In the heart of old gold country, in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and within the larger Sierra Foothills AVA (American Viticultural Area) lies the picturesque Amador County, bathed in history and filled with the promise of a growing wine industry.
Altitude in the region varies from 1,200 to over 2,000 feet above sea level on these sun-drenched hillsides making this a warm climate. Hot days cool considerably as night falls and breezes blow down from the Sierras, cooling grapes thus enabling them to retain the acidity that is essential for balanced wines. Decomposed granite soils are iron rich and laced with sandy clay loam, which retain some of the limited water that falls here. These are ideal conditions for cultivating high-quality wine grapes. High percentages of the area's vines are also grown organically.
There are many old Zinfandel vines in Amador County still producing ripe, robust, earthy and spicy wines with an added dose of chocolate and dark red berries. While Zinfandel is what the region is most known for, high quality wines are also being produced from the likes of Italy’s Barbera. Here this grape variety produces round black cherry, plum and blueberry fruits with silky tannins and interesting toasty nutty characters. Syrah tends to be ripe and jammy, more like an Australian Shiraz than anything else. Sangiovese, Petite Sirah, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier are some of the other front runners worth seeking out. Interestingly the region also makes dessert wines from variants of the Muscat grape and port styled wines from Portuguese varieties and Zinfandel.
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