The 34th Annual Wine Tasting “First Taste of the Year” in Copperopolis
This annual “First Taste of the Year” event was just held on Saturday January 11th, 2020 at the Armory on Main Street, in Copperopolis, California. It was sponsored by the Copperopolis Community Center a volunteer staffed organization that restores and preserves the two publicly owned historical buildings in town. 2020 marks the 34th Annual wine tasting event and coincides with the 160th anniversary of Copperopolis. The two buildings are the historical brick Congregational Church and the Armory. Both buildings were constructed during the copper rush in the mid 1800’s, the Armory in 1863 and the church in 1865. Copperopolis was the center of the “Copper Rush” (after the gold rush). These are two of the four buildings in town on the National Register of Historic Places: Copperopolis Armory and the Congregational Church. From 1860’s to the time the mines closed in 1945, 72,598,883 pounds of copper were mined in Copperopolis and the copper used in the Civil War, WWI and WWII for ammunition.
With advance purchase the cost of $20/pp which included a commemorative wine glass, hors d’ Oeuvres, a raffle and of course many wines to enjoy. Wineries consisted of Gossamer Cellars, Black Sheep Winery, Twisted Oak, Frog’s Tooth, Stevenot, Inner Sanctum Cellars, Brice Station, Jessie’s Grove Vineyard and Indian Rock. Also this year featured Indigeny Reserve, a cider works and distillery out of Sonora. A hearty thank you for the local wineries supporting this event in Copperopolis.
The Board consists of Linda Beck, Joel Schwartz, Sigrid Kehr, Marlys Hanson, Belva Bristol, Marti Kennedy, Carolyn Lipnick and Shawn Connolly all did an outstanding job getting winery participation. They netted after expense $1120 from the event with approximately 140 people attending. A big thank you to the Board for preserving our local history.
Here are four previous written stories on specific winery participants this year:
Jessie’s Grove -1. https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2019/09/09/saddle-creek-wine-society-features-jessies-grove-winery-the-golf-club-at-copper-valley/
2. https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2018/04/26/jessies-grove-winery-and-vineyards/
Inner Sanctum – https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2019/04/18/inner-sanctum-cellars-went-inside-and-what-i-saw/
Frog’s Tooth – https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2019/07/11/frogs-tooth-vineyards-a-big-jump/
Gossamer – https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2019/01/18/gossamer-cellars-a-unique-find/
Slainte,
California Wines & Wineries 