Chrissy Cooper “got it” instantly when I pitched her on the concept of parking my Airstream trailer on her family’s estate in Amador County for what would be my first stop on the Vintage Highway.
But beyond merely allowing me to plug into water and electricity for four days, the extended Cooper clan embraced the idea and welcomed me to the ranch, even inviting me to a “friends and family” party at Cooper Vineyards the Friday evening of my stay. More than 100 people—tasting room employees, volunteers, full-time staff and folks from nearby ranches, wineries and vineyards—were expected to attend.
I couldn’t have been made to feel more welcome. . .most of the time, anyway. Poor Richard’s Almanack is right on the money: “Fish and visitors smell in three days.”
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(Note: This is the third in a series of posts about my trip to Amador County, during which I parked my Airstream trailer at Cooper Vineyards for four days. I still have more posts to complete, so stay tuned for more winery reports. Click on any photo to enlarge it; if you’d like to comment, I’d love to hear from you.)
Perhaps I was an hour early; maybe he was late, but as I leaned against my truck in the parking lot of Jeff Runquist’s Amador winery and tasting room before its Saturday morning opening time, I sipped on a hot latte and tried to figure out the future of the huge concrete pad on the adjacent lot, obviously destined for a stand-up steel structure of some sort.
Anyone driving past could easily assume this unfinished construction project was simply an under-capitalized wine dream gone bust; another mournful casualty of an overactive vision crashing head on into the reality of an economy gone south. But they would be wrong, because this is Jeff Runquist we’re talking about—his property, his project, his next big move.
I made my appointment to chat with Jeff through his wine broker, so I wasn’t surprised when he failed to show. He lives next door, though, on a large parcel choked with out-buildings, so I wasn’t worried. And sure enough, his wife, Margie appeared and told me she was unaware that I was coming, even though she screens the more than 100 emails he receives daily.
Margie said that she and Jeff had been working on assembling a puzzle that had kept them busy until 10 p.m. the night before. So who needs a Wii in Amador? Soon enough, Jeff made his short commute to the tasting room, carrying a clear, unmarked bottle, probably a preview sample of one of his new brews.
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(Note: This is the second in a series of posts about my trip to Amador County, during which I parked my Airstream trailer at Cooper Vineyards for four days. I still have two more posts to complete, so stay tuned for more winery reports. Click on any photo to enlarge it; if you’d like to comment, I’d love to hear from you.)
Choosing my first stop ever traveling on the Vintage Highway was something in which I invested a lot of thought. Visiting Amador first was an easy decision because of all the AVAs in California, I truly feel welcomed and at home in the Shenandoah Valley. In terms of physical, natural beauty at all times of year, it competes with any wine region. And the wines produced there are stellar, as are the people. . . typically of hardy stock, ranchers whose ancestors farmed everything from hay to prunes to walnuts in addition to planting the early vineyards. These people are genuine and honest and display and ingrained work ethic that makes me feel like I really need to kick into a higher gear.
A knarly old vine at Renwood.
My icebreaker choice was Renwood Winery on Steiner Rd., a narrow country lane lined with owner-operated wineries and, directly across the street from what is widely acknowledged as the most celebrated of all zinfandel sources in California, the Original Grandpère vineyard owned by Terri Harvey. It had been years since I had tasted a Renwood wine, so it seemed like a reasonable place to start.
There is a back story, however, and it explains why my shop has never developed a relationship with Renwood: First, in the very early days of launching Carpe Vino, I spent a lot of time exploring the Sierra Foothills AVA because our strategy was to focus on our own appellation—even though, quite frankly, the foothills was (and still is) viewed sadly as a distant second cousin to the celebrated regions of Napa and Sonoma.
My search back in 2002 took me directly to Amador, where I it seems gems could be found at every stop along the wine trail. While we were welcomed warmly wherever we went, our reception at Renwood was, to be charitable, “chilly.” In retrospect, I can understand why: Renwood is perhaps the largest producer in the county—upwards of 120,000 cases per year—and I’m sure the tasting room, overrun by 40,000+ visitors annually, deals daily with wannabees claiming to be in the wine business. Still, my less-than-civil encounter there offended my Midwest sensibilities, and, as a result, we’ve never found room for Renwood at Carpe Vino.
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This blog will follow my monthly trips into wine country across California, Oregon, Washington and, some day, around the country. As the owner of Carpe Vino, a wine shop, wine bar and fine dining restaurant in Auburn, CA, I have direct access to the leading wineries and winemakers in the business. I’ll be traveling the back roads of wine country to find the true gems, small production wines made by truly passionate people. In my nightly blogs on the road, I’ll tell their stories and describe what I’ve seen, learned and tasted.
