After Creating Two Successful Commercial California Wines: How Do You Top That? Create More Great Amador County Wine

Few winemakers plaster their full name across a bottle of California wine. But winemaker Scott Harvey has participated in 50 vintages of wine, 49 in California where he created the commercially successful Menage a Trois. We’re thinking he deserves that opportunity.

As a young man employed at Santino Winery, he participated in the development of White Harvest Zinfandel putting Amador County on the Golden State wine map.

He says, instead of calling it Rose from Zinfandel, “I paid homage to my German training. In Germany rose wine is called Weissherbst, which translates to White Harvest.” Thusly, White Harvest Zinfandel from California.

With the White Harvest Zin and Menage a Trois he has the chops to let you know who he is, what he’s done.

While tasting his wines, we get it.

After creating those two wines he started his new venture in the Shenandoah Valley of California’s Gold Country. It’s near the town of Plymouth perched atop the hills of Amador County at 1,600 feet elevation. Exploring this area you can often see California’s capital in Sacramento 50 miles away through the haze of the San Juaquin Valley.

While his Scott Harvey Winery resides near Plymouth, one tasting room resides in Clarksburg and one we visited in Sutter Creek south of the Shenandoah Valley. This small Sutter Creek tasting room is stuffed into a historic building. The wine barrel tabletops sport posters of upcoming community theater, circuses and festival dates.  Nearby on the main street you’ll find two different tasting rooms, restaurants, shops and historic buildings.

What did we taste:

2022 Vermentino $30 ✰+

2022 Rose of Tempranillo $30 ✰+

2020 J&S Old Vine Reserve Zinfandel $33 ✰+

2020 Mountain Select  Barbera $30 ✰+

2020 InZINerator $40 ✰+

2020 J&S Reserve Barbera $48 ✰++ (91pts)

2017 Estate Petite Sirah $55 ✰++ (92pts)

2014 Forte (port style) $52 ✰+

Gina, our wine host, was friendly, energetic and in training. Her manager filled in the details to our queries. Tastings are $15 and waved for each bottle purchased. You may find his Red Label wines in retail stores while the White Labels are winery purchase only.

The Shenandoah Valley wineries produce wonderful wines similar to Paso Robles, each region located in golden rolling foothills dotted with oaks. It’s a joy savoring these New World wines and we’ll certainly be back to relish the valley’s luscious wines again.

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Some notes on our wine ranking system.

Bill & Erin Hodge write about California Wine, the estates & winemakers producing them and educational information about Vino. Living in California Wine Country provides a front row seat to the places you want to visit the most here in the Golden State.

– -✰  means -What’s next on your list of wines
-✰  means -Not liking it too much
✰ means  -We’ll drink this wine, especially if it’s hosted!
✰+ means -You’ve got our attention and we might buy this wine.
✰+ + means -We’re hooked and we’re going to buy this wine.
When you see -✰/✰+  with a slash, it means we disagree.