Karly Wines

Fabled vineyards, legendary wines

Like fine cooking, wine can be no better than the ingredients. Wine grape growing in Amador County dates back to the 1850’s, in fact one legendary vineyard in the locale dates back to those days and is still producing. There are about half dozen old and fabled Zinfandel vineyards in the area and Karly has access to several. For almost thirty years we have been privileged to make wine from the Sadie Upton vineyard planted by Sadie in 1922, and the Massoni vineyard planted in 1947 and now owned by Sue Fox. These vineyards are featured individually in our “Warrior Fires” and “Sadie Upton” bottlings.

While the above fabled vineyards are at the top of our wine lineup, we have made some nice discoveries through our twenty year experimentation with grape varieties native to the warmer Mediterranean region of France, Italy and Spain. Some of these varieties have done well in our granite soils. Thus a very interesting sector of our wines consists of Petite Sirah, Syrah, Mourvedre, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, Barbera, Sangiovese and Primitivo. In addition to the Zinfandels and Sauvignon Blanc which are wine list staples in greater Central Valley restaurants and are the most widely available Karly wines, these lesser known varieties are well worth your attention when visiting the winery. These wines are not found very far from Amador and are best obtained at the winery or through the Karly wine club.

The winery started as a hobby in 1978, and then evolved into the business of ex-fighter pilot Buck Cobb who named it for his wife to secure her involvement when operations threatened to spin out of control. It was one of the first boutique wineries in Amador. The winery now produces ten-thousand cases annually and has sucked in son Garth and wife Jonna. Production will not grow beyond this level as the family is fanatic about producing the best possible wines which requires manic attention to the estate vineyards and the wines. The third generation will be starting college soon.

Karly Wines is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada at 1500’ elevation about forty miles east of Sacramento near the town of Plymouth. The winery is reached via State Highways 16 or 49 when coming from the south, north or west. Nevada residents will find Highway 50 or Carson Pass (Highway 88) best. This foothill area is famous as the Mother Lode of the 1849 Gold Rush. It is well worth spending several days when visiting.