May is the month of transition, from the hearty red wines of winter to the breezy white wines of spring.

That isn’t how things worked out this past first weekend of May, however, when the seventh Amador Four Fires Food & Wine Festival convened at Amador County Fairgrounds in Plymouth.

During the five hours of the gathering a cold, slashing rain battered the fairgrounds, turning its gently rolling greens into bogland, adding shower stalls to the Jailhouse Privy, flooding the Mercantile Building, and leading to a near drowning in a pond of the Floriculture Building (an exaggeration, but one guest’s inadvertent plunge into the drink did turn heads).

Yet, not a discouraging word was heard in Frontier Town, and not only because Frontier Town was abandoned. While California isn’t Wisconsin, its people can adapt just as quickly and happily to challenging weather. (Out of nearly 1000 tickets sold, a bit more than 800 people braved the elements.)

If you aren’t familiar with the landscape, Amador Four Fires customarily is spread across the fairgrounds’ lawns, and the weather customarily is balmy. The spread is partitioned into four parcels, one each devoted to wines whose heritage is most closely identified with a particular geography – the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, France and California. In each area, an open fire generally is tended, over which are prepared regionally representative dishes – roasted lamb for France, paella for Iberia, sausage for Italy and the like.

The fires had to be abandoned but not the food, as members and volunteers of the sponsoring Amador Vintners hustled at the last minute to move masterfully everything into a series of neighboring buildings.

For producers of Zinfandel, the grape variety and the varietal wine most closely identified with Amador County, the storm was a godsend, prompting the shivering crowd to congregate at tables in the “California Heritage” quarters in hopes of securing a taste of a wine whose bracing nature is made for stormy days. No pale Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio or Albarino for them.

We were with them, and were rewarded with tastes of several appealing Zinfandels that show why Amador County is so closely identified with the varietal. They included the graceful and svelte Scott Harvey Wines 2021 Amador County “Mountain Selection” Zinfandel ($30). The “Mountain Selection” bears a smart new label and (at least to me) the smart new signature of winemaker Mollie Haycock. Fresh with suggestions of raspberries and brown baking spices, the wine played comfortably against a backdrop of subdued oak and rounded tannins.

Other Zinfandels hitting high notes were the Turley Wine Cellars 2018 Amador County “Judge Bell” Zinfandel ($40), as husky and swaggering as a Gold Rush prospector you might see in a painting at Crocker Art Museum (the “Judge Bell,” incidentally, is one of the 50 wines to form the core of my book “The Signature Wines of Superior California: 50 Wines that Define the Sierra Foothills, the Delta, Yolo and Lodi”); the bold yet mannerly Terra d’ Oro 2020 Amador County “SHR Field Blend” Zinfandel ($35), a festive party at which the most animated guests were bright boysenberries, regaling tannins, jaunty oak and sprightly acidity, the fellow dancing by himself off to the side; the Jeff Runquist Wines 2022 Amador County Massoni Ranch “Z” Zinfandel ($30), as concentrated as ever but showing less oak than usual, letting its succulent fruit prance unbridled across the palate; and the Story Vineyard 2020 Shenandoah Valley Alitia Vineyard Estate Zinfandel ($35), a rich yet approachable interpretation that speaks to sunny summer fruit from the berry family, liberal exploitation of oak, and persistence in finish (the label highlights a qvevri, an ancient egg-shaped subterranean earthen vessel used to make wine in the Republic of Georgia, but not used to make this Zinfandel; it’s simply a logo to represent the winery’s Georgian ownership).

Beyond Zinfandel and “California Heritage,” we saw in a nearby building what looked to be a flash of lightning or a sunbeam during the deluge. Actually, it turned out to be a surprisingly novel and bright sparkling wine being poured in the “Italy” quadrant. It is called “Succulento” ($50), Italian for “succulent,” “delectable” or just plain “tasty.” It pretty much defines each. The sparkler is a non-vintage rosé, but made with grapes from the 2020 harvest, suggesting it was a project to keep winemakers at Andis Wines in Shenandoah Valley busy during fallout from the Covid pandemic.

With plenty of time on their hands, resident Andis winemakers Mark Fowler and Lorenzo Muslia brought uncommon study and precision to the wine, starting with a base of Barbera, supplementing it with a bit of Vermentino that had been barrel-fermented and stirred on its lees, and adding a dosage of six grams sugar per liter, leaving the wine dry in the “brut” style. Its effervescence is more swing dance than Irish tap dance, closer to Spumante in style than Champagne, but drier and more involved than standard Spumante.

“Succulento” delivers straight-forward strawberry and cherry fruit underscored with notes of almonds and earth, lingering with enduring freshness, and revitalizing with driving acidity. The winery suggests it be poured with panko-crusted salmon cakes, but raw oysters also would work with the wine’s fruit, structure and acidity.

There were other surprises as we puddle-hopped about the fairgrounds, including another sparkling wine, the brass-toned and fleecy Helwig Wines 2022 Suisun Valley Rosé Sparkling Wine ($26), based on Syrah and made with the charmat process, showing that a sparkler of focus and finesse need not rely on the traditional and more labor-intensive methode champenoise.

I came away from Amador Four Fires convinced that I need to pay more attention to Tempranillos coming from the county, primarily for the layering, vitality and fidelity of two we tasted, the dark, spicy and sharp-edged C.G. Di Aire Vineyard & Winery 2019 El Dorado Estate Tempranillo ($30), and the floral and minerally Scott Harvey Wines 2020 Amador County Estate Tempranillo ($59).

“Condivisa” is an Italian word that can be translated as “shared” or “unanimous.” It also is the proprietary name for a Super Tuscan wine from Terra d’Oro Winery, the Terra d’Oro 2021 Amador County/Napa County Condivisa ($40). The “sharing” angle of the name refers to the blending of grapes from the two counties – 62 percent Barbera and 5 percent Aglianico from Amador County, 33 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa County. The upshot is a well-balanced and seamless wine with suggestions of sweet red fruit, a scattering of dried herbs, just an echo of the French oak barrels in which it was aged, and a quickening acidity to make it fitting to accompany minestrone, spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce, orecchiette with spring vegetables and a little pancetta, or a similarly light Italian dish with the nuance and freshness of the wine. The pairing would be such a hit that that’s where the “unanimous” side of the word comes into play, everyone no doubt agreeing on the appropriateness of one with the other.

To find copies of my book “The Signature Wines of Superior California: 50 Wines that Define the Sierra Foothills, the Delta, Yolo and Lodi,” please visit my website SignatureWines.us.