Charles Spinetta Winery & Wildlife Art Gallery

Took a drive from Sacramento today and ended up at this winery. The wines are amazing! We took home a full case of mixed wines. I would say that it could be better if they offered a small bite to eat during your tasting. Despite this small issue we will definitely be back when we need to stock up.

Love the sweeter wines, the folks are really nice. No fees, and a great place to check out the art work!

I finally found my sweet dessert wine! Around $ 15 is a pretty good price. They have other wines too if you don’t like sweet stuff. Free tastings which was nice. They have some neat paintings too. They looked like photographs!

Though the sweet wine was good, we felt neglected at times. The art gallery was pretty awesome. There was a large variety of sweeter wines, so if that is something you really enjoy, you should definitely stop here!

We have been coming here for years. This was actually the first winery we visited in Amador county. I first discovered their wines at my cousins wedding about 15 years ago. A couple years later we made our first visit. We also served some of their wines at our wedding. Their reds are ok. They have a table red I like and also a primitivo. I don’t remember what others. But what they are really known for are their sweet wines. Zinetta is my personal fave. Nothing like sipping a chilled glass of their Zinetta on a warm summer day. Their Chenin Blanc, Black Muscat and Orange Muscat are also wonderful. Their tasting room has a wildlife art gallery upstairs which is fun to browse around. They also have some picnic tables on their property which we have enjoyed on many occasion. Staff are always friendly and seem to remember us from our prior visits which is nice. If you’re looking for some good sweet wines stop by and give them a try! Try to go when the daffodils or lilacs are in bloom!

I grew up going to this winery with my parents. I always had to wait outside since I wasn’t old enough. Well this
Visit I was finally old enough to taste. I fell in love with their wines and had a hard time choosing which to buy. We will be going back soon since I have already finished my bottles off. I don’t like wine at all but liked everyone I tried here. Good
Job Charles.

Best sweet wine vineyard in Amador county! No tasting fee! Full size, reasonably priced sweet wines that will make your mouth go mmmm mmmm oh my! Service was excellent! This is a must stop in and try, you won’t be disappointed!

the sweet wines were very good. didn’t enjoy the red wines. the staff was pleasant.

Wildlife gallery and tasting room combined
Take a break from the wine tastings and walk up to the loft and enjoy the wildlife pictures by several artists. Some you will recognize as the prints for the wine labels.
Then back down to enjoy a white or red tasting. This winery for us has mastered more wines with that hint of sweetness. Their Chenin blanc well chilled goes with a hot day and our patio. A zinetta that defies regular Zins and has a light air to it. Then there is the orange muscat– that my husband hoards by the case. Truly a sipping wine that can be dessert in itself
It’s a nice tasting room where it seems family is always pouring for you.

This is the fourth time that I visited Charles Spinetta Winery, and it will definitely be the last.
We live an hour away, and love to go to the foothill wineries in Amador and El Dorado counties quite often. This weekend we attended the «start on Steiner» event and had a wonderful time. That was until we decided to give this place a try. The four other people in our party had never been here, but were looking forward to tasting their wines. I was hoping that the fourth time would be the charm as far as my visit went, and was willing to give them another try; in the past, the rudeness of the staff was unbelievable. But people can change, right??? They didn’t let me down. Upon entering the door, with my grandchild I was told, «Maam, your going to have to take the child outside, he is not allowed in here». Yes, I understand that he was under 21 by at least 18 years, but he had to go to the bathroom. Upon asking if we could just use the facilities, we were told that we could go in with him, but we’d have to come right out ASAP. We had been to 5 other wineries earlier in the day and no one had said a word to us prior to this. I’m not saying that children should be encouraged in winetasting rooms, but come on. A little tact goes a long way. At that point, we just left. I don’t care if their wine was the best in town, they will not get my business – and we buy a lot of wine.
Get a grip people, take a customer service class or turn this place into an actual art gallery where your lack of people skills would be less offensive. Your wine is not good enough to make up for this shortfall.

I am NOT into the gallery portion of this winery. It’s all knotty pine and pictures of wildlife from the wine bottle labels. Not my style, not my thing. Minus one star for the oddball, wine label «artwork». Oh yeah, and for doing away with corks in favor of screw caps! What is UP with the SCREW cap??? Hello??!
I AM, however, into the sweet wines from this place! I am into them a LOT! And these wines are safe for vegans! I asked Tony about this, and he was most helpful.
I have heard that people with little or no wine experience, and under-​developed, wine palates, gravitate toward sweet wine, while people who really know wine prefer the dry, more complex types. That may be true. I don’t know. What I DO know is that I like chick drinks, and the wines from this place satisfy my every wine craving.
Am I implying that the sweet wines are chick wines? Not intentionally. I’m just saying any drink I enjoy must be sweet; margaritas, amaretto & OJ, Mai tai, piña colada — -you get the idea. Moving on…
The Frost Wine tastes like the heavy syrup from canned pears. It is wonderful for freezing, and then scraping into a type of sorbet dessert for two, served with berries. It’s good to drink, as well, but can feel a bit thick, which is why I freeze and scrape it for «snow cone» style enjoyment.
The Chenin Blanc is light and crisp with notes of summer fruit. I love to sip this at dusk, outside, while knitting or reading a book. I don’t even need warm weather. It’s lovely even with a chill in the air.
The Rose’ (formerly called White Zinfandel) is lovely and slightly bubbly. It’s a tad more tart than the Chenin Blanc, but not much. My favorite way to enjoy this is with a fruit basket cake or a fruit tart. Heck, I’ve been known to drink it while eating a bowl of cereal or a bag of fresh donuts at 2:30 a.m. You didn’t read that here, though. Shhhh. Ahem. This wine is great for afternoon summer parties.
The winery offers two muscat wines, Black and Orange. I enjoy them both a great deal, but my preference is the Black. It tastes like roses. They are nice wines for those times when the weather is cold, the night is quiet, and you have time to sip slowly and enjoy their complexities.
And now we’ve come to my ultimate favorite of Spinetta’s sweet wines; Zinetta. This deep purple/​burgundy wine is just fabulous! It has the slightest bit of effervescence, is perfectly balanced, and I’ve yet to serve or gift it to a dessert wine lover who doesn’t like it. Everyone I know raves about this one after they try it. I would love to try making a big batch of sangria with it (it won’t need added sugar which s a bonus) but whenever I give it a go, I wind up drinking the whole bottle as I cut oranges and slice oranges, strawberries, and peaches.
One of these days I may actually succeed making sangria. My favorite way to drink this wine is to freeze the whole bottle, then pour it into a wine glass as it thaws and enjoy a Zinetta slushie. Delicious!
I don’t know why other people have had bad experiences at the winery. I never have. My visits have all been very enjoyable and I wish I could go out there more often.
Unfortunately, since I dislike dry and/​or more «serious» wines I cannot discuss this winery’s other offerings. Wish I could. But if you like the sweet types, you may really enjoy the ones I’ve mentioned.

I would say this is the place to go if you have someone who does not like wine. You will find many great options on the «sweet» side for the none wine person. The gallery is enjoyable as well.

I can second on the «Quirky-​ness» of this winery.
What could be nicer than a drive through the winding roads of this part of California on a nice sunny day with plans to stop at wineries to bring home some nice wines to share…
I did just that, listened to nice music on the way, feeling good, got several bottles of the Rose, which is a very nice sweet sipping wine.
Here is the quirky part: I came into this winery with a banana peel to throw away and asked for the nearest trashcan, I am kind of civilized that way, rather than just tossing it out of the car window.
I was told by the nice woman working in the framing area «We do not have one, the trash has just been picked up and we do not want bugs in here, but I will get you a plastic bag for your trash and you can drop it off at one of the other wineries down the road.»
WTF?
A business without a trash receptacle and to top this off tells customers to dump their trash into another wineries trash???
This is beyond weird to me.
I left the winery with half a case of Rose and a plastic baggie of trash, shaking my head and wondering just what this woman working there was thinking, if at all…
This place will go down in my memory as a high on the odd scale for sure.
Charles, are you listening to your customers who are posting here?
Do you want people to remember your winery for the good wine or for weird as hell employees, or do you care?

Alright, shut up and listen because this shit is about to change your life. I don’t give a damn whether you hate wine or think you’re some savvy wine connoisseur, this wine is the sweet nectar of god. Take time out of your shitty life to trek up the hill to this little winery. Fucking free tasting. Bottles are 17 – 20 bucks. Orange muscat is the fucking holy grail of wine. Don’t believe me? Then sit there with your mediocre life with your mediocre wine and cry your tears of mediocrity.

Forgettable, but not forgiven.
Charles, what business are you in? You have a picture framing business in the tasting room. You have a wildlife art gallery in the tasting room or is that a tasting room in the art gallery? Your wines are cheap supermarket wines and still you limit the tasting to one list or another.
All the wines were not acceptable examples of the varietal on the label. Oh yes, the label. They are pretty aren’t they Charles? Pity we cannot say the same for the wine inside.
Hint to Charles: have someone in your tasting room who can answer the simple questions about the wines like how many cases are made and where are the grapes coming from. Doesn’t reflect on your staffing skills when your picture framer knows nothing about the wines that are poured.
We did buy a bottle of your Black Muscat dessert wine. We found it sweet and spicy. We didn’t buy it only for that reason. We bought it because your host said your place was the only place that makes Black Muscat in Amador County. We thought it was the height of misrepresentation after we had seen Black Muscat at two other wineries earlier that day. Good luck in the future.

My favorite Amador wineries– Charles Spinetta and sons are great hosts. I have felt welcome everytime I’ve gone in and very relaxed everytime I’ve left. They have a beautiful art gallery on their second floor. My husband and I went in soley to check out the art gallery. On our way past the tasting bar, we were offered a glass to take upstairs with us. Jim took a look at us and guessed what wine he should pour: Zinetta for my husband and Chenin Blanc for me. He guessed right. They were both very suiting to our tastes.
The wines are divided into «Sweet & Yummy» and «Reds». These are the best sweet wines I have had. They are subtle yet flavorful. They are not as «syrupy» as some sweet wines can get. The alcohol content is very low. Every single bottle is delicious. I change my mind about my favorite everytime I go in. The Black Muscat stands out the most, then the Zinetta, Chenin Blanc, Rose. They have a Frost which I believe is a late harvest Chenin Blanc and is amazing. I should also mention that they are very affordable, $ 15 – 20 per bottle. I noticed last time I was in an Orange Muscat which they are not pouring in the tasting room because of the limited supply, but I will have to pick up a bottle as I am sure it will not disappoint.
Even if you aren’t a sweet wine person, I think this very personable winery is worth a stop and the wines are worth trying. Every one I have taken here has loved it– both men and women.

I feel so bad for dessert wine. It goes through a lot of criticism – mostly from supposed «wine snobs” – for not being a «real wine», but you know what? It’s still delicious and IT GETS YOU DRUNK.
With that said, Spinetta Winery is a great place to take a break from all the tannins and enjoy yourself a light, easy to drink wine. My favorites are the Zinetta and Rose. They make for GREAT celebration type wines, but definitely not your nightly glass of red. In fact, I would strongly advise against the glass-​a-​day of any of their sweet wines because I’m sure it won’t do your heart any good.
As far as service goes, the younger Spinetta served us each time and he was neither grumpy nor inattentive. I guess make sure you get the brown curly haired guy when you go!

Wines are extremely sweet, but I like that. There is an art gallery in the winery, it’s all wild life themed. Art was nice and they even have wildlife themed labels on their wine bottles.

EPIC FAIL. Their wine tasted like grapefruit juice. Too sweet. Their tasting room was nice; reminded me of cabin in Minnesota but that was as good as it got. Not impressed at all with their wine selection and the person pouring us wine left us even before we could finish the list. Disappointed; truly.

Wow, what a mind blowing experience. First be forewarned: This is an art gallery that is hoping you buy wine as add on sales.
We had a large party and there were 2 customers when we arrived. We were sent upstairs so they could «get ready for us», only to peruse the art upstairs. Which was OK, but not really my style. I did however love the wood duck carvings… very nice!!!
When I asked the staff what their signature wine was, the answer was «all of them». I politely rearranged my question to what wine do most of your customers purchase… you know because they really like it… what are you known for? The answer, «all of them».
I had 3 pours in which all of them I did not like at all (they may have some good ones in there, I just didn’t get them). When I asked where I could find the 3^rd tasting, I was directed to a shelf. I picked up the bottle hoping to learn more about their wine, their grapes, their grower/​method, something… anything. The label simply talked about art.
Prior to leaving the older male staff member (owner?) tells his lovely wife, «That is the last limo we let through here… all they want is free pours…» Wow, did he know that I was the last of that party still trying to give them a chance to win me over and purchase some wine?
I am not sure if the amount of wine they put in my glass could be considered a pour — honestly? When asked about a bottle of what one of my parties said they kind of liked, they said they didn’t have a bottle open. Well… OK so Charles Spinnetta, I guess you don’t get the wine tasting concept — customers like to taste what they are potentially going to buy.
I personally purchased several hundred dollars of wine during my trip including a membership to one of your neighboring wineries. There were others in my party that did the same, so I hope business 101 kicks in and customer service takes the front seat. You might want to put a little more emphasis on the wine instead of the art as well. Just a suggestion.
Good luck if you go here wine goers.
Respectfully,
Chad