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Christy on the Vine

California Wine Blog

Wine Travel · March 27, 2025

Behind The Cellar Door: Wine Tasting in Amador County

Behind the Cellar Door event at Iron Hub Winery

What’s better than a weekend wine tasting? How about one where each winery you visit has an educational activity?

Behind The Cellar Door, organized by the Amador Vintners Association, is one of my favorite events of the year because there is so much to do! While I love a walk-around-tasting with gourmet small bites, honestly who doesn’t, visiting individual wineries during an event weekend and having a planned activity at each stop can be fun.

(Please note that tickets to this event were provided to me at no cost, but all views expressed in this post are my own. I was not under any obligation to give positive reviews and I only recommend experiences I truly enjoyed.)

If you’re unfamiliar with Amador County Wine Country, it’s about 100 miles east of Napa Valley at the edge of the Sierra Foothills in what used to be gold country. The region is known for Barbera, Zinfandel and other Italian varietals.

Behind The Cellar Door Day One

Iron Hub Wines

2024 Old Vine Zinfandel Barrel
Christy eats a Zinfandel Brownie

Our first stop was Iron Hub Wines for wine tasting and a barrel sample of the current vintage of Zinfandel. We also finished the experience with a Zinfandel brownie paired with their dessert wine. Father and Son winemaking team Tom and Spencer Jones were both there to talk about the wines and pour barrel samples.

Lusso Della Terra

Christy at Lusso Della Terra with a wine and food pairing.

Our second stop was Lusso Della Terra for a wine and small bites pairing. The temperature warmed up, and it was nice to sit outside on their deck. We also got a demonstration from winemaker Edward Cholakian on how to hand disgorge sparkling wine as part of the bottling process. I got to try my hand at it and did a pretty bad job. Maybe I’m meant to only drink sparkling wines, not to make them.

Vino Noceto

Vino Noceto
Doggy Diner statue at Vino Noceto

Our last stop of the day was Vino Noceto mostly to try their Sangiovese but also because I’ve wanted to get a picture with their Doggy Diner statue since I first saw it a few years ago. This stop wasn’t actually one of our Behind The Cellar Door stops, they were initially booked at the time we wanted to visit, but we stopped for a tasting anyways.

Behind The Cellar Door Day Two

Rombauer Vineyards

Christy at Rambauer's Sierra Highlands Tasting Room
One of Rambauer's winemakers gave us a tour and explained the different levels of toast on barrels

Our first stop was the Rombauer Vineyards’ Plymouth, CA location. Did you know Rombauer has a second location in Amador County? This location produces their Zinfandels along with some of their other wines. We were treated to wine tasting, including their iconic Chardonnay, along with a food pairing of braised short ribs and creamy polenta with their Zinfandel. There was also an optional tour and talk with one of their winemakers. 

Andis Wines

Christy at the seated tasting at Andis Winery
Wine tasting line up at Andis Wines

Our last stop of Behind The Cellar Door was Andis Wines for a seated wine tasting led by partner and vintner Lorenzo Muslia. We tasted through 5 of their wines as Lorenzo talked about the stylistic winemaking choices, history of the varietals, and Amador Wine Country in general. 

—

Behind The Cellar Door is organized by the Amador Vintners Association. It is a two-day event; you can choose a one-day or two-day ticket. While you can visit up to 4 wineries each day, we only visited three on Saturday and two on Sunday. Each winery experience must be booked in advance at the time of ticket purchase in one of four daily time slots. Please remember to enjoy wine events responsibly and have a designated driver or arrange for transportation.

Follow my wine travel adventures on Instagram.

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The @slhwine Sun, Wind & Wine Festival is coming u The @slhwine Sun, Wind & Wine Festival is coming up next month on May 3rd. If you’re a fan of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, this event is for you - it’s almost a master class in tasting the terroir of the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. You can even taste some older wines and large format bottles in the first hour if you purchase VIP tickets. 

I also love that there is a shuttle to the event that leaves directly from Monterey Peninsula College’s parking lot and drives you out to the event location. 

It’s so handy and saves you coordinating travel to Mer Soleil and back. Ubering out there is easy enough, but getting an uber to pick you up there is tricky! Just a heads up, shuttle tickets are an additional fee from entrance tickets and the VIP ticket holder shuttle that gets you there for the extra hour has sold out before. 

Sun, Wind & Wine Festival
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Mer Soleil Vineyards

Check out @slhwine for more information.
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I’m Christy, a wine blogger based in Monterey wine country who loves exploring California’s diverse wine-growing regions and telling the stories of the wineries I visit.

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