Old vine Zinfandel, Easton vineyard

The Wines of Amador County, Mining the Gold Rush Legacy of Old Vines for Today’s World Class Wines
August 20, 2025

While Amador County may be best known as Ground Zero for the California Gold Rush of 1849, here, in the Sierra Foothills, this is old vine wine country. You could say that Amador is California’s first wine trail, planting the first Zinfandel vineyards over 170 years ago, with some still surviving today. These historic vineyards are a link to the past, and Amador’s winemaking heritage, connecting the region to a bright new future. Once considered the “Heart of the Mother Lode”, there is still some gold in these hills, mixed into the mineral-rich soils, everything from quartz to granite. And while steeped in history, Amador is prospecting for the future, planting Rhône and Italian varieties alongside its signature Barbera and Zinfandel.

California Gold Rush, Amador County, Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Winemaker Rusty Folena in the Original Grandpere Vineyard, Courtesy of Vino Noceto

History reveals that Amador County is the actual spot where James Marshall first discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848, in Coloma, California. The rush of prospectors, known as the “49ers”, came from all over the world, and needed to slake their thirst. Within the next few decades, over 100 wineries cranked out wine that these fortune hunters craved. But the bust of gold mining, and Prohibition, put the brakes on this burgeoning wine region. Then, in the late 1960’s, a new rush was launched, attracting modern pioneers whose farming savvy led them to recognize the potential, from the already existing Zinfandel, to a sweet spot for the Italian variety Barbera, and beyond.

Courtesy of Amador Wine Country

Amador County has a lot in common with its other “Gold Rush” neighbor, El Dorado County, being part of the greater Sierra Foothills AVA. Amador has two AVAs; the Shenandoah Valley AVA, which is actually shared with El Dorado County, and the Fiddletown AVA. The climate and soils that make up this special Sierra Foothills “terroir” provide the important ingredients that produce wines of liquid gold.

Terre Rouge/Easton old vine vineyard

Home to California’s highest mountain vineyards, with approximately 3,700 acres of vines, over 600 acres of old vines populate these Sierra Foothills, mostly head-trained “bush” vines. Old vines are unique, these mature grapevines are more resilient to variations in weather, offering consistent quality while expressing the vineyard’s personality, producing complex wines with greater concentration and depth.

Courtesy of Amador Wine Country

Courtesy of Amador Wine Country

Courtesy of Amador Wine Country

Helwig Winery, Courtesy of Amador Wine Country

A major part of Amador County’s recipe for wine success comes from Mother Nature, with its Mediterranean climate and diurnal temperature swings, plus low humidity that is a result of high elevation vineyards sitting above the fog line, and add to that the volcanic soils that allow growers to dry-farm their vines. Although Amador’s claim to fame is the heady old vine Zinfandel, and more recently, the bright and fruity Barbera, new investments have vintners experimenting with a wide array of varieties. Today, over 45 wineries make up Amador wine country, whose bold wines offer robust fruit and vivid acidity, with an authentic character and enticing balance, crafted from more than 45 varieties, presenting a mother lode of possibilities

Bill Easton of Terre Rouge and Easton Wines

Ann Kraemer of Yorba Wines tastes the LA Wine Writers through some of her wines

Paul Sobon of Sobon Wine Company introduced the LA Wine Writers to his wines over dinner

Bella Grace tasting room

Andis Wines tasting room

In April, I had the opportunity to learn more about Amador County, combining my exploration with that of El Dorado County, with a group of wine writers, organized by the Visit Amador Council of Tourism. Short but sweet, two days found a landscape of rolling hills and a diverse ecosystem, infused with an adventurous spirit, a nod to the past but a focus on the future, with all the prospects that this special place can mint.

Charlie and Michael Havill, Courtesy of Bella Grace Vineyards

The picturesque town of Sutter Creek has about a dozen wine tasting rooms, convenient to exploring what Amador County offers. First stop, Bella Grace Vineyards tasting room on the main drag (Main Street), a charming historic house that is so very cozy, for wine tasting and shopping. Bella Grace is a family-owned and run operation, begun by Charlie and Michael Havill, who always dreamed of buying a vineyard. Almost twenty years ago, the Havills purchased 50 acres in the Shenandoah Valley, planted to 20 acres of wine grapes, and renovated the vineyards with biodynamic and sustainable farming practices, then selling their fruit to others. But then, they realized they needed to make their own wine, to really shine the spotlight on the quality fruit they were growing. In 2011, they built their own winemaking facility, including a wine cave, to store their current vintage wines, and opened the Sutter Creek tasting room.

Jess Havill of Bella Grace Vineyards

Jess Havill, their son and General Manager of Operations, greeted us, tasting us through 10 of their wines. He emphasized that they do more unique white varietals than other winemakers in the area. Their wines are 70% estate-grown and 30% sourced from other local Plymouth growers, with a palette of 14 varieties to choose from. Bella Grace produces 9,000 cases a year, of which they have an avid fan base, with 88% of the wines going direct to consumer. Havill feels that Amador is an up and coming wine region, and just beginning to receive the attention they so richly deserve. And if you’re wondering why the name “Bella Grace”, it’s an homage to the Havills’ grandmothers, Bella and Grace, who embodied their family connections.

We sampled five whites, one rosé, and four reds. The Estate Grenache Blanc, although pale in color, channeled its mineral fruit character, juicy and bright, with a long finish. The Graces Blanc, a blend of Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Picpoul and Sauvignon Blanc, is bright with tropical fruit notes, and a tangy finish that showcases the lingering minerality. The Vermentino, which Jess considers one of their best white wines, has bigger fruit, but with that characteristic brightness, aromatic and structured. The whites tasting was rounded out with the sourced Viognier Cracked Egg and Estate Picpoul. All these white wines bear witness to the magic of fermenting and aging in concrete eggs, allowing for micro-oxygenation, better integration, and a more pronounced minerality

Jess Havill decanting their wine

The Barbera, a blend of five vineyards, is fermented and aged as in Italy, in larger oak barrels that let the fruit shine. The 1646 Red Blend, a melange of Barbera, Zinfandel, Primitivo and Petite Sirah, won Best of California Double Gold at the California State Fair, aged and named for their hillside wine cave, elevation 1646. The Old Vine Zinfandel, produced from 65-year-old dry farmed vines, is intensely flavorful, silky and mouth-filling, which Jess decanted for us, using a fascinating wine decanter. A treat that accompanied our wine tasting, an olive oil and vinegar flight, along with their Tuscan Salt, which Bella Grace produces.  All their wines inhabit a world of style and grace, something that the Havill family is focused on.

Yorba Wines tasting room in Sutter Creek

Ann Kraemer of Yorba Wines

Shake Ridge Ranch vineyards, Courtesy of Yorba Wines

Next, Yorba Wines is a family winery, helmed by Ann Kraemer, who is one of eight siblings and a highly respected viticulturist with a stellar pedigree. The Kraemer family has been in farming for generations, and their Shake Ridge Ranch is a source of riches for over 40 local wine producers. Ann’s expertise, based on her experience consulting and managing vineyards for 25 years in Napa and Sonoma Valleys, and even Chile, has given her a unique perspective, to custom farm small vineyard blocks, matching the right grapes to the buyers of their fruit. Shake Ridge Ranch, on 200 acres with 46 planted to vines, has a huge number of micro climates, at 1700-1800 feet elevation, the 12 varieties here can express themselves in many ways. The mission is to grow bold grapes, with what their website defines as the three C’s of viticulture, “Color, Concentration, and Character”. It is this farming challenge that gets Ann excited, yet, she says, “Farming keeps you humble.” She farms regenerative but is not certified, choosing sustainability as her mantle.

We tasted through seven wines under their Yorba label, all so outstanding. The name Yorba comes from a many times over great grandfather, Jose Antonio Yorba, who came to California in 1769, as part of a group of Spanish and Mexican explorers. The whites included Viognier and Greco di Oro, the Italian Greco di Tufo dubbed “Oro” in honor of Gold Rush country. Ann finds the red wines compelling, with Barbera particularly well-suited to these Sierra Foothills, with its pretty fruit, it’s “a white wine in a red dress”, due to its acidity and tannins. She finds that in the odd years, Barbera is more Italian in nature; in even years, it’s more fruity, an interesting observation.

The Old Vine Zinfandel, full of dark fruit and spice, requires a lot of attention in the vineyard. Ann had to hire three guys full-time to keep the vines in check, requiring lots of cluster thinning to keep them in balance, a work of finesse to bring out the best of the grape. The 2015 Syrah, so very youthful with its purple color, has at least 20 years of life ahead of it. And the Shake Ridge 2015, a blend of Malbec, Petite Sirah, Graciano, Mourvedre, Primitivo, and Zinfandel “captures the essence” of the vineyard, a “showcase of our unique combination of varieties, soils, and expert care”. Ann considers this to be a quintessential expression of what worked well in the vintage year, and of the vineyard, a “complex, layered and delicious taste of Amador County.” Indeed, Shake Ridge Ranch and Yorba Wines are treasures of the region.

Paul Sobon of Sobon Wine Company

Sobon Estate vineyards, Courtesy of Sobon Wine Company

That evening, we had a magnificent five-course dinner at Taste Restaurant & Wine Bar with Paul Sobon of Sobon Wine Company. Paul is a second generation vintner, whose parents, Leon and Shirley, came to the Shenandoah Valley in 1977, eager to evolve their home winemaking into a commercial venture. They purchased the old Steiner Ranch, replanted vineyards, and converted an old stone garage into a winery, naming it Shenandoah Vineyards. Initially dealing with a historic drought, the Soban family learned the intricacies of viticulture, managing the vines’ canopy to protect the grapes. Intent on growing their brand, the family embraced Amador County’s special terroir, and in 1989, bought the historic D’Agostini Winery, which dates back to 1856, and home to over 100-year-old vine Zinfandel. Today, renamed Sobon Estate Vineyards, it is recognized as one of the oldest continuously operating wineries in California. The two estates produce over 50,000 cases of wine annually, with 34 different bottlings, making them one of the largest wineries in Amador County, yet still family-owned and operated.

Paul Sobon, Courtesy of Sobon Wine Company

Sobon harvest, Courtesy of Sobon Wine Company

The Sobon family, Courtesy of Sobon Wine Company

Paul, one of six Soban siblings, immersed himself in the family business from the very beginning, working in the winery, studying at UC Davis, and traveling overseas to learn winemaking and grape growing techniques in Bordeaux and Australia.  He came onboard full-time in 1983, taking on the role of winemaker and daily operations, working alongside his father, Leon. He’s seen incredible growth from the beginning, and today, he focuses on getting out the word about Amador County and his estates’ wines, traveling, conducting tastings and sales marketing, although he still does final blends and chemistry.  His daughter and son-in-law run Sobon Estate’s day to day operations, allowing Paul to experiment with his own passion project, “Paul J. Wines”, a collection of eight wines only sold in restaurants.

Chef Micah Malcolm of Taste Restaurant & Wine Bar with Paul Sobon of Sobon Wine Company

Savory Parmesan Cheesecake with crispy prosciutto, olive, baby arugula, piquillo peppers, balsamic

Pan Roasted Vande Rose Pork Chop with house made gnocchi, English peas, pearl onion, chorizo, minted pea purée

Grimaud Farms Duck Leg Confit with chickpea cake, spiced yogurt, mint chutney, red onion, cilantro, sauce makhani

Mushroom Cigar with shiitake, cremini, oyster mushrooms, goat cheese, shallot, herbs, phyllo dough

Flavor is very important to Paul, and he seeks to make rich, full-flavored wines. On this night, we had five different wines, one for each course. We started with the Shenandoah Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc, the variety that Leon Sobon first planted in 1977, then on to the Sobon Viognier. The Sobon Rocky Top Zinfandel is a standout, its heady aromatics reveal a rich wine, with a very long finish. Followed by the Paul J. Reserve Barbera and Tannat, which Paul feels are “accessible and versatile food wines”, this is really evident served alongside Chef Micah Malcolm’s incredible cuisine. Chef Micah said, “I drink wine every day, and I’m inspired to create these seasonal menus”.  For Paul and the Soban family, “the beauty of the Sierra Foothills are the generational families” who continue to pour their heart and soul into making the very best wine of the region, at affordable prices.

Andis Wines

Andis vineyards and winery, Courtesy of Andis Wines

Day Two found us on the winding road to Andis Wines, a state-of-the-art winemaking facility in the middle of their 25-acre property, with 15 acres planted to vines. Founded by Janis Akuna and her husband, Andrew Friedlander, in 2009, they were home winemakers on the side, but Janis yearned to dive into winemaking full-time. They discovered this property that had originally been planted in the 1970’s, and set about creating a modern-day winery that could produce world class wines, from the signature terroir of the Sierra Foothills. The name “Andis” is a contraction of their first names, Andrew and Janis, and reflects their joint passion project.

Mark Fowler tasted us through 7 Andis wines

Harvest at Andis vineyards, Courtesy of Andis Wines

Courtesy of Andis Wines

Estate winemaker Mark Fowler, previously of Skinner Vineyards, has made wine in Amador and El Dorado counties for over 15 years. He was drawn to work with Andis, since they share his vision and goals, to make wines with lower alcohol, higher acidity, and no manipulation. In addition to the estate fruit, they focus on vineyard sites and clones from growers they can work with. The original estate plantings were head-trained, dry-farmed and own-rooted Zinfandel from 1977, but it was discovered that the Zinfandel had phylloxera, and they had to pull it out, although they have preserved a small block for their Friedlander Reserve, which according to Mark, “the vines live in balance with the phylloxera”. Nine varieties make up their estate now, but Fowler has a special place in his heart for the old vine vineyards, “They have an authenticity, the vines can read the weather and set their crop. The roots can find water at deeper soils. They can be neglected, farmed sustainably, although yields can be low, and make intensely expressive wines.”

Mark tasted us through seven wines, each telling their own special story. The Sauvignon Blanc, with floral, citrus and stone fruit notes, is made in a New World style, fermented in a concrete egg and neutral oak, and bottled in a Burgundy bottle. Mark feels he wants to “carve a classic niche”, highlighting the estate fruit. The stunning Bill Dillian Vineyard Semillon comes from old vines, own-rooted and head-trained, that shouldn’t exist. The owner of Bill Dillian Vineyard couldn’t find anyone to buy his fruit, so the vines were scheduled to be bulldozed, until Andis discovered this vineyard, and stepped in to save it, buying their fruit. This wine is Mark’s favorite, with its savory essence, weight and oiliness, a versatile, layered wine with texture from barrel fermenting and lees stirring. The Arinto, a Spanish varietal, has weight and body, like Barbera, and displays an oxidized character. This wine isn’t made every year, but on this occasion, it was a perfect pairing with oysters.

The Barbera d’Amador, produced of clones from Italy’s Barolo region, has great concentration yet is delicate, with bright red fruit flavors and acidity, it’s a vibrant and versatile food wine. The name is a play on words, referring to the Italian names for Barbera wines, Barbera d’Alba and Barbera d’Asti, the d’ meaning “of” or “from”. The Cabernet Franc is a four vineyard blend, a layered expression of graphite, black olive and tobacco, plus the black cherry and dark chocolate flavors, with dry herbal and green notes. The wow moment, the Friedlander Old Vine Zinfandel, so much character and spice, it is a truly beautiful wine. This contrasted with the Shake Ridge Zinfandel, whose bold nature yielded elegance, finesse and balance, all due to Ann Kraemer’s meticulous farming, yet for me, the Friedlander was more expressive, the magic of the old vines.

Mark Fowler of Andis Wines

For Mark Fowler and Andis Wines, they are honing and elevating their craft, producing classic California style wines with a European sensibility. They have a second label, Painted Fields Wines, wines that embody the Sierra Foothills characteristic terroir, with their signature quality. On their website, there is a quote from winemaker Lorenzo Muslia, “Great wines taste like they come from somewhere. Lesser wines taste as they could be from anywhere.” The Andis team aims to bottle that message.

Terre Rouge/Easton Wines

Bill Easton of Terre Rouge and Easton Wines

Our last stop, Terre Rouge and Easton Wines, where we came face to face with Bill Easton, who pioneered growing Rhône varieties in these Sierra Foothills. He is one of the original Rhône Rangers, founding a group of American winemakers who produce and promote wines from varieties found in France’s Rhône Valley, championing their cause through education and tastings. Easton is smart as a whip, thoughtful, and well educated, plowing a lifetime of wine experiences into his current projects. He’s a historian, weaving California’s winemaking past with his own journey, which spans 60 years of his life. Growing up, his family had wine with his mother’s creative dinners, and so the tradition of food and wine runs deep. After college, he worked for Davis Bynum, and then opened his own retail wine shop, Solano Cellars, in North Berkeley, educating himself and his clientele, from a world of artisan wine. European wines fascinated him, so he started traveling, falling in love with Rhône wines and their varieties. He began seriously making wine in 1985 at a custom crush facility, while still running his store, and then made the leap to building his own winery business in 1994. Easton discovered that the Sierra Foothills terroir closely mimicked that of the Rhône Valley, and so he landed in Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley, naming his winery Terre Rouge or “Red Earth”, directly correlating to the vermilion-colored soils of the region.

Easton differentiates his wines, between Terre Rouge, which is for the Rhône-style wines, and Easton Wines, for the non-Rhône wines, primarily old vine Zinfandel, which he says all of it exists in Amador County. In fact, Easton so loves the old vine vineyards that he makes five different single vineyard Zinfandel wines, some from vineyards planted during the Gold Rush, such as the D’Agostini Vineyard from 1856. He finds that all of his wines, over 30 between the two brands, channel their terroir, and says, “The Sierra Foothills excels in its wine growing, and is the most European-like appellation in California”. This plays in his favor, it’s easy to farm organically, because the humidity is low, and he hasn’t had to spray chemicals in over six years. The climate is more like the Northern Rhône, the cooling breezes in the morning come through the delta below, and the diurnal temperature effect of 30-40 degrees keeps the wines fresh, realizing cool climate viticulture at high elevation. The vineyards are sustainably and organically farmed, and the sun powers their winery, cellar and tasting room through its solar panels

Easton tasted us through six wines, a Sauvignon Blanc that is aromatic, crisp and mineral, a savory Pinot Noir made from five different clones, a fantastic D’Agostini Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel (what Easton says is one of the most terroir-driven wines), an intense Mourvèdre that is meaty, smokey and gamey, and an intensely aromatic Syrah. Many of these wines are older vintages, certainly ready to shine right out of the bottle, and what sets Terre Rouge and Easton wines apart from the crowd. Since these wines are structured with more tannin, Easton says you need patience to allow them to develop in the bottle, what the French call “elevage”, or what Easton calls “raising the wine in bottle”, describing it as “creating wines that are balanced and elegant, with complexity that develops as the wines age in bottle”.

Easton says of the almost fifty wineries in the area, most are direct-to-consumer, with no distributors, which has made them vulnerable to market conditions.  And the last few years have been a doozy, from Covid to inflation, lower consumption to the current tariffs, it’s not easy to keep the flame burning bright, but Bill Easton continues to carry the torch for the wines that only Amador County can produce, spoken like a true pioneer.

Bella Grace vineyard, Courtesy of Amador Wine Country

Sobon estate vineyard, Courtesy of Amador Wine Country

Firmly rooted in their terroir, Amador County wineries are mining the Gold Rush legacy of old vines for today’s world-class wines. It’s exciting to think what new varietals can find their sweet spot in “them thar hills”, prospecting future wines of liquid gold alongside today’s riches. This is a region not to be missed, with so much wine bounty, it’s to be explored for your own wine cellar treasures. 

Visit Amador, https://www.visitamador.com/
Bella Grace Vineyards, https://www.bellagracevineyards.com/
Yorba Wines, https://www.yorbawines.com/
Sobon Wine Company, https://sobonwine.com/
Taste Restaurant & Wine Bar, https://www.restauranttaste.com/
Andis Wines, https://andiswines.com/
Terre Rouge and Easton Wines, ​https://www.terrerougewines.com/
Amador Wine Country, ​https://amadorwine.com/