Madrona Vineyards

Another winery with a great setting near Placerville. Easy to get to off Highway 50 and complimentary tasting for at least 5 – 10 varietals! Tasting room is in a log-​cabin like building with two resident black cats roaming about. Woman working the tasting room was super friendly and answered all our questions. She even gave us a taste of their chocolate sauces to go with the port. Especially enjoyed the dry Riesling, dry rose, and red blend El Tinto. Prices can’t be beat!

I have visited Madroña Vineyards ever since I moved to Sacramento. The laid-​back winery is hidden behind the large apple orchards in the heart of Apple Hill, but they have been making wine here for a very long time. Their specialty is the Riesling with some excellent vintages, but they are a full winery with lots of options.
Madroña is usually part of an Apple Hill trip due to its location. Groups often show up and can quickly fill up the cozy tasting room. Watch out for the attack cats if they leave their post near the fireplace! The staff know their wine and are proud of the product which is as refreshing as the stuff in your glass. They reverse the tasting order — starting with the reds — to shake things up, although they shine on their white wine selection anyway.
Any place you return to over and over has to be good. Madroña lacks some of the modern fancy stuff found elsewhere in the foothills, but they still serve a classic wine style. The whole experience is great — driving through the orchards and vineyards, walking through the trees to the heavy front door, and of course the wine.

While the gals pouring did not have much knowledge of their product, the wines were solid and at a good price point.

Cute little winery! I liked there wines more than some of the bigger wineries in Apple Hill area. We had lunch that we brought there and the outdoor area was very nice, lots of tall trees that provided lots of shade which would be perfect for a hot day. Customer service was not great, the woman helping us seemed like she really couldn’t care to be there but they had fun cheese pairing that was nice! We left with a couple bottles of El Tinto and some yummy local cheese :)

Debating on what wineries to hit on your trip through Placerville? This one should make the top 3!
They make ALL SORTS of wines. Huge selection. They let you try almost all of them! Complementary Tasting or $ 5 for the reserve. Super friendly and attentive wine attendants.
My favorites was they make a table wine called «tinto» and they sell this wonderful adult juice for only $ 12. Best valued bottle of wine I have found in awhile.
I usually do not like Malbec as well but theirs was enjoyable. I also thought they had some of the best zins as well.
It is a little off the road but follow the signs and you will get there post haste.
No appointment needed. It is by appointment if its 8 or more, however just have one person from your party peek in and more than likely they will take you.

we almost exit at the top of the hill but made the right choice to find Madrona and glad we did :) FANTASTIC! it’s like a little cabin at the end of the road. We walked in feeling like we did not know what to do and the excellent staff gave us time browse. They went over their wine selections and we sipped on 5 complimentary tastings did like the whites. LOVE THE CAT !
on our way out picked up a bottle of FIORE sweet sips
it you are up in Apple Hill just check them out. RECOMMENDED

Visited this winery with my boyfriend yesterday. What a great experience with such divine wine! Kathleen was our pourer and very well educated. They have an excellent table wine. I also really enjoyed their 12 Zin, Quintet & Gewürztraminer. In addition to a few others, they have an array of ports definitely worth checking out. The ’06 was our favorite and the bottle is bigger than most other ports we have had.

Hands down, absolutely wonderful! A much needed experience for our girls’ wine trip! The tour was fantastic and the service was phenomenal, not to mention the delicious wine!

Went back again recently after not having gotten to stop in for a long time. Fabulous! Staff was friendly, the wines were amazing, the experience was wonderful. I highly recommend this winery. One of my favorites of El Dorado County.

Enjoyed the visit. They had 12 wines to taste (free tasting). I paid the $ 5 fee to try 6 more… I thought I was only trying 6 for $ 5 I was wrong! I tried 17 wines! I enjoyed myself here

Gorgeous area and a HUGE selection of tastings. I believe there was around 12 samples on the list and that’s more than I care for in a stop. It can be overpowering on the palette. Great place for couple — probably not for large groups like ours.

I love this place! They have some of the best wine in the area and the staff is so friendly and knowledgable. It’s nice that they are up for conversation too… not just sell the wine and kick you out like some other wineries in the area. If you’re in on Friday or Saturdays, ask for Jordan… He totally knows his stuff and he will give you some awesome food pairing suggestions!

The tasting room is inside a nice woodsy cabin-​like building. It was dark inside with limited viewing of the grounds. We were greeted first by Theo the black cat… lucky for me I’m not superstitious and love when businesses have animals in the «office».
We enjoyed 5 complimentary tastings from vineyard list, there was a charge for reserve wine tasting. None of the wines grabbed me. I think the biggest turn off during our tasting were the excessive fruit flies. There were SO many; this was something I didn’t notice at any of the other tasting rooms we stopped at. The second biggest turn off was the wine lady behind the counter had to have had one glass too many because she was completely scattered and her responses to questions made no sense. Needless to say, we left empty handed.

I’m a fan of this place. It’s location and setting on Apple Hill are perfect for a coordinated day visit and the place produces only estate wines. The altitude and location produce some spectacular grapes with great flavors that are decidedly different than your usual fare. Enough so, in fact to warrant a visit. Pricing is extremely reasonable for the area.
Recommended.

Reasons to come here: The Nebbiolo, the Barbera and the El Tinto.
These three reds are amazing and super drinkable. An excellent stop with your red-​wary friends! The nebbiolo and Barbera are smooth yet complex and the el tinto is a high quality, excellently priced table red for taking to dinner parties or barbeques.
The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and does a great job incorporating food parings as you run down the list. This is another great wine club to join as you get limited edition tastings and food pairing events.
As stated in an earlier review, coming here during the weekday is a huge win. Weekends, in general, are a bit of a mad house.

One of the older wineries in Apple Hill and if you’re in the area tasting it’s stop worthy. They have an extensive wine selection and while I’m not a fan of everything they make, the do pour some very good wines. The tasting room is easy to find and right off Hwy 50.
My advice for visiting wineries in El Dorado or Amador County — go on a Friday. The weekends can get really busy and you’re just not going to have the best experience when the pourer is working several different groups at once with people waiting in line. If you have to do a Sat/​Sun trip then get out their early!

The BF and I decided to do some spur of the moment afternoon wine tasting up in Apple Hill this weekend… and what a great find Madrona was. Not only was the wine yummy, but Tim who was pouring that day was so knowledgable and down to earth, he really made our experience so much fun.
My favorites were their ’09 Shiraz-​Cab, the ’09 Nebbiolo, and their luscious ’07 Estate Zin.
We enjoyed the wine so much, we got a membership. They have a ton of events throughout the year — I can’t wait to go back!

Wine tasting without the high prices or snobbery of some places in Napa/​Sonoma (although I do love those still)! You get to try about 10 different wines for free and if you want to try any of the additional wines (in red on their list), it’s only an additional $ 5.
Our pourer was really friendly and informative. Both my friend and I loved the Fiore but let me warn you that it is pretty sweet… like grocery store juice but better quality of course. I would say about 12 – 16 people can fit comfortably at the counter for tastings. Best to go on a rainy day like we did.

I had no idea there are so many great wineries in El Dorado County. It’s rare that you find a winery with red and white wines of equal quality. Most of the bottles are very reasonably priced (around $ 10 — $ 20 a bottle) and they’re incredibly generous with the tastings. The wines were good, but it was definitely our experience that made this place a stand out.

So many great reviews… It must be the year? The service here is perfectly friendly in this rustic spot in the foothills of the Sierras. They offer a range of whites and reds with many grapes from the Apple Hill region. The wines are okay. I rarely leave a tasting without purchasing a bottle, and so I picked up a bottle to be used for cooking.
They offer generous pours here! If I return, I will be sure to write an update… Hopefully with some better news.