Amador Wine Country

My favorite times of the year to visit the wine country are Spring and Fall. In the Spring the temperatures are warming up and the vines are starting to bud. It's not too hot or cold and great for eating a lunch with a bottle of wine outside. In the fall the temperatures are cooling down and the harvest season is underway. If you want to see how wine is made that is the time as the crush is in full swing.

Last week my son and I went to the Amador Wine Country to pick up my wine club bottles and to also try a few wineries we hadn't been to before. There is a lot to be said for the foothill wineries. The rolling hills are beautiful and this time of year are still lush and green, the crowds are less than in Napa or Sonoma and most wineries don't charge to taste.

We picked up wines at Villa Toscano, iL Gioiello, Cooper and Dillian. If you want to picnic all have outdoor seating. If you want to buy a hot meal then I would suggest Villa Toscano. I would also suggest opening up a bottle of their wine to go with lunch.

We also stopped at the Scott Harvey tasting room. I have been going to Amador for over 30 years and Scott has been around well before that. When I first met Scott he was the wine maker at Santino Winery which is now Renwood. Scott was trained in Germany and produces great late harvest wines. He also makes great Zins and white varietals.  This time I purchased some late harvest Riesling.

If you are in the Sacramento area I would suggest making the short trip to either El Dorado or Amador county to taste their wines. This is a great time to go.

Lake Clementine Trail

This weekend my son and I hiked up to Lake Clementine just outside of Auburn, California. The trail is 2.3 miles to the dam with a slight elevation change which made for a nice 5 mile hike. Lake Clementine is along the American River just outside of Auburn and about 30 minutes from my house in Gold River.

We started the hike just as the sun was coming up and we were the only ones on the trail. The weather was nice and no jacket was needed. The hike is along the river and once we got to the dam it was spilling over this time of year making for a beautiful view. On the way back we started to see mountain bikers, joggers and groups of hikers. I'm glad we started when we did. It was nice and peaceful with just us on the trail.

Another cool thing is the trail goes under the Forrest Hill Bridge. It is the highest bridge by deck height in California, and the fourth highest in the United States at 730 feet above the river. The bridge can be seen in the beginning of the 2002 film XXX in which Vin Diesel's character Xander Cage is seen driving a stolen red Chevrolet Corvette off of it, then jumping from the car mid-flight and parachuting to his accomplices at the bottom of the American River Canyon.

One note: It is a state park and parking is $10 in the parking area. There are plenty of trails in the area and we plan on doing a lot more hiking. 

After the hike we drove to the Amador Wine Country for wine tasting but that's another story.