Grands Amis Winery

Open: Year-round

About:

If you were lucky enough to grow distinctive grapes, as well as work with your friends every day, wouldn't you want to carry this to the next level? That's exactly what Jonathan and Cathy Wetmore have done with Grands Amis Winery. Their philosophy is simple: great wine is meant to be shared with "great friends".

After nearly 25 years of managing some 2,000 acres of premium grapes, Jonathan and Cathy thought they might try their hand at making a little wine. They enjoyed working together, and knew they had some great fruit coming from these vineyards, so in 2000, they made a small amount of Zinfandel. Still not sure how good they had done, they sampled the wine with winemakers and others in the industry, and received such favorable feedback they decided to move forward. In January 2002 they started their own winery.Jonathan and Cathy have made it a point to work with winemakers who share their vision of making small lots of high quality wines from Lodi Appellation grapes.

Since its first release of Zinfandel, Grands Amis has now added Petite Sirah, Barbera, Malbec, a Cabernet Sauvignon blend called Première Passion, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, and Chardonnay, as well as Port. The wines have already found much critical acclaim. In fact, the 2002 Syrah not only won Gold Medals at several prestigious wine competitions, but also was judged Best of Class of Region at the California State Fair. 2006 California State fair competition brought Silver Medals on their 2003 Syrah Port and 2003 Zinfandel, as well as a Gold Medal on their 2003 Petite Sirah. Surpassing that in 2007 they were awarded a Bronze Medal for their 2004 Barbara, a Silver Medal for their 2004 Syrah, most importantly a Gold Medal with Best of Class for Lodi Appellation distinction for the 2004 Petite Sirah, all at the California State Fair. The 2007 Première Passion won the only medal in the red Bordeaux blend from the Lodi Appellation out of 160+ total medals awarded.