Ben and I headed to the Northern California Gold Country a few weekends ago to check the Amador Wine Country. This is the next up and coming Napa Valley. We had a great time and met some really nice people, ate great food and I drank some wonderful wine!!! The Northern Cal Gold Country is a really cool part of Cal that most people don't know about. The Gold Country's name comes from the fact that the area is where the Gold Rush started and in turn help fund and develop San Francisco and most of the West. The Gold is pretty much gone, but what is left is some cool historic cities, and beautiful wine country. So I am going to break this down to a few posts as well. This area has three particular areas that I want to focus on. The first is the Amador Wine Valley.
We decided to stay at a Bed and Breakfast instead of a franchise Hotel. I like to support the locals as much as possible. Now all of the Bed and Breakfast are highly rated in this area, but not incredibly expensive. Ben and I looked at a few in Jackson, and found one that suited us just fine. It is a Craftsman style home inside and out, so it was perfect. Ben called to make a reservation and Chuck, one of the innkeepers, asked if we had any food issues. Ben right away said "wheat", Chuck said no problem. I am a Celiac and a pancake breakfast would just not be ok. Gluten Free living is very hard so to get this response from an Innkeeper was wonderful. The name of the Inn is called the Eureka Street Inn. The Eureka was written up as one of the best places to stay in the Gold Country by the New York Times. Sandy and Chuck are a husband and wife team and run a clean and warm Inn. They only take reservations for the weekends. If you want to stay through the week there are many other nice places to stay as well. I will list them below.
If you are an antique person there is a lot of that to do. Lots of local history to learn and lots of out door activities as well, but the wine and the food is what drew us. I scanned the wineries and the restaurants before I left. Bring your laptop. It came in handy for me. Most of the Inns have free WiFi, so you could double check directions, or look up info and watch movies at night in your room. Ben and I brought season two of the Office and the box set of Sex and the City to watch. We both are night Owls so we new staying up till 2am in the Inns TV room would be rude. I brought some books and Magazines too, but we where so tired from having such a good time that watching Movies was all we could do.
So Sunday after we arrived and checked in we went exploring the little city of Jackson, it is a cute little town. The towns are basically connected on one windy road. The area consists of Sutter Creek, Jackson, Plymouth, Amador City, Drytown and Fiddeltown. All of these towns are very close together, even though on the map everything looks spread out, it is not. The Shenandoah road is where a majority of the wineries are along this road, but there are a few others that are near Drytown and Sutter Creek that should be visited as well. Along with wine the area has some great food. In my highlights below are my favs that should not be missed. This is a place Ben I will go often and you feel good about supporting.
Highlights:
Restaurants
Taste
VERY good food, more formal fair but worth the splurge. Actually your getting a five star food experience for three and two star prices.
Incahoots BBQ
This place has the BEST FOOD!!!!!! It is a bright yellow building with flames painted on the outside of it, and is down the street from Taste.
P.O. Box 310 • Plymouth, CA 95669
(209) 245-5544
No Starbucks or Peets for miles this is your best bet.
Shops
Shops
This place has the best home made foods to take home with you. They have this Humus that is like nothing I have ever tasted.
Numerous Antique Stores and Kitchen Shops and Specialty Shops
Numerous Antique Stores and Kitchen Shops and Specialty Shops
Lots of place along the main streets of all the towns.
What a great staff. Really nice people. All the wines are wonderful.
Ok this place has the BEST wine!!! The jug wines are not to be missed!!!! The wines have very high alcohol content, so make sure to have a designated driver. After the tasting I was pretty trashed.
Terre Rouge Easton
Places to stay
Terre Rouge Easton
Places to stay
Wonderful Inn keepers, beautiful and clean accommodations, wonderful breakfast just great all around!!!
Has great reviews on the web.
Also has great reviews on the web
More Info
More Info
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