Besides a tasting room large enough to handle the tour-bus crowd, Ironstone boasts the intriguing Heritage Museum filled with mining-era artifacts and treasures including the world's largest crystalline gold leaf specimen, weighing in at 44 pounds and displayed behind bulletproof glass in a walk-in vault.
Visitors from Sacramento will appreciate a glimpse of the fully restored, 15-rank pipe organ that resided from 1927 into the 1960s in the landmark Alhambra Theater. Ironstone also offers a fast-moving tour of its wine caves, lushly landscaped grounds and other facilities.
In recent years, the winery has become known throughout Northern California primarily as a premier concert venue. Its outdoor amphitheater can accommodate up to 4,000 music lovers with terraced lawn seating. Featured artists tend to appeal to the baby-boomer/rocker crowd. Remaining dates on this summer's calendar include: Chris Izaak and Boz Scaggs on Aug. 2, Steely Dan on Aug. 9, the Steve Miller Band and Joe Cocker on Aug. 17, Willie Nelson and Family on Sept. 5, and Bonnie Raitt on Oct. 4.
A day spent visiting Ironstone might also include a hop over to nearby Moaning Cavern, one of two commercial caves in the Murphys area. Best known for a vertical main chamber large enough to hold the Statue of Liberty, Moaning Cavern offers 45-minute walking tours as well as rappelling tours, open to ages 12 and up, that let even inexperienced spelunkers enjoy the thrill of descending by rope into the 165-foot pit. A three-hour adventure tour combines rappelling with crawl-on-the-tummy exploration of tight passageways with names like Godzilla's Nostril and Pancake Squeeze.
Above ground, Moaning Cavern has installed twin "zip lines" that take harnessed, helmet-wearing riders on a 30-second, 1,500-foot ride over the treetops. The first zipline installation in the state (a second one has since opened at Heavenly Mountain Resort), it opened last summer and has proved so popular that plans are in the works to add a second, much longer set of cables to extend the thrill.
Speaking of thrills: Eating out in Murphys is culinary adventureland, with more good restaurants on Main Street alone than most towns of 3,000 could imagine in their wildest economic-development dreams.
Among the longtime favorites is Grounds, where omelets and potato pancakes stoke visitor appetites at breakfast and white tablecloths create a more formal atmosphere for elegant evening meals.
Owner River Klass, 45, started Grounds 16 years ago but soon tired of eating all his meals there. So he opened another restaurant, Firewood, next door, with wood-oven pizzas and "messy" burgers a specialty.
In the same block, sharing a building with the Victoria Inn, is the highly acclaimed V restaurant, where chef Bob Anderson, formerly of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, presides over a menu that leans toward Mediterranean-inspired small plates.
The good stuff doesn't end there: Vegetarians and vegans come from far and wide to eat at Mineral, whose complex, beautifully plated creations are on high-end par with places such as Greens and Millennium in San Francisco.
At Alchemy Market & Wine Bar, meals are accompanied by "gold nugget bread" with corn relish that's as dangerous to eat as the tortilla chips served in Mexican restaurants: If you don't watch it, you will have satisfied your appetite before your entree gets anywhere near the table.
Still more memorable meals are to be had at Murphys Grille, the Murphys Historic Hotel, Noto's and at the tables of new restaurateurs who are discovering this bucolic community.
"Murphys has been found," notes Faught in dry understatement.
If you haven't yet found it, maybe it's time to go.
– Janet Fullwood
PLAN YOUR TRIP
General information
For the lowdown on events, attractions, lodging and dining, visit the Murphys Business Association Web site, www.visitmurphys.com, or contact the Calaveras County Visitors Bureau, www.gocalaveras.com; (800) 225-3764
Winery information
• Calaveras Wine Grape Alliance: www.calaveraswines.org; (209) 728-9467 or (866) 806-9463
• Ironstone Vineyards: 1894 Six Mile Road; www.ironstonevineyards.com; (209) 728-1251
Underground attractions
• Moaning Cavern: 5350 Moaning Cave Road, Vallecito; www.caverntours.com; (209) 736-2708
• Mercer Caverns: Sheep Ranch Road; www.mercercaverns.com; (209) 728-2101
Lodging
• Murphys Historic Hotel, 457 Main St., from $69; www.murphyshotel.com; (800) 532-7684
• Murphys Suites, 134 Highway 4, from $119; www.centralsierralodging.com, (877) 728-2121
• Victoria Inn, 402 Main St., from $125; www.victoriainn-murphys.com; (209) 728-8933
• Dunbar House Bed & Breakfast, 271 Jones St., from $190; www.dunbarhouse.com; (800) 692-6006
• Murphys Vacation Rentals, four cottages from $150/night; www.murphysvacationrentals.com; (209) 736-9372
