Sonoma County came to prominence as a premium wine producer in the last three decades of the 20th century. Following are some of the wineries that put Sonoma on the wine map. A few of these are historical properties, others came along with the 1970s and 1980s boom time for premium wines. You could say these wineries defined what Sonoma County wine is now.
Bob on Sonoma
Views of a local who has been in the hospitality side of the wine biz full- or part-time for about three decades. Maybe more importantly, an avid consumer of the local wines for over 40 years. Mostly general comments on the California wine business because that's what I know.
Norton Safeweb
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Wineries That Built Sonoma County
Thursday, February 6, 2025
Appellation of Origin on a Wine Label
The Treasury Department sets labeling laws for alcoholic products. These are usually set and occasionally modified by feedback from interested parties, aka lobbyists. One that needs a change is for wines labeled as American, as in American Merlot.
Monday, February 3, 2025
Rosé
Rosé wine is a big deal in the U.S. It wasn't always this way. Rosé sales for wine over $7 went from a measly 150,000 cases in 2010 to 2.3 million ten years later!
A look at rosé in the U.S.
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
The Wine Country for All of Us
Travelzoo is a travel club. You join to get special offers for trips.
For 2025, Travelzoo chose Sonoma County as one of their nine worldwide best bets calling it the wine country for all of us.
Thursday, January 23, 2025
You've been to Napa and Sonoma, now what?
If you've had trips to Napa Valley and neighboring Sonoma County, but want something new, where do you go?
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Alcohol Warning Labels
The outgoing Surgeon General would like to put cancer warning labels on all alcoholic beverages. Dr. Brian Lawenda, a Harvard-trained oncologist, thinks wine might be the exception. He is on Facebook if you'd like to read what he has to say.
Dr. Lawenda stated that some studies show the moderate consumption of wine may not increase your cancer risk and may actually decrease the risk for certain types of cancer. This isn't definitive, that's why he says, may not increase your risk.
There is a lot of detail on his Facebook post dated Jan 5, 2025. Read it and decide for yourself. Wine may be the wise choice.
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Excerpt from his post |
Thanks to FB user Sierra Wine Guy for bringing this to my attention.
Thursday, January 16, 2025
About Pinot Noir, Part 2 (California)
The previous post, About Pinot Noir, Part 1, is concerning the origins and characteristics of Pinot. This one relates to Pinot Noir in California and Sonoma County.
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
About Pinot Noir, Part 1
You could call it America's most trendy premium wine. Part 1 is a short history of Pinot Noir and some of its unique characteristics. The next post, Part 2, is on Pinot in California.
Thursday, January 9, 2025
True Family-Owned Wineries
Some visitors are interested in visiting the smaller, family-owned wineries rather than those with some sort of corporate ownership. Finding true family operations is not that easy, as there's a definite gray area. Let me explain.
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
The Big Wine Stories of 2024
It's the end of the year (OMG, another one?) so let's see what the big news was from 2024 in Sonoma County and the rest of California wine.