Sonoma County

Sonoma County

Sonoma County is located in the Northern Coast of sunny California, not far from Napa Valley, and producers more quality wine than Napa does. Thanks to the diversity in soil and weather it creates wine that can leave a lasting mark on someone’s palette. Sonoma County has ancient volcanic activity that created rocky soil that causes an unfit environment for the vines, but leaves the grapes small and with intense flavor. Within Sonoma, there are varied topographies such as: the fog coming off the Pacific Coast that gives humidity to the grapes preserving acidity and complexity, plethora of hills and valleys, and steep mountain ranges. As well, thanks to the different topography in Sonoma, there is greater diversity than that in all of France. Most wineries are family owned that are passed down generation to generation, which explains the fact that 40% of vineyards are less than 40 acres, and 80% are less than 100 acres. Even though Sonoma produced more wine than Napa Valley does, it only accounts for 6% of the California wine produced. Sonoma County is home to 16 AVAs, each known for different terrior and for different styles of wine. ("Sonoma County Wine Facts")

Approximately 200 years ago, Russian colonists planted the earliest wine grapes in this county. In 1814, Fort Ross is where the grape growing process was started and now is the foundation for the Russian River Valley; one of Sonoma’s famous AVAs. In 1834, wine moved from being just for religious reasons for more at home consumption. In 1855 Agoston Haraszthy arrived to Sonoma Valley and purchased, what is now called Buena Vista. Thanks to Haraszthy, he brought over more than 100,000 cuttings of different grape varietals from France, Germany, Italy and Spain in 1861. He ended up planting and cultivating them himself. He also started experimenting with new growing techniques, such as growing them close together and along different hillsides.  He can also be credited in bringing the county with high enough quality to compete against Europe’s finest wines. After the Civil War, immigrants began coming to America bringing with them knowledge for wine. Some of the same wineries that were started almost 150 years ago are still in existence today such as: Korbel, Gundlach, and Sebastiani. Then the US was struck the evil root parasite called phylloxera, in 1873. Luckily, Sonoma County survived the epidemic. The wine industry still had another hurdle thrown at them when the government created the 18th amendment and passed the “Volstead Act” or otherwise known as Prohibition. It prohibited the manufacture, storage and transportation and sale of alcohol, unless the wine was used for religious or medicinal purposes. It started in 1920 and lasted for 13 years; but it was too late for some wineries. Out of the 700 that existed in California only 160 remained. Slowly but surely, Sonoma County went through a revival when World War 2 began. It prohibited the import of French wines into America. As well, during this time Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley and Dry Creek Valley starting become home to many different wineries. The 19702 and 1980 were devoted to the technological advances during that time. For example: stainless steel fermenters and crusher stemmers to improve production. As well, this started the trend viticulturists experimenting with new varietals in labs to help broaden the horizon of grape varieties on the market. During this time period, American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) were being established and became how Sonoma County marketed their wines.  Fast forward to now – they have become an established wine region with 16 AVAs. They have harvested over 271,000 tons of grapes from the 64,073 acres of vineyards in 2013 alone; which was the largest on record. It is home to 66 grape varities, 44 red and 22 white. You’ll find Bordeaux grapes, with blueberry and licorice flavors from Cabernet Franc, here but as well as some lesser known varietal such as Roussane. (“Sonoma County History”)