More about Sacramento and Amador
The evening following graduation (Sunday) we had dinner at Paragary's in Sacramento and ordered a 2003 Steele Pinot Noir (Carneros). Paragary's has a good selection of local (within an hour's drive of Sacramento) and other California wines. 
I thought the Steele was an excellent wine and a good purchase even considering the restaurant markup ($45). The aroma is powerful, fruity and fragrant; it had great fruit flavor reminiscent of both cherry and strawberry/blackberry that isn't too sweet; it is tannic enough to feel full and balanced with a nice aftertaste. I rank this up there with the Esterlina Russian River Pinot I reviewed a few weeks ago. 
This story has a happy ending for Arlington wine drinkers - you can find the Steele Carneros Pinot at Total Wine for around $18 dollars. Right now the McLean store is out of stock but they expect this year's vintage to arrive in early June. It turns out that Total Wine has many of the Zinfandels that I sampled in Amador including some from wineries that were closed on the day I visited. This is great news. I'm not going to proclaim that Gold Country wines exceed Napa or Sonoma in quality, or that they are incredible bargains. I don't feel that either fact is true. Rather I think that it's fun to explore the character of a wine-growing region and recognize some of the influences that go into a wine's flavor.
I saw Sobon, Shenandoah Valley, Karly, Renwood and Montevina at the store. Sobon and Shenandoah are owned by the same folks (the Sobon family). Of the above I visited Sobon, Shenandoah, Renwood and Montevina. Karly was closed at the time but I picked up a bottle of their 2003 Amador County Zinfandel "Warrior Fires" which I'm sampling right now. Sobon was the first winery we visited in Amador. We picked it because it's located at the far northern end of the loop where most of the tasting rooms are found. The winery includes a museum and is open daily.
I'd had several of the Sobon Zinfandels before this trip because I saw them at - you guessed it - Total Wine, in particular in the staff favorite's section. Total Wine is their major (and perhaps only) distributer on the east coast. They have several selections including Rocky Top (named after a hill) and Fiddletown (named after a local town), Reserve and the new Paul's Reserve ranging in price from $15 to $25. I think that the Sobon wines are a great place to start with Amador County sampling. They exemplify the region's flavors of sweet fruit and acidity. The picture below was taken from the Sobon tasting room/museum parking lot, looking south towards the hills where most of the other wineries are located.
Of the Sobon wines I tried at the winery I enjoyed the Cab-Shiraz blend the most. I believe this is a matter of style and not quality. The Cabernet grape adds a great layer of flavor and body on top of anything and the Shiraz adds interesting notes to the mix. Cabernet does grow in Amador county but it's a very different sort of flavor than what you get out of Napa, being much less fruity and more "severe" if you'll pardon my adjectives. I encourage you to try both out and taste the difference for yourself; good examples of Napa and Amador Cabernet can be had for around $13.
Over the last few days I've tried two Zinfandels from Amador in "controlled" settings and the contrast in style is quite striking. The first was the 2003 Cooper due cugini Zinfandel. It was the recommendation to visit Cooper winery that sent us off to Amador in the first place so I was disappointed that they were closed on Mondays. Fortunately I was able to pick up a bottle from Beyond Napa as mentioned before. The Cooper is a sweet and strong Zinfandel (14.8% A.B.V.) with distinct herb, spice and grass flavors that are hard to pin down. You can tell that there's significant tannins and oak because the sweetness doesn't completely overwhelm the palate. The taste is almost sugary and verges on the flavor of Port. If you like this style of wine than the Cooper can't be beat (in fact it's won numerous awards).
The Karly 2003 "Warrior Fires" Zinfandel is aptly named. The A.B.V. is a startling 15.1% making it significanlty stronger than standard. It has a strong aroma of alcohol, a deep purple color and is almost viscous in the glass. The alcohol also comes through in the taste. This wine doesn't have the "oomph" of the sugars in the Cooper so feels a bit less vibrant. The tannins and acidity are more apparent. The Karly was significantly cheaper than the Cooper (about 1/2 as much) so I'm not disappointed in the wine. I recommend it for someone interested in learning what Amador wines taste like but I don't recommend it if you are just looking for a good Zin.
I still have lots of ground to cover in Amador County including Renwood, Dobra and the Mission wines of Nine Gables.
I thought the Steele was an excellent wine and a good purchase even considering the restaurant markup ($45). The aroma is powerful, fruity and fragrant; it had great fruit flavor reminiscent of both cherry and strawberry/blackberry that isn't too sweet; it is tannic enough to feel full and balanced with a nice aftertaste. I rank this up there with the Esterlina Russian River Pinot I reviewed a few weeks ago. This story has a happy ending for Arlington wine drinkers - you can find the Steele Carneros Pinot at Total Wine for around $18 dollars. Right now the McLean store is out of stock but they expect this year's vintage to arrive in early June. It turns out that Total Wine has many of the Zinfandels that I sampled in Amador including some from wineries that were closed on the day I visited. This is great news. I'm not going to proclaim that Gold Country wines exceed Napa or Sonoma in quality, or that they are incredible bargains. I don't feel that either fact is true. Rather I think that it's fun to explore the character of a wine-growing region and recognize some of the influences that go into a wine's flavor.
I saw Sobon, Shenandoah Valley, Karly, Renwood and Montevina at the store. Sobon and Shenandoah are owned by the same folks (the Sobon family). Of the above I visited Sobon, Shenandoah, Renwood and Montevina. Karly was closed at the time but I picked up a bottle of their 2003 Amador County Zinfandel "Warrior Fires" which I'm sampling right now. Sobon was the first winery we visited in Amador. We picked it because it's located at the far northern end of the loop where most of the tasting rooms are found. The winery includes a museum and is open daily.
I'd had several of the Sobon Zinfandels before this trip because I saw them at - you guessed it - Total Wine, in particular in the staff favorite's section. Total Wine is their major (and perhaps only) distributer on the east coast. They have several selections including Rocky Top (named after a hill) and Fiddletown (named after a local town), Reserve and the new Paul's Reserve ranging in price from $15 to $25. I think that the Sobon wines are a great place to start with Amador County sampling. They exemplify the region's flavors of sweet fruit and acidity. The picture below was taken from the Sobon tasting room/museum parking lot, looking south towards the hills where most of the other wineries are located.
Of the Sobon wines I tried at the winery I enjoyed the Cab-Shiraz blend the most. I believe this is a matter of style and not quality. The Cabernet grape adds a great layer of flavor and body on top of anything and the Shiraz adds interesting notes to the mix. Cabernet does grow in Amador county but it's a very different sort of flavor than what you get out of Napa, being much less fruity and more "severe" if you'll pardon my adjectives. I encourage you to try both out and taste the difference for yourself; good examples of Napa and Amador Cabernet can be had for around $13.Over the last few days I've tried two Zinfandels from Amador in "controlled" settings and the contrast in style is quite striking. The first was the 2003 Cooper due cugini Zinfandel. It was the recommendation to visit Cooper winery that sent us off to Amador in the first place so I was disappointed that they were closed on Mondays. Fortunately I was able to pick up a bottle from Beyond Napa as mentioned before. The Cooper is a sweet and strong Zinfandel (14.8% A.B.V.) with distinct herb, spice and grass flavors that are hard to pin down. You can tell that there's significant tannins and oak because the sweetness doesn't completely overwhelm the palate. The taste is almost sugary and verges on the flavor of Port. If you like this style of wine than the Cooper can't be beat (in fact it's won numerous awards).
The Karly 2003 "Warrior Fires" Zinfandel is aptly named. The A.B.V. is a startling 15.1% making it significanlty stronger than standard. It has a strong aroma of alcohol, a deep purple color and is almost viscous in the glass. The alcohol also comes through in the taste. This wine doesn't have the "oomph" of the sugars in the Cooper so feels a bit less vibrant. The tannins and acidity are more apparent. The Karly was significantly cheaper than the Cooper (about 1/2 as much) so I'm not disappointed in the wine. I recommend it for someone interested in learning what Amador wines taste like but I don't recommend it if you are just looking for a good Zin.
I still have lots of ground to cover in Amador County including Renwood, Dobra and the Mission wines of Nine Gables.
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