I Love Sonoma!

This
past August I spent my vacation in Sonoma, California. It
was the first time I’d spent any serious amount of time
exploring and tasting in that region. It was also my first
vacation with my infant daughter, which was quite an
experience, but I won’t go into that here except that I’m
proud to say that a look of joy crossed her face when she
tasted a drop of a fine white wine.

Going to a wine
region is more than just tasting wine; it’s about truly
getting to know the region. (Not that tasting wine isn’t
fun!) Being a member of the trade – membership certainly has
its privileges – at pretty much every single winery that I
visited, the treatment that I received was significantly
better than the average consumers around me. For example,
winery employees spent a lot more time with me discussing
their wines and what is going on with the winery and
upcoming releases. And they often shared wines that they had
under the counter that they weren’t pouring for anyone else,
such as reserve bottling or single vineyards not being made
available to consumers around me.

Beyond these
perks, I personally find when I actually go to the region it
is so much easier to remember appellations – where they are
geographically, climate conditions and the like – because
I’m experiencing it first-hand by being there. This, in
turn, makes it easier for me to convey the qualities of
wines to my clientele.

This is what I
will always remember about Sonoma: The climate and geography
are highly varied. You can read that in a textbook, but I
was amazed by the reality. I awoke to morning fog that lasts
until early afternoon in Bodega Bay on the Sonoma coast,
then drove to the Russian River Valley where it was totally
clears. You can feel a fifteen degree Fahrenheit difference.
As for geography, the difference was equally amazing. We
started our days at a house rented on the Pacific coast of
Bodega Bay, then ventured into the rolling mountains on
windy roads with deer bouncing around all over the place out
of surrounding woods and popped out into civilization in
Sebastopol (civilization being defined as having a Whole
Foods instead of Toby the fish guy at the dock). Beyond
Sebastopol were rich rolling plains next to the highway, and
then back to windy roads in a much more lush and green
landscape.

And you see this
variation in the wine as well. Take Hartford Court’s
Seascape Vineyard Pinot Noir, located on the Sonoma Coast at
1OOO feet – high enough to be above the coastal fog – and
then taste their Arrendell Vineyard from right in the heart
of the Russian River Valley. Hartford Court’s wine has more
subtle fruit notes and firmer tannins; the Valley wine has
more supple and darker fruit notes and richer
tannins.

I also
discovered that the people are wonderfully laid back – not
something a textbook generally references. Specifically, I
was reminded over and over again of the much more relaxed
and laid back philosophy of the people and winemakers of
Sonoma compared to a certain neighboring region. It reminded
me of the contrast when tasting in Burgundy compared to
Bordeaux. Like the Burgundians, Sonoma had more of the
passionate farmer mentality, compared to the often
business-like attitude you find in Napa and Bordeaux. For
example, when tasting in a small winery, a consumer to the
left of me pulled out his wallet and asks how much the
tasting cost. The gentleman serving wine said, “This is
Sonoma. We don’t charge here.”

This difference
in attitude seeps into the wines. I find Sonoma wines have
more understated elegance. Don’t get me wrong, I like wines
from both regions, but they’re different in ways that go
beyond just climate and terroir. Generally speaking, there
are more small vineyards in Sonoma, more of the smaller
farmer/artisan producer compared to the medium to large
producers in Napa who have been around for a long time and
have commercially established themselves.

One of my
favorite parts of exploring a region is finding small
“unknown” wineries, making Sonoma a goldmine. While having
lunch in the quaint town of Windsor, I was chatting up the
owner of the local wine shop and asked him to recommend some
wineries that were off the radar to the wine world at large.
With a smile on his face, he asked me what particular
varietals I was after. I told him to just tell me what has
turned him on lately from wineries nearby. He rattled off a
few, called ahead to let them know I’d be on my way and drew
me a map by hand. Two of the three were exceptional, one of
which was the essence of that artisan farmer mentality with
production of no more than 5OOO cases. The tasting room was
the size of a middle manager’s office, with just one guy
pouring. And yet most of the time, the bar was two to three
deep.

Mike, the guy
behind the tasting bar, seemed to enjoy talking to someone
in the trade, being able to really discuss the wines, while
keeping in check his annoyance level at the well-dressed
couple to my left who had the audacity to compare the wines
they were tasting to others which they thought they were
superior to what Mike was pouring. Even worse, they went on
to ask for a little more of the zinfandel because they were
considering buying it. You could see the annoyance on Mike’s
face – not quite as polished a reaction as one might find in
Napa. And I was secretly cheering him on.

I’d encourage
everyone in the trade to visit a wine region every year, if
you can. Not only is a great way to mix business and
pleasure, it’s certainly better than any textbook out there.
And don’t spend all your time comparing every wine to every
other wine you’ve ever tasted – spend time driving the
countryside and getting to know the townspeople. Get to know
the aspects of the region that don’t make it into textbooks
and yet influence the wine in wonderful ways.