The Hovey Winery tasting room is on Main Street in historic Murphys, California, a Gold Country getaway in the Sierra Foothills just a few hours east of San Jose. On summer weekends the influx of Bay Area city folk make it hard to reserve a hotel room or dinner table, especially when there’s a big name playing at the nearby outdoor concert venue (see below). Stroll along Main Street and you’ll see shops of all kinds, plus several tasting rooms featuring local wines and ports. I haven’t visited Murphy’s in a couple years, so I was pleased when another Wine Adventurer brought a new wine down the hill this past weekend for me to taste – Hovey Winery 2013 Duende Calaveras County Chardonnay.
This Chardonnay was barrel fermented in 50% new oak and aged four months on yeast before bottling. I tried the wine at three temperature levels – room, slightly chilled, and moderately chilled. Since I was hoping for a summer wine to sip on warm days, I was pleased that it sparkled between slightly and moderately chilled. Clean and crisp with a hint of fresh summer fruit, also very light on the oak. At $20, this is a great every day summer sip.
Hovey Winery
350 A Main Street, Murphys, CA 95247
(see map below)
Tasting Room open daily, Noon to 5:30pm
Phone: (209) 728-9999
Other points of interest in Murphys:
Dunbar House – My favorite downtown bed & breakfast
Ironstone Vineyards – Outdoor summer concerts featuring top flight entertainment. 2014 schedule includes Lady Antebellum and ZZ Top with Jeff Beck
Black Oak Casino Resort – 28 miles from Murphys in Tuolumne (45 minutes drive)
Great local fishing lakes (not marked on map, but easy to find):
Camanche Reservoir Ione, CA
Lake Amador Ione, CA
New Hogan Lake Valley Springs, CA
New Melones Lake Angels Camp/Sonora, CA
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Disclosure: No free samples or other inducements were provided to the author in return for this review.
