If you're all looking for specific red wines where should you go? Following are some ideas of Sonoma County wineries that do certain varietals really well. This is not an all-inclusive list. It's not the best bargains. They aren't all available in your local store, but all are places you can visit if you are in the area.
Where to go for red varietals.
These wineries advertise themselves as owned by U.S. military veterans. They donate to veteran-related causes.
First, let's address the word Champagne. This refers to sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France only. In other countries you might see it called Cava or Sekt or just sparkling wine.
American sparkling wine goes back to the late 19th century and the Korbel brothers in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley. I expect pretty much every non-teetotalling adult in North America has had Korbel Brut.
I know what you're thinking. 1) We tried that once with lowering the drinking age to 18 in many states and it wasn't such a good idea. 2) This would increase drunk driving problems.
During the pandemic years, the gender and age of U.S. premium wine drinkers has changed significantly. It's more female and older.
Premium wines for this study are those costing over $15.
Source: Wine Intelligence
You can click on the image to enlarge.
Terroir (tehr-waar) is a fancy French word to do with the environment wine grapes are grown in -- the soil, climate, topography, and anything else about the site that might affect the characteristics of the wine. It's sometimes called the sense of place. This is a big deal in the serious wine world, as you can grow the same grapes managed by the same people in vineyards a short distance apart, and you'll get different wines.
So where does terroir come from exactly? Glad you asked. Well, maybe you won't be glad you asked because it's dinosaur poop, at least in this particular vineyards that scientists studied. And the best stuff comes from where the dinosaurs had gas. I shit you not.
It's called West Sonoma Coast. I'm not sure who all was behind laying out the Sonoma Coast growing area that came about over three decades ago, but if you buy wines based on that AVA there may or may not be any actual coastal influence on the grapes in the bottle. That's finally been fixed with the West Sonoma Coast AVA.
Yep, this is article #257 you've come across on what wines to drink in the heat of summer. This one will be on types of wines, what characteristics you want, in a warm weather wine, rather than specific wines that you might have to hunt for. When in doubt shop where there are knowledgeable people you can ask.
The cost of a trip to Napa may shock you. There are ways to not get scalped, it just takes some planning. If you're on a budget similar to mine, you can do things to pay less. For wineries, there are 2-for-1 and maybe even free tasting deals out there. Ask about sharing a tasting with your SO.
Napa Valley is a Mecca for many American wine drinkers. It's a must-visit. Napa tasting rooms were the first, as far as I know, to introduce tasting fees back in the 1980s. Once the Great Recession ended about a dozen years ago, there was a pretty good hike in bottle prices and tasting fees. With the Pandemic, there was another significant increase along with seated tastings by reservation.
Trip Advisor named Napa as America's most expensive tourist destination. Recently the Wall Street Journal published an article Who Can Afford Napa Now? where the author said she can't help feeling that the valley's main crop is actually cash.
The Santa Rosa/Sonoma County Airport/STS, or officially the Charles M Schulz Airport (whew), is a small town airport. It has a restaurant on site serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There's a full bar that opens at 8 am. Also, a little to-go eatery run by the excellent Costeaux French Bakery.
The Rhone region of southern France is home to many grape varieties with Syrah, Grenache, and Viognier the best known on this side of the pond. Several of the Rhone whites have found a home in California.
