Madera Wine Trail

The Madera Wine Trail is the public face of the Madera Vintners Association, organized in 2001 as a collective voice for the winemaking families of Madera County, one of the oldest grape-growing regions in America. The county's wine story reaches back to the late 1800s, when settlers from Italy, Armenia, France and beyond homesteaded small farms and planted grapes with old-world expertise; few of those original wineries survived Prohibition, but a new generation emerged from the late 1930s onward, and their descendants pour on the trail today, just south of Yosemite National Park.

The Member Wineries, Yosemite Gateway to Valley Floor

Listed north to south, from the Oakhurst mountain gateway and the Friant foothills down to the cluster of family wineries on the Madera flats, so you can drive the trail in sequence along Highways 41 and 99:

1. Idle Hour Winery + Kitchen
2. Westbrook Wine Farm
3. Dorval Estate Winery
4. Birdstone Winery
5. Ficklin Vineyards
6. Papagni Wines
7. Quady Winery
8. San Joaquin Winery
9. Toca Madera Winery

What the Madera Wine Trail Is Like

This is the heartland of American port-style and dessert wine, anchored by Ficklin, the country's oldest port house (1946), and Quady, California's only premium sweet-wine specialist, alongside family cellars pouring everything from Italian-heritage reds to coastal-sourced Pinot Noir. Rooms are small, hosts are knowledgeable, fees are among the lowest in California wine, and several members sit within a few miles of each other on the valley floor while Dorval and Idle Hour carry the trail into the Yosemite foothills.

Planning Your Visit

Weekends are the reliable window: several member wineries close early in the week or pour by appointment, so a Saturday plan beats a Monday one. Pick up the trail map online before setting out, because the wineries spread across genuine farm-road distances and signage alone will not carry you. Three or four stops make a comfortable day, Highway 41 links the trail to Yosemite for a natural park-and-pour itinerary, and the annual Wine and Chocolate Weekend each February is the trail's signature event. Confirm hours directly with each winery the week you travel.

Trail vs. Appellation: What the Difference Means

The Madera Wine Trail and the Madera AVA are two different things. The trail is a tourism association that wineries choose to join, organized by the Madera Vintners Association in 2001. The AVA is a federal grape-growing boundary designated in 1985, one of the oldest appellations in California. That means there are Madera County producers that are not trail members, and the appellation on a bottle tells you where the grapes grew, not which association the winery belongs to.

Explore More of Madera Wine Country

Keep planning with all Madera wineries, the best time to visit Madera, the Madera harvest season guide, the best wineries in Madera, a perfect Madera weekend. Browse every winery on the winery browser or plot your route on the map.

Frequently Asked Questions

Member list verified 2026-08-03 from the trail's published directory. Membership, hours, and pass availability change; confirm with the trail and individual wineries before visiting.