Riches of Gold Country

It was my great fortune to return to Sacramento last weekend and visit with old friends. Although it wasn't planned at the time it turned into a fabulous wine weekend, with visits to both El Dorado and Amador Counties.

After procuring a suitable touring vehicle on Friday at the 16th street Hertz (Avis was a bust) we proceeded out "the 50" into El Dorado County. The weather was beautiful, sunny and fairly cool, and the vision of the Sierra Nevada rising above the unfolding highway memorable. Our first stop was at Jodar Winer in the village of Camino. The approach to Jodar was a good harbinger of the El Dorado winery experience; a narrow road curves up into stands of pine and dogwood. The sign for the local nursery, advertising spring flowers, towers over the small placard for Jodar's tasting room. The tasting room for Jodar is a bit unusual because it's not co-located with the vineyard itself. Apparently where the grapes like to grow is not always the easiest place to get to.

The wines at Jodar are nice and the environment is quite friendly in a lesbian-hippy sort of way (I mean no offense to lesbian hippies here! Some of my best friends are lesbian hippies!) The Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon distinguish themselves by a distinct smoothness and roundness. What sticks in memory most vividly from Jodar is not the wine; the accompanying banana-flavored chocolates served with the port and the view extending over a local reservoir combine to make Jodar a most pleasant experience.