Bantam Cellars

Good, rich reds, a rustic-​style tasting room, and free ranging chickens! I’m a fan if their Primitivo and Barbera. Worth a visit, especially if you are in the area. As a side note, I’ve been here several times in 2010 and 2011 (most recently in June 2011) and have never been charged for tasting. Of course, I always buy a bottle, so maybe that’s why. Pours are generous and they are happy to do re-​pours.

I genuinely liked this place. Pretty decent wines. Unique stuff too, like Primitivo. The Primitivo was good (I have some biases when it comes to Primitivo), but I really liked the Barbera. The Chanteclair and Coop D’Ville were nice and smooth too.
We were the only ones there when we went, so we got to hang out with the winemaker — Garth, I believe. Real nice guy who makes some good wines.
Nice, big, clean tasting room. So take 25 of your friends when you go! But call in advance if you do. (I work in wine, trust me, they’ll appreciate it!)
Wines were decently priced (in the $ 20 range). Just FYI, they charge $ 5 for a tasting unless you buy a bottle. But really, well worth it for $ 5! (and it’s only $ 5 — get over yourselves, cheapskates!!) And we also bought!
And loved the rooster motif!

THEY CHARGE $$$ TO TASTE! :(
This is not Napa. Do not charge to taste!!!
Okay, okay, they had beautiful chickens in front… that doesn’t make up for the fact that they are charging to taste wine in Amador… it’s just silly.

We were met by a flock of chickens. It was pretty cool. Not remembering too much since this was the last stop. The pours were very generous and again like all the wineries in this neck of the woods the folks were pretty friendly and accommodating. I am a red wine fan but the Viognier was pretty good.

This place was the highlight of our wine tasting tour of the shenandoah valley (amador county, near sacramento). When we arrived, we were greeted by about two dozen excited hens and roosters literally running toward us (we had crackers). They were fun… Inside, we were suprised by the high quality and affordable wines. And very generous pours! Do try the Garth Cobb Barrel Select Primitivo, which was our favorite wine of the day. The guys that work there are super friendly. Overall a very relaxing place and a very relaxing day.

It was Elvis’ birthday and as we have for the last ten years or so, we went out to celebrate! This year we took to the Jackson Highway and made our way to the Shenandoah Valley for a day of wine tasting. As we were meandering along Shenandoah Road with a few wineries in mind, we zipped right past the beautiful new Bantam Cellars barn as it appeared to be closed due to construction but we decided to u-​turn to check it out anyhow and were grateful we did. Besides being greeted by construction workers paving the driveway (we had to use the gravel entrance next door to get in) we were also greeted by chickens, three cats and Captain Steve (30 year Navy vet), our competent and all-​knowing Bantam tasting guide who commutes to Plymouth all the way from the town of Cool! We got a little history lesson along with our pours and it was a really good time.
Since it was our first stop we sipped from the entire list. My favorites were the fruity Vermentino, the Zinfandel, the Coop D’Ville and the Barbera. I also enjoyed the Viognier but that was only available for purchase at Karly (for a real bargain — too bubbly for the winemaker) — Bantam Cellars is a «family offshoot» of Karly Wines (winemaker Garth Cobb is the son of winemaker Buck Cobb of Karly Winery).
Prices were pretty reasonable but I believe their wines are only sold at the barn or through their website.
Their winery club, Peeps, sounds like a lot of fun too.