Sonoma County

By Tina Caputo

California wine expert, and author, Stephen Brook summarised Tina Caputo's monograph as follows:

* It is a compact guide and thoroughly up-to-date with entries on newly approved sub-regions such as Fountaingrove and Pine Mountain. * All the current AVAs are included. * It includes information about topography, varieties planted, and leading producers. * Packs a great deal into 70 small pages, with succinct sections on the major towns and their attractions, gastronomic and otherwise, and on Sonoma;'s very lively food scene. * Contains a single but handy map, but visitors to Sonoma can easily pick up regional maps in the tasting rooms. * Caputo unfailingly steers visitors in the right directions * Also available as an ebook via Amazon * (www.stephenbrook.com)

• Language: English
• Publisher: The International Wine & Food Society
• Release date: Oct 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9780900813078

Book preview

Introduction

Napa might be the first Californian region to spring to a newcomer’s mind, but spectacular terrain, diverse terroirs and a warm welcome make Sonoma the favourite for many

When I moved from Michigan to San Francisco 25 years ago, there was only one California wine region I knew anything about: the Napa Valley. Working in upscale restaurants during college had taught me that much. Sure, I had heard of Sonoma, but it was the Mary Ann to Napa’s Ginger; the hamburger to Napa’s filet mignon; the shelter mutt to Napa’s show dog.

After landing a job at the Wine Institute, a lobbying and promotional organisation for the California wine industry, I began to learn about and appreciate Napa’s less-famous neighbour. Touring wineries on weekends, I discovered that Sonoma County had all the rural beauty of the Napa Valley, but with less traffic and a more welcoming, laid-back vibe. Oh, and delicious wine, too! For less money!

For a 20-something wine lover with limited funds at my disposal, those were major selling points.

When out-of-state friends and family came to visit and asked to see wine country, I did my best to steer them towards Sonoma. Sadly, this was something of an uphill battle in the 1990s. Everyone had heard of the Napa Valley and its famous Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays, but Sonoma? Not so much.

This was disappointing, but I did not let it deter me. I knew that once they had visited Napa, they would be willing to branch out and give Sonoma a chance. And they did.

A diverse, generous landscape

Soon, my guests began to understand my love and fascination for Sonoma County, with its 4,400 km² (1,700 square miles) of windswept coastal ridges, rolling hills and redwood forests. Just as I had, they discovered that the region’s diversity of climate, terrain and soils makes it possible to grow everything from cool-climate Pinot Noir to old vine Zinfandel to mountain Cabernet Sauvignon that rivals Napa Valley’s finest. From the Sonoma Coast to the Alexander Valley, there’s so much to explore and enjoy!

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As a wine writer, people often ask me to name my favourite wine or grape variety, and the question always stumps me. On a crisp December day, while eating freshly cracked Dungeness crab, there’s nothing I want more than a Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. When it’s cold and rainy outside, and a savoury cassoulet bubbles in the oven, I would like nothing better than a glass of Russian River Pinot Noir. And what finer way to end the day than with a brooding Cabernet Sauvignon from Knights Valley.

In Sonoma, you can have it all.

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Part 1: History

An industry that began with settlers and missionaries, and survived Prohibition and phylloxera, is now responsible for arguably California’s best cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

Sonoma County’s winemaking history begins in, of all places, Russia.

Years before Spanish missionaries began planting vines in the Sonoma Valley, colonists from Russian Alaska settled on the Sonoma Coast. In 1812, they established Fort Ross as an agricultural and hunting base for their settlements back home, and planted Northern California’s first grape vines at the site a few years later.

Around 1825, Spanish missionary José Altamira planted vines at the site of Mission San Francisco Solano, near what is now the town of Sonoma. (The town was named for an indigenous word that roughly translates to Valley of the Moon.) In 1834, the Mexican government appropriated California’s missions and charged General Mariano Vallejo, California’s military commander, with distributing the land for development. During this period, vine cuttings from the Sonoma mission were used to plant new vineyards throughout the northern California territory.

Meanwhile, the Russian settlers expanded their efforts into the Russian River Valley, and continued cultivating vineyards until they left California in 1841. By then, the roots of Sonoma County’s viticulture industry had been firmly established.

The next turning point in Sonoma’s vinous history came in 1856. That year, settler Cyrus Alexander planted vines in northern Sonoma County, in