VITICULTURE

  • The soil.

    Sierra sandy loam derived mostly from granite and quartz. Composed of a combination of sand, silt, and clay, which makes for excellent drainage and aeration.

  • The climate.

    Amador County is considered a Mediterranean climate so it only makes sense the Mediterranean varietials we grow feel right at home in our Vineyard. Cold air drainage from the Sierra Nevada Mountains at night keeps the air cool and fresh while delta breezes help cool and keep air moving during the day. This helps preserve acidity and color as well as enabling the fruit to hang on the vines longer and develop more flavor and character. 

  • Farming practices.

    Our vineyards are farmed sustainably & organically. We do not believe in any tilling and we only use organic fertilizers and sprays. All of the labor is done by hand. This includes pruning, thinning, leaf pulling, crop adjustment, and picking. It is very time consuming and expensive but it is worth it. With all of this in mind our ultimate goal is to yield small crops of extraordinary tasting fruit. 

  • The goal.

    We believe that the soul and character of wine is derived directly from the fruit, so starting with flavorful, balanced and clean fruit is essential in making a wine we can be proud to put our name on and share with others.

Estate Vineyard

Our Estate vineyard is located in the heart of Amador County’s lush Shenandoah Valley wine country. The property sits at 1500 feet elevation and spans 22 acres with rolling hills of various aspect and slope.  The soils are Sierra sandy loam and are derived mostly from granite and quartz. Our property is planted to six Mediterranean grape varietals: Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Mourvedre, Grenache Noir, Aglianico and Sauvignon Blanc. We have also recently grafted a little bit of Zinfandel over to Syrah and Sangiovese.

Additionally we use wine grape from select neighboring vineyards with outstanding sites and talented growers who we work very closely with: 

Fields Family Vineyard

David and Bronwyn Fields are long time residents and grape growers in Amador County, growing both Zinfandel and Barbera.  They have a beautiful vineyard on a rolling hillside about a mile from Amador Cellars as the crow flies.  They have two different clones of Barbera planted- an Italian clone, and the local, Cooper clone.  We source both of these different clones from the Fields Family (although they are often harvested on seperate days due to different ripening times) and blend them together to make our award-winning Barbera.

Amador Two Oaks

Amador Two Oaks Vineyard is owned by Randy and Beth Livingston just off the Shenandoah School Road loop.  The Livingstons bought the property in 2012, with an existing Zinfandel vineyard.  After buliding their home, they had several acres on the hillside they wanted to plant in wine grape.  After a visit from an Italiain Professor of Viticulture to Amador County, they decided to plant the little known varietal Nero d'Avola.  After studying the climate, topography, and terroir of Amador County, the Italian professor told Randy and Beth that he thought Nero d'Avola would be the perfect fit for their vineyard.  We have just bottled our first vintage and we think it was a great decision!

Breitmeyer Vineyard

Rich and Cindy Breitmeyer are long time family friends who moved to the Shenandoah Valley in 2015.  They bought some acreage only about a half mile from Amador Cellars to build a farmhouse and plant a vineyard.  Rich worked with Michael and Larry in deciding what to plant on his 5 acres, and they decided on several new varietals that Michael was interested in producing, as well as a couple varietals that we wanted to source more of.  In 2017 Rich and Cindy planted an acre each of: Fiano, Teroldego, Primitivo, Touriga and Petite Sirah.  It is an imacculate vineyard that produces delicious, high quality wine grape.