted 3/03)
Mechanically frozen grapes to concentrate sugars like an icewine.
Very complex nose of flower blossoms. Hints of citrus terpines,
almost like paint. Very oily but not too sweet in the mouth.
2002 Zinfandel Buck's Ten Point ($18) (tasted 6/04)
Burly wine with a slightly Bretty nose, eathy musk and strawberry.
Subtle oak treatment highlights the grapes, with big dry tannins
and a finish of strawberry fruit esters.
2002 Zinfandel Sadie Upton ($26) (tasted 6/04)
Brett and plummy fruit, more acidic and more ageworthy than the
Ten Point, with black olive and oily tannins in the mouth.
2003 Chateau Blanc ($20) (tasted 6/04)
Clean and light, with fragrances of sweet apples, bread and French
perfume. A delicate and smooth white table wine.
2003 Orange Muscat ($17/375 ml) (tasted 6/04)
Yum. Better than the 2002, with none of the paint-like terpines.
Peaches, pears and perfume. Viscous and sweet on the palate,
with good clarity - not cloying, with a slightly spicy lingering
finish.
Renwood Winery
12225 Steiner Road
Plymouth, CA 95669
(209) 245-6979, www.renwood.com
This winery made some of my favorite massive wines between
1996 and 1999. They still make very good big fruit-forward zinfandels,
but some of the luster has worn off, perhaps because they lost
their founding winemaker a few years ago? Anyway, the 1997 Linsteadt
Barbera was one of my favorite wines out of Amador. I don't think
they've topped it yet, but they still make some beauties. In
general I find their pricing a bit steep, except for their affordable
"Sierra Series" wines, which are pretty good for the
price. Some of their recent efforts have tended toward vegetal
characteristics. Renwood's owner has managed to annoy many of
the other winemakers in the region, most of whom seem to get
along with each other. I have heard stories of some rather "un-neighborly"
behavior, which disinclines me towards the company recently.
(Tasted 12/02)
1996 Sangiovese (Tasted 12/02)
Mineral gravelly nose, just a hint of vegetal quality but not
a problem. Big dry and peppery on the palate. Otherwise the fruit
is fading a bit.
1997 Zinfandel Grandmére (tasted 2/04)
Still huge and fruity after 6 years in the bottle. Some acetaldehyde
blows off at first, opening up to giant high alcohol framboise-like
nose, strawberry and raspberry jam, chocolate, black peppercorns
with additions of brambles and pine resin, vanilla custard, caraway
seed. Huge jammy palate with apparent residual sweetness, dust
tannins leaning towards baker's cocoa, black pepper and capsicum.
This was the immense profile that put Renwood among my favorites
at one time. (15.8% alc.)
1997 Barbera Linstadt (tasted 10/03)
Alas, age has not treated this old monster well. What once showed
immense jammy spice and chocolatey fruit now has smells dominated
by acetaldehyde and those sweet/spicy off flavors that rotate
around VA, like caraway seed and shoe polish, but it's not quite
vinegar yet. Time to finish these before they all turn.
*1999 Zinfandel, Jack Rabbit Flat (library)(Tasted 12/02)
Lighter than the 2000, more balanced and higher acid. Lingering
toasted oak tones like cinamon candy. Smooth and intense in the
mouth, black pepper spice.
*2000 Syrah, estate vineyard ($24.95)(Tasted 12/02)
Herbal nose with black pepper and vanilla. Good balance and varietal
character, big tannins.
2000 Zinfandel, old vines ($17.95)(Tasted 12/02)
Vegetal nose, a bit overripe or possibly open too long in the
tasting room. Big chocolate and tannin.
2000 Zinfandel, Fiddletown ($24.95)(Tasted 12/02)
Slightly salty oceanic nose at first, then spice, pepper and
raspberry. French oak cinnamon red-hot candies.
2000 Zinfandel, Grandmére ($22.95)(Tasted 12/02)
Needs some time. Nose hints of rose petals, then a bit vegetal.
Soft varietal character, very ripe and raisiny, big lingering
tannins.
2000 Zinfandel, D'Agostini Bros. ($29.95)(Tasted 12/02)
Nose of cinnamon spice, white pepper, brighter with more acidity
than Grandmere. Chocolate hints on palate, better balance, not
vegetal.
2000 Zinfandel, Grandpére ($31.95)(Tasted 12/02)
Riper, towards vegetal. Sweet on the palate, big round fruit,
big tannin, tobacco, endless finish much better than the nose.
*2000 Zinfandel, Jack Rabbit Flat ($29.95)(Tasted 12/02)
More clear varietal character, with strawberry and raspberry
on the nose. Palate very dry, lingering tannins, with tobacco,
chocolate and brambles.
2000 Sangiovese ($19.95)(Tasted 12/02)
A touch oxidized, vanilla oak characters (American oak?). Bright
Italian style and acidic, but the oak takes over a bit.
2000 Barbera ($19.95)(Tasted 12/02)
A touch vegetal but nice high acidity. Vanilla, chocolate and
liquorice qualities. A bit out of balance, might need a year
to come together.
2001 Viognier estate vineyard ($24.95)(Tasted 12/02)
Huge buttery malolactic qualities. Sweet nose, dry palate. Apricot,
peaches and nutmeg overtones.
Shenandoah Vineyards
After tasting through the 1999 releases in 2001, I took few
notes but bought only the Black Muscat, a saturated sweet dessert
wine which I felt to be the best of their releases at the time.
1999 Black Muscat (tasted 6/04)
Beautiful sweet plummy nose, not oxidized like some in this style.
Fragrances seem sexy, earthy, a hint of armpit sweat with redwood
bark and cedar. Palate shows good balance with some residual
tannins and acidity adding structure to the sugars, with sweet
flavors of chocolate covered cherries, ripe plums, some berries.
An almost erotic dessert wine!
Sobon Winery
14430 Shenandoah Rd.
Plymouth, CA 95669
(209) 245-6554
I have generally found Sobon to make some of the better low-priced
Amador wines, with bright peppery profile and tannic fruit-forward
intensity. I did not write down tasting notes for Sobon on my
last visit, because I was very disappointed with the treatment
these wines had received in the tasting room. The bottles had
been open too long and showed vegetal flaws. I have since retasted
at industry events, and found the wines to be very good. I hope
to re-taste newer vintages in better circumstances.
Story Winery
10525 Bell Road
Plymouth, CA 95669
(209) 245-6208
I really like this winery. While their better wines sit near
the top of the Amador price spectrum, they become quite affordable
when purchased as futures. Story makes very structured old vine
zinfandels from their own excellent vineyard, with a profile
of big red fruit (raspberry notes, high acidity, medium spiciness.)
They break up their vineyard zinfandels by the section, with
different vine age and soil showing character through the grape
into the wine. Regardless of the good wine, they're also really
nice people.
2001 Barbera ($19)
Nutty cocoa bitterness, walnuts. Palate with deep woody character,
dry tannin.
2001 Sangiovese ($19)
Barnyard qualities, grassy dry hay, burlwood derived from acidity.
*1999 Mission ($19)
Good one, very much like a Rioja. From tempranillo grapes? Big
port-like nose, very ripe. In the mouth it shows low acidity,
sweet and smooth, but not an explosian of fruit -- rather, it
delivers hints of cedar (pencil shaving.) Very nice and complex.
2000 Story Red Passion Zinfandel (tasted 1/04)
This is the low-end red table wine from Story, where they blend
their extra grapes. It's a good value although a bit sweet for
my tastes. Nose of dark earthy fruit, coffee and black cherry,
liquorice, strawberry and mint, black pepper, brambles and alcoholic
heat. Palate lingers with some potential residual sugars, sweet
strawberry, black cherry, mouth-coating leathery tannins. The
lasting tannins somehow overpower the sweet fruit, leaving a
slightly astringent finish. (15% alc.)
2001 Red Passion ($16)
I don't quite understand this wine. I swear it shows signs of
Brettanomyces, but the winemaker says it's just the quality of
the phenols extracted from the fruit (strawberry notes merged
with wood and tannin.) I smell a slightly skunky barnyard quality
with a strong dose of cherry or dried fruit. It is extremely
fruity and rich, not at all wimpy. Hmmm...dunno.
2001 Zinfandel Gold Hill Vineyard ($22)
Smells of fireplace, pondwater, "red" fruit, and a
hint of that barnyard smell noted above. Not their best, but
good.
*2001 Zinfandel Creekside ($26)
Now we're getting to the good stuff. More structure, with a jammy
nose full of chocolate, nuts, fruit liquer, taffy, dust and toasted
dark oak. Some apparent sweetness in the mouth, with a tingling
hint of acidity, some mushroomy earth and lingering tannins coat
the mouth. Classic Amador zin fruit.
*2001 Zinfandel Picnic Hill ($30)
Among my two or three favorites from the Story vineyard, and
the most acidic of all their wines. This one needs several years
to settle down and soften. The young wine (barrel tasting) smells
almost exactly like excellent bitter chocolate. It developes
to toasty cocoa, pepper burlwood, acidic but ripe raspberry/strawberry
fruit. A big but balanced complex wine.
*2002 Zinfandel Hilltop ($16)
This one shows amplified ripeness, like fruit candy, better for
dessert than dinner. At 15.8% alcohol, I assume that fermentation
stuck while leaving high residual sugars. Huge ripe fruit notes
dominate, with chocolate and strawberry. You could spread this
on bread.
*2001 Aletia Zinfandel ($30)
Perhaps the most sophisticated and balanced of Story's zinfandels,
with less acidity than the Picnic Hill, making it more accessible
upon early approach. Nose begins with coconut and grass, with
spicy cinnamon oak and centered red fruit. Deep spice and a hint
of barnyard with ripe fruit then take over. Classic zinfandel
flavors of pepper, strawberry, raspberry, chocolate. Big tannin
and medium acidity make this a well-rounded heavyweight contender.
Villa Toscana Winery
Shenandoah Rd.
Plymouth, CA 95669
(209) 245-3800
A mile or so from Renwood sits a fancy new faux-Tuscan villa
with chic wedding garden and now a café open on weekends.
Despite the obvious influx of money, it took several years for
this winery to get off the ground, with its newly planted vines.
They hired winemaker Gordon Benz from Renwood (Renwood had hired
him away from Ridge.) Finally Villa Toscana seems to be showing
its promise in the 2001 vintage, which I tasted in December 2002.
I still find the prices to be a bit high relative to flavor.
2001 Viognier ($18) (tasted 10/03)
Fruit forward with apricot & peaches, woody smells with buttery
oily malolactic. Smokey on the tongue? A complex wine.
2001 Sauvignon Semillon ($12) (tasted 10/03)
Grapey. I'm guessing that the flavors derive from sur-lie aging
(leaving the wine on the yeast for many months and stirring occasionally
to increase the buttery mouth feel.) Full malolactic, very soft.
2000 Sangiovese ($24) (tasted 10/03)
Sweet vanillins hint at American oak, toffee, caramel, bread
& butter. Peppery on the palate, dark and dusty oak flavors.
2001 Zinfandel Shenandoah Valley ($18) (tasted 10/03)
Restrained nose, hint of pepper and dark strawberry/cherry fruit.
Acidic, buttery and light on the palate, with soft tannins. Not
a huge zin, but pleasant.
*2001 Zinfandel Fox Creek Old Vine ($30) (tasted 10/03)
Very ripe smells of strawberry seeds, dusty black pepper. Big
mouth feel with high acidity, tobacco, black pepper oils, dark
chocolate, lingering and chewey. 15.5% alcohol. Here's what Amador
can offer in a Zin! (Too expensive, though.)
2001 Barbera ($26) (tasted 10/03)
Nose gives off a hint of vegetal flaws, which thankfully blow
off quickly. Light peppery palate, big round red fruit. Good
balance between fruit, tannin, acid and oak.
2001 Syrah Estate ($28) (tasted 10/03)
Tight cherry nose, hint of vanilla and pepper tree sap; woodshop
oak smells not well incorporated yet, needs time. Palate very
tannic with smokey blueberry fruit.
*2001 Merlot ($26) (tasted 10/03)
Nose of bramble wood and peppercorns, rose petals, chocolate
and tar with a hint of vanilla under berry fruit. Soft on the
palate, flavors also showing wood brambles, tobacco, big tannins.
Interesting.
*2001 Zinfandel "Fox" Old Vine ($30) (tasted 6/04)
Rich sweet nose of strawberry, chocolate and black pepper, with
burlwood and floral honey. Rich and saturated in the mouth, with
a tiny hint of residual sweetness.
2001 Syrah Estate ($28) (tasted 6/04)
Plum and cassis fruit with a quirky touch of brie cheese (malolactic
or yeasty smells still around after three years?) Well integrated
tannins in a big ripe black wine.
2002 Barbera ($26) (tasted 6/04)
A bright clear wine with nose of blackberry brambles, coffee
and plum. Spicy on the palate, with a plummy finish.
2002 Rhapsodia white table wine ($12) (tasted 6/04)
A blend of Viognier, Orange Muscat and others offers sweet floral
fragrances with citrus and spices, with a smokey dry palate.
This would make a very good food pairing wine, perhaps with Asian
food.
Young's Vineyard
10120 Shenandoah Road
Plymouth, CA 95669
(209) 245-3005, Fax (209) 245-3004
A small family operation on Shanandoah Road, Young's usually
sells out of its product each year. When I visited for a taste
in October 2003, only two of its six offerings were still available.
I liked what I tasted, although I find their American oak profile
to impart some splintery flavors.
2001 Barbera ($26.00) (tasted 10/03)
Light and spicy, bright acidity, notes of cinnamon spiced oak.
An earthy woody palate comes from varietal character (probably
not oak) with clean dryness and clarity. Lingering liquorice
finish, somewhat low tannin but interesting viscosity nevertheless.
Good stuff!
2001 Syrah ($26.00) (tasted 10/03)
Deep smokey nose, round floral fruit palate. Oak characters are
more spicy than sweet. Oily tannin and cherry fruit finish show
clean ripe fruit character.
2002 Barbera ($26) (tasted 6/04)
Big ripe fruit with bright cherry and black olive, with sweet
vanilla oak and a lightly tannic finish. A very good example
of this variety, but not for long cellaring.
2002 Syrah ($26) (tasted 6/04)
Ripe round smokey fruit profile with blueberry overtones, some
bacon fat, slight vegetal overtones, and a hint of fish. Hugely
tannic on the palate, with a splintery American oak finish. This
needs a few years to integrate the oak, and hopefully the acidity
will be sufficient to support the wine with age.
2002 Zinfandel ($28) (tasted 6/04)
The best of the wines tasted this day, an excellent example of
huge but centered zinfandel. A big earthy nose of bittersweet
chocolate, dry grasses, brambles, and ruby port. In the mouth,
not one dominant flavor protrudes to the top (I would expect
esters of strawberry or blackberry in a wine like this), but
rather a huge round ripe characteristic zinfandel fruit with
chewy tannins and a lingering dry chocolatey finish. 15.2% alc.,
but doesn't smell hot.
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