About Us
Our Story
We are a small mom-and-pop owned winery and vineyards in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Amador County.
When Dave was growing up, Dave’s father owned vineyards in Napa County. Dave is an architect, and for his college thesis he designed a winery for his father’s vineyards, but at that time it was not built. Since he is a general contractor, as well as an architect, he designed and built a winery for his father in 1993. Roxanne’s father used to make homemade wine in their basement in Pennsylvania, so maybe wine flows through their veins! When Dave told Roxanne he wanted to plant a vineyard and asked her what she wanted to plant, she replied without hesitation: Cabernet Sauvignon! Her favorite wine.
Our Land
We have fabulous views when we are out working in the vineyard: the Crystals around Lake Tahoe; Mokelumne Peak, the highest point in Amador County; Half-Dome, in Yosemite; and Mount Diablo and Mt. Tamalpais, in the coastal range. At night, we can see the lights up and down the Sacramento Valley.
Our soil is very rocky (what soil?!). The plants have struggled for years to become established. But the saying in the wine business is the harder the plants have to struggle to survive, the better the wine will be!
Our Wines
Because our soil is so poor, our wines are very deeply colored, aromatic, and very tannic. The tannins are mellowed out by years of aging in American oak barrels. Our 2012 Cabernet has won five silver medals and eight bronze medals.
Wine Pairings
Cabernet Sauvignon of course goes with red meat. We have learned that it also goes with quite a few other foods: barbecue, salmon, pork, turkey, cheese, dishes with red sauce, and, last but not least, chocolate!