WINE COUNTRY CALAVERAS AND STOP LIGHTS

There used to be a bumper stick around that read: "Napa makes auto parts, Calaveras makes wine." Not nice but funny. Wineries were few, then. Liz Milliaire, then public information officer for Stevenot Winery, once said, "Bardon Stevenot hopes that anyone who visits Murphys can walk down the street and ask where Stevenot Winery is, and anyone in town can point out the directions." Holy Cow! Now you can't walk down Main St. Murphys without bumping into a tasting room.
What is equally nice is watching the vines green up, and fruit, and remind us what wonders wine has brought to Calaveras. Good restaurants, cottage boutiques and jobs. Calaveras is truly wine country now. An appelation renewed since the original vines were pulled during prohibition. The saying goes, 18 wineries, 3 stoplights. Don't ya' just love it.