2015 Helwig Frenchmen’s Creek Barbera ($35) Dave Helwig had a dream to move to the wine country upon retirement. After searching with his wife, Nancy, for the perfect wine region to relocate to from their home in Southern California, Dave couldn’t...
2014 Amador Cellars “Farmhouse Red” ($27) Amador Cellars, located in Plymouth California (Amador County) is truly a family-run winery. It showcases Mediterranean wines, Tuscan architecture and a friendly tasting room staff that includes the famil...
While Barbera is originally from Italy, it was brought to California by Italian immigrants in the 19th century. Much of it was originally grown in California’s Central Valley where it has been widely used as a blend component in mass-produced jug w...
2016 PARS Old Vine Zinfandel ($8) This was a recent unexpected fine. I really enjoy the wines of Amador County and that’s what caught my eye about this one. And, at $8, I had to give it a try. The grapes of Amador County didn’t let me down. This ...
California’s Gold Rush of the 1850s included the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. As fortune seekers flocked to the Sierras to prospect for gold, small wineries also began to appear. But the decline of gold mining in the late ...
Several years ago, while visiting northern California, I was served a glass of red wine from Amador County that made me do a double-take. When I asked what is was, I was told but the varietal didn’t mean anything to me. I ended up having another gla...