Earlier Spaswinefood had the pleasure of visiting Ironstone, a must visit winery in the Sierra Foothills. These days wine is the new gold in the western slopes of the Sierras. Ironstone Winery, a family owned and operated winery, is located in the historic town of Murphys, California. The winery’s location, just a three-hour
drive east of the Bay Area, makes it the perfect Gold Country wine escape. During the mid-1800's prospectors came to Murphys seeking their fortune in
gold. Today Murphys has become a mecca for wine enthusiasts who come seeking wines.
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Vine Reflections, Ironstone Vineyards © Spaswinefood
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Ironstone Vineyards
Ironstone Vineyards is a story about a family
owned winery. John Kautz started with 12 acres of vineyards in Lodi in 1948. He
soon established a reputation as a premium wine grape grower. Later expanding
to 5,000 acres in Lodi and the Sierra Foothills he became one of the top ten
grape growers in California. In 1988 when Kautz and his wife Gail establish a home site in Murphys they brought in award-winning winemaker, Steve Miller to make Kautz Wines (later to be named Ironstone). They excavated caves on Gail’s family ranch to use as a
cellar for aging the wines. The cellars became the site for their first tasting
room. The rest is history for this family owned winery. Today Ironstone is one of California's top wineries.
Ironstone Vineyards is impressive given its state-of-the-art wine producing facility, antiques and gold mining
artifact displays, tasting room, music room, demonstration kitchen, meeting and banquet
facilities, lakeside gardens and outdoor amphitheater.
For wine enthusiasts the first stop is the tasting room.
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| Entrance to Ironstone Tasting Room © Spaswinefood |
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| Antique Car Display, Ironstone © Spaswinefood |
Their Heritage Museum is well worth a visit, especially if you are a Gold Country enthusiast. There you will see a very large nugget of gold.
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| Ironstone Heritage Museum © Spaswinefood |
Let’s
not forget the wines
The
winery uses sustainable practises in their production of quality wines. During
a recent trip to Ironstone we enjoyed tasting some of these wines.
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| Wine Time, Ironstone © Spaswinefood |
Here are some of the Ironstone
wines that we sampled.
Ironstone Vineyards, Chenin Blanc 2014
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| Ironstone Vineyards, Chenin Blanc © Spaswinefood |
Ironstone Vineyards Chardonnay
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| Ironstone Vineyards Chardonnay 2014 © Spaswinefood |
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| Ironstone Vineyards, Estate Chardonnay 2013 © Spaswinefood |
Just
as Ironstone has grown so has Murphys become a mecca for wine enthusiasts. There
are over 20 tasting
rooms in
town, most are on Main Street. You can easily take two to three days, just to
do wine tasting in Murphys. However, to adequately explore the Sierra Foothills
Wine Country you will need at least a week. Sierra Foothills wineries are found
in Amador, Calaveras and El Dorado counties. Sierra
Foothills American Viticultural Area has 1,700 acres of its 2,700 acres
planted with Zinfandel, with the remainder being mainly Rhone and Italian
varietals.
Accommodations, Restaurants and Spas
You
will find a variety of charming bed and breakfasts and historic inn type
accommodations in Murphys and throughout Gold Country. You will
find a good selection of restaurants in Murphys. The town also
offers a number of spa services. Murphys (Queen of the
Sierra) is a must visit on any Sierra Foothills wine journey. I
invite you to join us in our travels in the Sierra Foothills Wine Country
and elsewhere in search of the best in Spaswinefood.
Sharon & John
Murphys,
California
June
2016
©
Spaswinefood
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