Renegade Winery — Attraction in Mokelumne Hill

Happened to visit Renegade on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon in January (isn't California great ?). Anyway, that meant that we got to sit outside and enjoy the day.  Renegade is tucked away in a cute little town that consists of nothing more than 2 cross streets surrounded by homes in Mokulumne Hill.  Super Cute and endearing. Renegade occupies one of those cross street corners. There are only a couple of parking spots at Renegade itself, but there's a fair amount of easy street parking.   Renegade's patio area is a pretty good size with a mix of long high top tables, round patio tables, an inviting U-shaped outdoor sectional, and a nice built-in corner bench.   A band stage occupies the far end.

A wine-tasting Groupon deal brought us to Renegade, and we left as wine club members.  We were able to taste every wine on their list: the whites, the reds, the sparklings, and even sampled their port.  The list was impeccably ordered to build upon the tasting experience, and it did not disappoint ! It's probably rare to say, but there wasn't a single wine on there that I did not like.  Renegade also has a surprisingly large food menu for a winery.  I didn't get to try any of it because our Groupon came with a charcuterie board that was HUGE and tasty.  I'm looking forward to trying their menu next time !

It's also the little things that count ! Renegade's staff were welcoming and sweet and funny and engaging. The owners/winemakers were on-site and cooking up a storm in the kitchen, but still took the time to come out and chat for a bit - again, really sweet and much appreciated !

It was also all of the little touches that made Renegade stand out: the commissioned art that adorns each label - a different one for each wine; and you'll find the framed version hanging on their walls.  And, if you end up becoming a regular, you get your very own wineglass etched with your name waiting for you to stop by and use it !  And did I mention that they also serve beer ?

10/10 will be...

Let me tell you why you HAVE to stop by this winery. This year at Best of Best Sacramento 2018 (benefitting Make A Wish) I stopped by six winery’s and proceeded to not finish one tasting. Thankfully at the end of the night I visited the Renegade Winery booth and it was love at first pour. Mark and Sue were so fun to meet and poured me more than once since I was wow’d by their Zinfandel. The Zin was not peppery, but fruit foward (yeah!). I was so impressed by Sue and Mark’s energy and generosity we drove to Mokelumne Hill, CA the next weekend. I was so thankful we did! As a group of five of us they did free tastings for all of us and the pours are very generous! They even let us “revisit” every pour we wished, very laid back, very fun and we were floored by the food! We loved the flatbreads and thankful for the attentiveness the whole time we were there, even when we just wrapped up in a blanket around the fire for an hour. With such a nice experience we decided to become members at the winery. For such a great price only $40 every other month and still percentages off bottles and cases. Mark and Sue were incredibly kind and generous during our first visit. Then today we were in the area (since we live an hour away) and we requested our shipment a month early AND showed up after they closed and they STILL poured for us. Very sweet. They showed us the big new event venue and we are excited to see some live music in the future there. Big thank you for Mark and Sue for their kindness. Thankful for stellar small business...

It would be good to be able to rate the wine and the winery separately. I rate the WINES very highly. They are in the traditional european style. Rich, tannic, complex, and layered. Delicious now, they should reward aging in the bottle for some years. This, the kind of wine I love most, is so hard to find in California that I have had to get it from other countries.

Alas, I still have to get it from other countries. Because it can only be purchased at the winery. That place might charitably be called unrefined. It has the air of a small-town bar where one is at the mercy of the local crowd. ("You ain't from around here. Are you?") I dislike being in there even long enough to buy wine to the point that I have to pass on an...