We visited Jeff Runquist Wines, which sources grapes from around the state of California but put down permanent roots with a nice tasting room in Amador Valley, directly off Shenadoah Valley Road (E16). Runquist did a nice job with their tasting room (opened in the Spring of '08), its a rectangle bar with tasting space all around, they offer free tastings & serve up cheese plates on the house for every visiting group. In my wine travels around the world, its rare to receive such solid service.
The wineries in Amador County seem to offer up free tastings & taste the entire group of current offerings. So as you'll see below, we tasted nearly everything they have currently offered:
- 2006 "R" Primitivo, Nostro Vino Vineyard ($26) - wonderful fruit, sparkles in your mouth
- 2006 "Z" Zinfandel, Massoni Ranch, Amador County ($24) - good balance on a heavier fruit bomb like zin
- 2006 "R" Barbera, Dick Cooper Vineyard, Amador County ($24) - fruit forward, a common Runquist trait
- 2006 Sangiovese, Pioneer Hill Vineyard, Amador Valley ($22) - Italian style taste, easy to drink and wonderful but not my favorite.
- 2006 Petite Sirah, Enver Salman Vineyard, Clarksburg ($26) - concentrated fruit goes straight to your head. This is an awesome bottle of wine and likely will win over any fruit loving red wine drinking fan.
- 2004 Reserve Syrah, Three way Vineyard, Paso Robles ($40) - syrupy but delicious in a non dessert wine way. Not for the faint or dessert wine
- 2006 Pinot Noir, Sisters Vineyard, Carneros, Napa Valley ($40) - easy, light, typical pinot that displays a nice, simple finish
Jeff Runquist wines are on their way up. People don't know about them yet but they will because his wines are fruit forward, balanced, yummy red wines that span the lesser known varietal scale.
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