The
last couple of years have brought a lot of changes to Amador County viticulture. Some of them are not so pleasant to witness. It has been more than difficult to farm
grapes these past four years. The
surplus of inventories in wineries and the reduced demand for grapes has
resulted in plenty of vineyards heaped into piles waiting to be torched this
winter. There are some vineyards that
have simply been abandoned. Denise Esola
has her vineyard and family home listed for sale and we are not sure about the
future disposition of the grapes from her vineyard. But until then we will continue to produce
wine from the vineyard her grandfather planted in the winter of 1939/1940.
These are special grapes, some of the last ‘dry farmed’ Zinfandel in the
County. This has been the trademark for
the Esola Vineyard; no supplemental irrigation.
The vines must ration the soil moisture and in doing so produce a
limited quantity of grapes. These grapes
are always intensely flavored and the wines reflect that.
The
2024 vintage of the Jeff Runquist Wines Esola Vineyard Zinfandel won the designation; 'Best Amador Zinfandel’ at the county fair this year. Sure, it was the County Fair and not the State
Fair, but it is still nice to have the local bragging rights to the best
Zinfandel in the County.
