Wine Tourism: California Wineries Off the Beaten Track

In previous posts about the wines I’ve been drinking during my time in California, I’ve tried to emphasize that there is also good wine being made in California and other parts of the US beyond Napa. Exploring California wine outside of Napa leads you to more diversity in varieties and styles along with cheaper prices. Likewise, visiting wineries outside of Napa also saves you money on tasting fees and brings more adventure exploring new wineries, restaurants and local attractions.

 

Calaveras County Wine

This is my second time exploring Calaveras County wine. Wines from Calaveras County are often labeled Sierra Foothills if they are blended with wines from Amador County, El Dorado or another sub region of the Sierra Foothills AVA, but there are some estate cuvees exclusively from Calaveras.  

What makes Calaveras great for wine explorers is they are able to fit over 30+ tasting opportunities within a 9 mile radius. Some of the wineries have their estates open to visit, such as Stevenot, Twisted Oak Coppermine and Ironstone. However, the easiest thing to do is visit Main Street in downtown Murphys.  There are over 20 tasting rooms on Main St. and most of them are within a 10 minute walk of each other. There are also restaurants, accommodations and local shops along Main St., so you can easily spend a day or weekend there with everything you need without having to worry about driving while drinking.

The other cool thing about the wineries here is that they make other varietals besides Cab. Although this area was put on the map for their big Zinfandels, Petite Sirahs and some Cabs, many of the wineries feature Italian, Spanish and Rhone varietals. At the same time, wine tasting here is casual, and you aren’t expected to be a wine geek to enjoy your time here.   

Lastly, none of the tastings or bottles are going to break your bank. Many of the tasting rooms charge only $10 per tasting, and some of them waive the fee with purchase. Most of the wines are $20-30. Here are some of the tasting rooms I’ve visited in my 2 visits: 

Black Sheep Winery: 2 years ago, I got to taste their 2 versions of Cinsault, one which was in a Beaujolais style. They also make Cabernet Franc along with Zin and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Lavender Ridge was probably my favorite from 2 years ago due in large part to their cheese selections served with your tasting and their French styled wines. I tried their Roussanne, white Rhone blend, Grenache, Syrah and Petite Sirah.  

Allegorie and Val du Vino are from the same producer, but have different labels and tasting rooms on Main Street. They make Sangiovese, Barbera, GSM blends, Viognier, Merlot, Zin and Petite Sirah. Allegorie also features artwork to look at and purchase while tasting. 

Frog’s Tooth is a well-known label that I saw in all the local grocery stores, so I decided to visit their tasting room this time around. They served me their Pinot Grigio, Fume Blanc, Mourvedre, Sangiovese, GSM, Petite Sirah and their Serendipity blend. This producer has the most oak and jammy ripeness of the ones I tried, which might be in some people’s wheelhouse but not in others’. They also make several Pinots, but they’re sourced from outside the Sierra Foothills, and I didn’t get to taste any. 

Millaire comes from the former winemaker of Ironstone, which is probably the most widely known winery from this region, so Millaire also captures the original style of this region with big Zins and Petite Sirahs. They use mostly neutral oak though. Oddly enough, I was able to drink their Mokelumne River Pinot, which is one of the only local Pinots I saw. Most source their Pinot outside of the Sierra Foothills. It’s a bit of an oddball in the group because it actually tastes like an average Californian Pinot while the others are big, heady and tannic Zinfandels, Petite Sirahs and Cabernets. Their Ghirardelli Vineyard Zinfandel was my favorite and it comes from the oldest vineyard in Calaveras County at 115 years old. 

My favorite of all the tasting rooms was Gossamer Cellars. It comes from the former winemaker of Frog’s Tooth, Gary Grant, and there’s a big difference in style from most of the other wineries. He uses a lot of Italian varietals and minimizes the use of oak and restrains the ripeness for these wines, so all of them come off as lighter, red-fruited and fresh compared to the darker, heavier and jammier wines you find here. They all have more obvious notes from the terroir and varietal too. I tried their Vermentino, Verdelho, Sangiovese, Negroamaro, Trincadeira (Tinta Amarela), Alicante Bouschet, Barbera and their Cabernet-Syrah blend. All remind me more of Italian wines with juicy acidity and savory herbal notes mixed in. 

Other Attractions

In addition to the wineries/tasting rooms, there are other historical Gold Rush towns in the area you can visit. Angels Camp (15 minutes from Murphys) is probably the best place to learn about the history with their museum, old town and history of the famous Calaveras County Frog Jumping Contest that Mark Twain wrote about while he was living nearby. The town of Columbia also serves as a living museum with characters dressed in period costumes from the time recreating what life was like in the town. Big Trees State Park is a must-see to experience hiking among the oldest and biggest living things on the surface of the earth. The Sierra Redwood Sequoias are the thickest trees in the world and differ from the coastal redwoods also found in California which can grow taller but not as thick. The weather in Calaveras gets really hot in the summer (over 100 F), and it will snow in the Sierra Foothills in the winter, but that also means it’s not far from ski resorts and other summer activities on local lakes.

In addition, Calaveras is only 1.5 hours from Yosemite and Sacramento. It’s about 2.5 hours from Napa and San Francisco. Finally, it’s 1 hour from Lodi, where you can also do wine tasting. 

 

Monterey County Wineries

Most people come here for the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium and breathtaking coastlines along Carmel’s 17 Mile Drive all the way down to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve and then Big Sur, but there are several wineries/tasting rooms you can visit too.

There’s a tasting room in Cannery Row right next to the aquarium along with wonderful restaurants in Monterey and Carmel with excellent wine lists. You can go further inland into Carmel Valley and the Santa Lucia Highlands to taste at some of the estates or you can stay along the coast in Carmel-by-the-Sea to try the many tasting rooms there–many of the estates have tasting opportunities at both. Some of the names you might recognize like Wrath, Hahn, Caraccioli, or Seabold. 2 others that I’ve tried in the past that I liked are Holman Ranch and Windy Oaks. However, many grapes that come from this region simply get labeled as Central Coast under some other bigger producer’s many labels. 

I only had time for one tasting with my restless kids, so I went to Scheid in Carmel-by-the-Sea. They have many labels and vineyards across Monterey County, but only about 2% go into their Scheid Estate wines. They use sustainable practices like wind power. It’s a great winery to get a sample of all the sub-regions and varietals Monterey County has to offer, because like Calaveras County, you can find all types of varietals and styles. I tried their Gruner Veltliner, Odd Lot White (with Muscat, Gewurz, Roussanne and many others) Chardonnay, Sangiovese, Tannat and Claret (with large percentages of Malbec, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot besides Cabernet Sauvignon). However, the region is most known for their SLH (Santa Lucia Highlands) Pinots, which they also make. The wines are well made in a modern but restrained style compared to other California regions. At the same time, one would expect more acidity given its coastal location, but that aspect of the wines is made more for those who like riper wines. Most of their wines were under $30, but some of their top wines were closer to $100. All their bottles have screw caps. Production for each bottling is small–all under 500 cases.

Across from Scheid is Nielsen Brothers Market, who have a diverse wine cellar where you can find local wines, international wines and other California wines. They also had tastings before the pandemic. Everything in Carmel is expensive though besides the local wines. 

About 2 hours further south from Carmel is the Paso Robles wine region, then another 45 minutes to the Edna Valley/Arroyo Grande wine region and finally another 45-60 minutes further to Sideways Country (Santa Barbara County) wine tasting. It’ll take you almost 2 hours going north to get to the Santa Cruz Mountain AVA too. Overall, if you have plenty of time to drive to LA from the Bay Area or the Bay Area to LA, you can take the slow, scenic route along the 101 and 1 while having a plethora of wine tasting options along the way. 

 

Contra Costa County Wineries

A lot of my family lives in Contra Costa County, so I spent most of my time in California based there. It turns out there are several vineyards in Contra Costa County and the area was a big hub for vineyards pre-Prohibition until most of them were replaced by orchards for fruit and nuts. Hence, there’s a town called Walnut Creek, for example. However, there are still some vineyards that remain and are sourced for bigger labels like Turley as heritage single vineyard wines. There are also locals who decided to plant vineyards more recently. This link is a good place to start if you’re looking for wineries in Contra Costa or you can simply use Google Maps to see where wineries are in the region. There’s also one not mentioned in that link called Los Arabis if you’re looking for Pinot Noir in Contra Costa. Even though my family has been living in Contra Costa for 30 years, I never knew these two wineries I just visited were 10 minutes away.

Viano Vineyards in Martinez is a family-run vineyard. It was founded in 1946. They have about 60 acres of vines and they produce between 7,000-9,000 cases a year. Although Contra Costa County can get quite hot, Martinez is closer to the Bay which means they may get slightly cooler temperatures. To try their wine, you pretty much have to order through their website or visit their tasting room. They also sell through some local shops. Most of their wines are under $25. 

Viano makes hefty wines that are not shy in terms of ripe fruit and tannins along with oak. However, they all have a streak of acidity to them to keep them fresh or from being over the top with alcohol. I tried their Valdiguie, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Their Sand Rock Zinfandel features 90+ year old vines. They have several picnic tables outside the tasting room where you can bring food to enjoy with your tasting. Tastings are only $10. 

Deer Hill Vineyards is located a half a block away from the Lafayette BART station. Owner Bill Scanlin, who works in the tech industry, planted his vines in his backyard about 23 years ago after his friend suggested it. Bill soon learned through help, trial and error how to make wine, and now he makes wine for others in the area who also have home-vineyards in exchange for some of their grapes so he can make other varietals under his label. In total, he makes about 350 cases a year. There are other vineyards in the Lamorinda (Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda) AVA, but a lot of the small backyard vineyards like his don’t have the license to sell wine, so they are for self-consumption or they are made under another label like Bill’s. Other than a few local shops, Bill’s wines are only available through his website or by visiting his tasting room in his house. The tasting room looks more professional than several estates I’ve visited, so it was surprising to see such a fancy tasting room as I entered his house.

Bill does most of the work himself by hand. He uses commercial yeast, racking, extended maceration, moderate filtering and new and once used French oak barrels. His wines sell for around $30-35 and he offers tastings with cheese/snacks by appointment. I got to taste his Yolo County Chardonnay, Tiffany Hills Sangiovese and Cabernet blend from his own vineyard. Similar to Viano, his wines are ripe, tannic and well-oaked, but somehow keep enough freshness and alcoholic balance. 

All in all, both wineries make shorter, cheaper trips than Napa or Sonoma if you live or are staying in the East Bay, and they provide something different. They’re sort of rustic with their tannins, acid, homemade style and ageability while at the same time modern with their generous oak and ripeness.  

Urban Wineries

Although I hope to post more about visits to the many urban wineries in California too (actual wineries, not just tasting rooms), I at least wanted to mention a few you can visit in Berkeley, where I used to live. There’s Donkey & Goat, Vinca Minor, Hammerling and Broc Cellars. All are low-intervention and organic in philosophy with less typical varieties sourced from lesser-known regions of California. They host a Friday block party too with food and music in addition to plenty of wine. Although they lack the beauty of a vineyard, they will save you time getting there and money given the tasting & bottle prices of major regions like Napa and Sonoma.

Conclusion 

Whether you’re looking to travel mainly for wine tasting, or traveling for some other reason and have extra time, there are plenty of winetasting options throughout California that are worth exploring. Even if these wines are not your typical style or varietal, traveling is an opportunity to open your eyes to new things, including wine. Global warming may also make some regions and varietals more popular in the future with increased droughts, heat waves and wildfires, so visiting some of these places may be a glimpse into the near-future. We also shouldn’t forget that not too long ago regions like Napa and Santa Barbara County were unknown with wineries giving free tastings until some contest, press or film made them world famous and kicked up the prices. Take advantage now while they’re still affordable.