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Appellation:
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Calaveras County
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Location:
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634 French Gulch Rd.
Murphys, California 95247
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Phone:
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(209)728-9911
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Winemaker:
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Nathan Vader
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Tasting Room:
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Medium
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Days/Hours:
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Fri thru Sun, 12:00 to 5:00
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Parking:
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Medium
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Picnic Facilities:
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Picnic Tables Available
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Red Wines:
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Cabernet Sauvignon, Barbera, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Zinfandel
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White Wines:
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Sémillon, Viognier
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Production:
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2000 cases
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Map
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The Winery
Vina Moda Winery and tasting room is located in a refurbished rustic old barn on the site of the oldest bonded winery in Calaveras County. But there is nothing rustic about this tasting room. The design is beautifully classic in style with an incredible bar, that although cement, has the look of being a single slab cut from a giant thunder egg (geode). The plank ceiling, muted walls, painted concrete floors, overstuffed chairs, and soft lighting create an atmosphere of simple elegance. The winery is owned by four partners, including Kirsten, the business and marketing manager as well as interior decorator, Nathan, the winemaker, Jonathon, the photographer and landscape manager and French Chef, Jeannine, who uses her talents to highlight the estate wines at local winery events.
The Vineyards
The winery currently has no estate-grown grapes; however, they purchase most of their grapes from premier Calaveras vineyards. The exception to this is the grapes purchased from the organically farmed Clockspring Vineyard of Amador County, famous for its old vine Zinfandel grapes of exceptional fruit qualities and depth of flavor.
The Wines
The small-batch, handmade wines of Vina Moda are made in a manner that enhances the terroir and varietal characteristics of the high mountain grapes. It is hard to pick a favorite from the line-up, but the Barbera is a great representation of the varietal with its smoldering smoky character. The Zinfandel, with its elegant fruitiness, and the Cabernet, with its aristocratic European style, are also hard to pass up.
The Winemaker
Nathan Vader is a partner and winemaker at Vina Moda. He has been a winemaker in the Calaveras wine region for over ten years and has enhanced that experience with studies in enology at the University of California at Davis.