FAQ

The Casino Mine Ranch Winery is a family-owned winery in Amador County, California. Featuring Zinfandel, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Greco Vermentino, Teroldego and Tempranillo varietals, the winery provides deep, bold, highly-rated, award-winning wines.

Yes. The tasting room is open Thursday through Monday from 11AM to 4:30PM. Please see https://www.casinomineranch.com/visit-us/ for details. Plus, we hold oodles of events. Please see https://www.casinomineranch.com/events/ for our event calendar.

The tasting room is located at 10690 Shenandoah Road, Plymouth, CA 95669. Drive in, cross the bridge past our pond and our curious turtles, and park at the Don Jacobs-designed tasting room.

Yes. Come meet beneath our trellis, our tasting room, or even our caves for corporate retreats, offsites, and holiday parties. The Casino Mine Ranch Winery delivers an unforgettable location for your next event. Enjoy delicious food and simply incredible wines. For more details, please see https://www.casinomineranch.com/corporate-events/ .

Yes. Though, the tasting room itself has to be for those 21 years and older. Our garden area is perfect for families to enjoy the beauty of the winery.

Built on the adventurous spirit of the Gold Rush. The name is no accident. In 1936, Simone Vanophem Shaw, a fiercely independent Belgian war refugee, bought the land in search of gold. She called it the Casino Mine Ranch, a nod to the gamble she knew she was taking. Simone and her husband panned for gold, raised sheep and cattle, grew various crops, and held damn good parties.

Decades later, her grand-nephews Jim and Rich Merryman carried that same spirit of risk into the vineyard. In 2011, they planted the first 14 acres of vines on the property. Starting a winery was every bit as daring as Simone’s search for gold, but the gamble has paid off. Today Casino Mine Ranch is known for wines as bold and unconventional as the people who shaped it.

Simone Shaw was unforgettable, glamorous, tough, and utterly original. She wore pearls while shooting rattlesnakes, raised chickens and mushrooms in the old mine caves, and demanded her husband dress for dinner in ascot and coat because, in her words, every night was an occasion.

Her story set the tone for everything we do today. Our flagship wine, Simone, is a Grenache-Mourvèdre blend that mirrors her spirit: elegant yet rugged, full of life, and meant for a feast whether you’re in boots or in diamonds. Learn more about Simone, https://www.casinomineranch.com/our-family/simone/.

The easiest way to keep up with us is to join our email list, https://www.casinomineranch.com/mailing-list/.

Tucked into the rocky hills of Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley, Casino Mine Ranch is a place where the land still calls the shots. Every vine here has fought for its footing in volcanic soil and iron-rich clay, and that struggle shows up beautifully in the glass. Our wines are bold but balanced, shaped by sun, wind, and a bit of stubbornness, the same kind that’s guided our family since this land was first worked generations ago.

From Vermentino and Greco to Teroldego and Aglianico, we plant what excites us. It’s a philosophy that keeps our winemaking curious and creative. Under the direction of Jessica Tarpy Shaheen and consulting winemaker Andy Erickson, we take risks, refine constantly, and craft wines that speak clearly of where they come from.

Visitors come to the Casino Mine Ranch Winery to slow down. Our Don Jacobs-designed tasting room is built among Amador’s rolling estate vines, overlooking the pond where waterfowl, turtles and occasional river otter can be seen. Our venue invites conversation, discovery, and the kind of hospitality that feels genuine. It’s casual but intentional, every glass poured with a story, every moment meant to be savored. Whether you join us for a relaxed afternoon tasting or one of our lively events like the Ranch Rager, you’ll leave feeling like part of the family.

Our vineyards rest on ancient volcanic ash and decomposed granite, some of the oldest, most complex soils in the Sierra Foothills. These conditions produce wines with natural tension, minerality, and unmistakable character. The vines dig deep, yields stay low, and the result is fruit that’s concentrated, flavorful, and distinctly Amador. You can taste the story of the land itself: rugged, raw, and quietly powerful.

Every winery has a view. Ours just happens to come with a point of view. We’re guided by family, independence, and a respect for the land that gives us everything. Our wines are unapologetically original, born from tough soil, honest work, and a belief that Amador still has stories worth telling.