MadoroM Vineyards was founded by Napa native, Andy Amador, his wife Marissa and their winemaker Mike Blom with their first vintage produced in 2000. When one meets Andy, one soon realizes he has a passion for people and the outdoors. He grew up in Napa Valley hunting and fishing and spending plenty of time in and around vineyards. His father, Gus Amador (died 2023) was a well-respected butcher in the valley who cofounded Pueblo Meat Market with Thomas Walker in 1969. Walker left the partnership in 1973 and Amador continue to operate the business located at 2017 West Pueblo Avenue. The market still exists but is now known as Pueblo Market, a liquor store.
Andy owns three vineyards in Napa Valley; what he calls the “Pope Valley Ranch” is 188 acres and planted to a diversity of grapes, mostly red varieties. He purchased this at age 26 – helped in part by the prior owner, Jack Peterson who carried the bank note. He partnered with Oscar Renteria to plant the property to vines; today about 75 acres of grapes grow on the site. And in addition to the winery estate property (10 acres) Andy also owns a small one-acre vineyard at the base of Mt. Veeder off of Partrick Lane. Along with using estate grapes for their wines, sometimes they purchase grapes from select growers.
The winery is located on the southern part of the Silverado Trail, mere minutes from the city of Napa. But there is plenty of space here. The property is surrounded by some good neighbors; Judd’s Hill is immediately to the south along with the Duckhorn’s Corkscrew Vineyard which borders MadoroM Winery. The MadoroM property is 10 acres; when Andy and Marissa purchased the site it came with a coveted winery permit.
They renovated the existing building on site creating two-barrel rooms connected by a cave-like tunnel between the two rooms. The crush pad is sizable. Stainless steel ‘cabinets’ used for storage in the back of the winery are highly unique and could have only been envisioned by someone who has a perspective of traffic engineering. The doors for these cabinets served a prior life as traffic control boxes. And this makes sense considering Andy’s other business; he is one of the owners of San Leandro based St. Francis Electric, a company founded in 1946 which has been involved in numerous transportation and other infrastructure projects including more recently, major work on the reconstruction of the Oroville Dam.
The rest of the property is gorgeous reflecting touches of the Amador’s personality. A small horse arena used to be located near the winery; they left the original gate at the entrance to one of the grape rows as a tribute to this heritage. And an old barn has been carefully restored.
Visits are for serious wine enthusiasts; those who enjoy limited production hand-crafted wines, the outdoors, hunting and fishing – will especially find good company here.
Wines/Winemaking
Founding winemaker Mike Blom produced wines for MadoroM for more than two decades starting with their inaugural wine in 2000. He has a long history of making wine in Napa Valley having worked for Mike Grgich at Grgich Hills and at Peju Winery. No longer making wine for others, his only winemaking job was with MadoroM. However, he is involved in a number of other aspects of the wine industry including as partner at Top It Off Bottling, a sizable warehouse south of the city of Napa offering a variety of winemaking services.
Andy first met Mike decades ago when he was doing some underground power work for Golden State Vintners (Mike was their General Manager at the time). One day, Andy asked Mike to meet him for pizza; Mike brought a bottle of wine, a shiner from home wine he had made in college. Andy remembers this being the best bottle of wine he had ever tried. After moving on to Scotch later in the evening, Andy announced that if he ever owned a winery, Mike would be his winemaker. A promise he certainly kept; in 2020 they celebrated 20 years of producing MadoroM wines together.
Two labels are produced under MadoroM – Camouflage and what Andy refers to as the ‘Black label’. The camouflage label honors his families’ interest in hunting and fishing and an outdoor lifestyle. The front label contains camouflage colors, and the back label features an image of MadoroM enthusiasts (with their names) along with fish caught or animals they have hunted. Most back labels on wines are boring; these back labels always catch one’s attention. And the black label are exclusively red wines; these tend to receive more time in oak – often up to three years. And in spirit of Andy’s entrepreneurial fortitude over the years and work ethic, a single quote from Richard Nixon is on the back label, “The American dream does not come to those who fall asleep”.
Whites/Rosé
The 2022 ModoroM Sauvignon Blanc Camouflage is medium yellow in color; the first aromatic we noted to describe this bouquet was lemon – including lemon zest, lemon meringue, lemon grass and lemon juice. Other scents include citrus blossom, not fully ripe pineapple, passion fruit, green apple, tropical guava and recently mowed green grass. Balanced, bright and refreshing, on the palate there are flavors of green apple, lemon juice, kiwi, pomelo, white peaches, white nectarines, and comise pear. And there is also an aromatic that distinctly reminds us of picking the spiky wild Sierra gooseberries growing at high elevation in the Sierra Nevada mountains in late summer. This bottling definitely is on the more herbal side of the Sauvignon Blanc spectrum but it is not green or grassy. Features an aqueous character but is in no way thin in terms of flavor. This particular bottle sports an image of fisherman Ryan Nielsen with a 185 pound Striped Marlin he caught off of Cabo San Lucas in 2021. We spent the winter of 2020 and 2021 in San Jose del Cabo, a short drive from Cabo San Lucas. Put that part of Mexico on your to visit list if you have not yet been.
The 2018 MadoroM Camouflage Sauvignon Blanc shows aromas which are both floral and fruit driven – including notes of honeysuckle and citrus blossom, apple, white nectarine and a pineapple note that is greener rather than fully ripe. The nose becomes more tropical as the wine opens further. The palate is nicely balanced from the entry through the finish, with a crispness but not a sharpness that a greener showing of this variety sometimes displays. It sports flavors of apple, honeydew melon and some mineral notes. It features loads and layers of flavor. Finishes with a persistence of fruit. Delicious.
The 2023 MadoroM Camouflage Rosé of Merlot, Napa Valley is pale to medium copper in color; the bouquet features an attractive union of both citrus and floral notes. It smells like rose petals, hibiscus, blood orange and tangerine; other aromatic layers include a light touch of dried herbs, perhaps thyme and ripe strawberry and raspberry. Minerally across the palate, there are flavors of pomelo, raspberries, strawberry, white peach, pomegranate and pink grapefruit. This wine lingers with a sweet herbal note that most reminded us of dill or tarragon. Its texture is a hallmark attribute – sporting a creamy and velvety mouth feel with a saline character. If its texture were a fabric, it would be silken. Superbly balanced, we would file this in the crowd favorite category for rosé wines. Medium acidity. Its alcohol is only 13%. This would pair well with oven roasted chicken dusted with a variety of herbs including rosemary.
Reds
The MadoroM red wines are always full octane and higher alcohol. They are well-made wines in a style that showcases a richness and ripeness of fruit but without heavy tannins. In terms of texture, they are approachable in their youth.
Camouflage
The 2020 MadoroM Camouflage Proprietary Red Wine is deep ruby in color; the aromatics are highly-fruit driven and ripe with a nose of blackberry, dark cherry, boysenberry and Satsuma plum. But there is also a noticeable savory element at play here including of herbs (smoked sage), sweaty baseball mitt leather, tar, tobacco spice and cedar wood. And as the wine evolves it offers additional layers of coffee grinds, cloves and a hint of mocha. The palate is ripe and dark fruited with black cherry, blackberry jam, boysenberry and Pakistani mulberry. On the finish the barrel influences show including notes of dark chocolate, espresso, smoked cedar and a persistent note of dried tobacco leaf. At 16.5% listed alcohol one would think its flavor profile would be ‘riper’ but that is not the case, although we did feel a warmth of alcohol lingering for quite some time on the back of the throat. The fruit drops off quickly on the finish leaving a very light and dusty kiss of lasting texture (lightly grainy tannins).
Merlot
The 2019 MadoroM Merlot, Napa Valley is deep ruby in color; the bouquet is like nosing a bowlful of ripe cherries or blackberries. There are also aromas of plum jam and boysenberry jelly; and there are ample sweet baking spices or dessert type scents including milk chocolate, cinnamon, Graham cracker, Biskoff cookies and vanilla. Those who enjoy fully ripe expressions of this variety, will strongly gravitate towards this bottling. Its aromatics remind us of walking into a bakery or a dessert shop. Or wandering into the kitchen during Thanksgiving in our youth when several of our aunts were busy baking a variety of desserts and other baked goods. Plush across the palate, its flavors are as ripe as the bouquet including of blackberry jam, dark cherry, boysenberry and mulberry. The tannins linger with a gravelly and light character; 6 years post vintage they are seamlessly integrated into the finish. This wine lingers with loads of fruit with both a light texture and flavor paralleling each other for quite some time.
The 2016 MadoroM Merlot is dark ruby in the glass; offers ripe but not jammy aromatics. Straddles a fine line in this regard. Boysenberry, blackberry, plum and more subtle notes of Graham cracker and mocha. These dark fruited aromatics persist with a note of darker spices. Opulent and expressive across the palate with a richness of flavor. Lingers with a cigar smokiness, white pepper and flavors of plum. The finish is complemented by finer grained earthy tannins. This wine dinks very well by itself.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2021 MadoroM Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley is deep ruby and nearly opaque; open-knitted, this wine is not lacking in terms of fruit. Its aromatics feature dark cherry, prune, Santa Rosa plum at the peak of ripeness, blackberry, raspberry jam and boysenberry. The fruit is clearly the star of the show here but with plenty of supporting influences coming from its barrel aging. These secondary scents include rich cocoa powder, old cedar box, cloves, dark chocolate, Graham cracker, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Ripe and as forward fruited as on the bouquet, the palate offers flavors of red plum, dark cherry, black currant, blackberry, boysenberry and Persian mulberry. A higher toned red fruited thread runs the length of the palate, providing a refreshing lift and brightness. Mouth watering and savory on the finish, this wine lingers with gravelly, grainy and lightly gritty tannins which broadly coat the palate. Its presence of oak is felt much lighter on the palate than on the bouquet. This wine is ideal for something well marbled on the BBQ – perhaps a Wagyu steak covered in assorted herbs and spices. And due to its character and the fact it was a great vintage in Napa Valley, this wine should age well for the next 10-15 years. 15.26% alcohol.
The 2016 MadoroM Cabernet Sauvignon is deep purple in color with dark fruit aromatics including plum and blackberry. A slightly savory aromatic thread runs through the bouquet including notes of dried herbs, a tiny hint of jalapeno pepper, black olive and a kiss of dried tobacco leaf. Shows plenty of depth of flavor and character across the palate. Darker fruit focused. Juicy. The finish is lengthy with notes of pepper, toasted cedar and a grip of persistently gripping tannins. This is a style of Cabernet Sauvignon that will especially appeal to our Texas steak and Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon enthusiasts.
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The name Madorom is a creative combination of letters – using most of their last name and adding an M in tribute of Mike. The M and the A crossed behind the name represent Andy and Marissa. And Andy and Marissa have been strong supporters of the MadoroM Foundation over the years. The inception of this began when a family friend’s daughter died from cancer; this friend created an organization called Small Miracles.
And the Amador’s began to help raise money for this organization. Another family friend, an accountant, Steve Starbuck looked at what the Amador’s were doing and the significant funds they were raising – told them they needed to start their own foundation. Today the MadoroM Foundation typically raises several hundred thousand dollars a year with proceeds donated to supporting military families, unwed mothers and children. And over the years they have held some memorable events. Andy showed us a bottle of Camouflage signed by the Navy Seals who were in the film, Acts of Valor.
Total production is around 4,000 cases per year. The wines are sold direct to consumer but are also selectively distributed; some of their better markets are Bakersfield, parts of Washington state, Texas, Tennessee and the Carolina’s through a NASCAR connection (race cars are another one of Andy’s passions). And through a family friend, the wines are sold at the Balios Country Club in South Korea.
For more information, to join their mailing list, wine club and or to purchase wines including a limited selection of library bottlings, visit: www.madorom.com
St. Francis Electric, San Leandro
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