Shortly before noon, the four of us, Marti, Emmy, Mike, and I, set out for Amador County, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. We were on our way to “wine country,” about an hour’s drive east of Sacramento. As the vintners’ website informs us,

Located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in central California, Amador County boasts 2,700 acres of wine grapes – – a high percentage of which are farmed organically – – and 25 wineries.

The region’s rolling hills, warm climate, and volcanic, decomposed granite soils are particularly suited to the Zinfandel grape, which has become a specialty of this region.

We stopped first at Story Winery where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and then tasted their selections. Next on the tour was Karly Winery, a small operation further down the road. A little further east of that site, we stopped at two wineries specializing in mostly organic wines, Shenandoah Vineyards and the Sobon Estate, one of the oldest wineries in California. We ended up buying a few bottles at each winery, so by the time we were done tasting for the day, we had amassed quite a collection! My selections included a 2003 Vintage Port and 2005 Barbera from Shenandoah and a 2005 Orange Muscat from Sobon. All of these choices are “vegan-safe.”

I didn’t bring my camera with me, or I’d have some photos to post. It was a beautiful summer day, and I loved the look of the landscape — it was very “Mediterranean,” although I didn’t see any olive trees, which are ubiquitous in places like Spain, Italy, and Greece.