Plymouth, Ca; March 16, 2015 – As a result of a unique review process conducted for Amador Four Fires Wine and Food Festival by a distinguished panel of wine judges and sommeliers, more than 100 wines from 37 wineries have been selected to be poured at the event coming to the Amador County Fairgrounds May 2, 2015, 11 am to 4 pm. Tickets are currently on sale at amadorfourfires.com.
“The whole idea of Amador Four Fires is to showcase our county’s preeminent winemaking and winegrowing,” said co-Producer Deirdre Mueller, “inspired by wine regions of France, Iberia, Italy and of course our fabled California heritage wines. The wines selected in this review process beautifully showcase the extraordinary quality and depth of what our county has to offer.”
Wineries selected in the process include: Amador Cellars, Amador Foothill, Andis, BellaGrace Vineyards, Borjon, Bray Vineyards, Cooper Vineyards, Deaver, Dillian, Distant Cellars, Dry Town, Feist, Fiddletown Cellars, Gordon Binz, Helwig Winery, Il Gioiello, Jeff Runquist Wines, Legendre, Los Portales, Martin Lane, Miller Wineworks, Morse, Nine Gables, Renwood Winery, Scott Harvey, Sera Fina, Shenandoah Vineyards, Sobon Estate, Story, Terra d’Oro, Uphill Vineyards, Val Du Vino, Vino Noceto, Wilderotter, Winetree Farm, Yorba Wines, and Youngs.
All guests at A4F will be able to taste wines from each of these wineries, pouring in one or more of each of the regions. Most wineries will be represented in at least two to three of the four regions; some in all four. Guests who were able to obtain the coveted VIP Experience tickets, now sold out, will also be able taste special wines (reserves, estate bottling, library selection, etc.) from the sponsoring wineries, including from Presenting Sponsor Renwood Winery and Hosting Sponsors: BellaGrace Vineyards, Jeff Runquist Wines, Terra d’Oro Winery, Vino Noceto, and Yorba Wines.
The panel of judges and sommeliers, assembled by Amador Four Fires Festival’s Brian Miller, included: Jeff Back (Back Wine Bar), Carrie Boyle, Mike Dunne (Sacramento Bee), Martha Dunne, Bob Ecker, Colleen Ecker, Roger King, Laura Ness, Marcella Newhouse, Monty Preiser (Key to Napa Valley), Sara Preiser, Ted Reiger, Greg Richtarek (winemaker), Bruce Robinson, Marty Spate, Dan Stambaugh, Julie Thiebaut, Melissa Vogt, and Phil Werfelman (sommelier).
“The process of wine assessment we used, while different in many ways from the traditional award-by-consensus system common at wine competitions, turned out to be very revelatory,” said Miller. “We weren’t so much interested in giving ranked awards, as looking for those wines that best illustrated the style and standards of Amador County.”
Amador Four Fires Festival, a new concept wine and food festival designed to ignite your sense, is a veritable rural County Fair teeming with all things wine and food beckoning around every corner of its ten-acre Amador County Fairgrounds site. In addition to the wines poured by Amador's best wineries, guests will enjoy food inspired by the fiery traditions of cooking on an open flame from each of the four wine regions and prepared with high drama and culinary expertise by Amador’s finest chefs: Mark Berkner from Taste Restaurant, Beth Sogaard from Beth Sogaard Catering and Amador Vintage Market, showman Richard Lee from Wood Fire Smoke, and David Alvarez from Hotel Sutter.
In addition, Amador Four Fires offers a cornucopia of tantalizing activities for all the senses; an event-filled program full of fun, information, delicious foods and entertainment. Tastings explore everything from local olive oils, handcrafted candies, honeys, cheeses, cider and craft beer to some of the best wines vetted by a panel of judges. The exploration continues with multiple cooking demonstrations, including a cowboy campfire, a sensory station, and seminars covering topics from food and wine pairings, winemaking, tasting tips and “101” mini-courses. Rounding out the day are exclusive wine sales, a County Store, and live music at two venues.
Ticket price includes: Wine, food, commemorative glass, all activities and parking. $75 in advance, $85 at the door, $50 Designated Driver, available at amadorfourfires.com
Proceeds benefit the Amador County Fair Foundation.
