Amador Vintners Association

Nov 2017

My wife and I had a great time and awesome experience in Amador County. The people are fantastic and we truly enjoyed speaking with the Winery owners and Wine Makers. As a home winemaker it was a great opportunity to share information and learn new things about wine and grapes. We will return someday soon.

Apr 2010

It's amazing to have a 5-star event so close to home!! If you haven't had the opportunity to attend be sure to make it a priority!! The behind the Cellar door event is an awesome opportunity to visit all the wineries in the region for a small price. Most wineries offer pairings and entertainment.

Feb 2008

Amador Vintner's Association Behind the Cellar Door Winter Cellar-bration Last weekend a couple of my girlfriends and I hopped into the car and headed out to the Shenandoah Valley for Behind the Cellar Door, the Amador County winter wine extravaganza. For $50 you get a two-day ticket or for $35 you get a ticket for Sunday only (the cost of the ticket includes a tasting glass, barrel-tasting, gourmet food, live music, wine seminars/demonstrations and vineyard tours at 30 or so participating wineries). Since we're busy girls we opted for the Sunday only deal which we purchased online in advance and, given the recent run of crappy weather, crossed our fingers for decent weather. Because Sunday turned out to be beautiful we started our day by doing the walking tour at Story Winery with winemaker Kenny where we toured the historic vineyard and learned about the history of the winery and the old vines. The tour was the best part of my day, sipping Picnic Hill Zin and hiking along the Picnic Hill hillside along the 100+ year old vines was magnificent. I could have stayed at Story all day with the great wine, food and all the friendly people so I had to be dragged to the car and we finally hit the road for Karly where we ran into Captain Steve from Bantam and enjoyed the Syrah and a hearty Italian pasta dish. From Karly we headed out to Amador Cellars where there were two lovable winery dogs (a black lab and a Golden), a cellist playing in the rafters and strawberries the size of my fist - and their sangiovese was excellent! From Amador we made our way to Deaver which had quite a spread with a jazz band playing tunes, food and wine pairings and a chocolate fountain located under a large tent by the lake surrounding their property. I had to try all three of their flavored champagnes (the almond was my favorite) but my true favorite here was the Ten Zins which I had to try a couple times just to make sure! From Deaver we headed over to Renwood where I pet the orange-sherbet colored cat without a tail (even though an obnoxious woman told me not to) and enjoyed the Jack Rabbit, Fiddletown and Old Vine Zins (no clear favorite here, all were excellent) and the Amador Ice (tasted like a popsicle made for the grown-ups)! Our next stop was at Shenandoah but by that point we were tipsy, stuffed and beat (good times!) so we called it a day. This is definitely something I could make an annual tradition but I would certainly consider the two day pass next year since we had about ten other wineries on our list (TKC, Montevina, etc) which I was sad to miss. See you there next year!