Montevina Winery, which when it was founded in Amador County's Shenandoah Valley in 1970 led to the revival of the Sierra foothills as a fine-wine region, is going away, in a manner of speaking.
As of Jan. 1, the winery will be renamed Terra d'Oro, which since 1993 has been the brand Montevina officials have used for their most highly regarded wines. Montevina will remain as a brand, in large part for wines made with grapes grown elsewhere in the state. Terra d'Oro - Italian for "land of gold" - will become the name of the winery and will stay as the brand for wines made principally with foothill fruit, says Jeffrey Meyers, the winery's vice president and general manager.
Montevina, owned by Trinchero Family Estates in Napa Valley, produces around 250,000 cases a year, Meyers says. About 80 percent of that total is marketed under the Montevina label, 20 percent as Terra d'Oro releases.
"Terra d'Oro will focus on Amador and foothill wines, zinfandels especially, our heart and soul," says Meyers. "With Montevina, we want to do a lot of different things." Under the Montevina label, for example, the company just released a cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and merlot, all made with fruit from beyond the foothills. "Terra d'Oro will be the brand for this area."