There are 425 wineries in the county or about 17% of the state's total. There are about 60,000 acres of vineyards with 10% growth in the last ten years. Almost 10% of the state's wine grapes are grown in Sonoma County ranking second in the state behind San Joaquin County in the Central Valley.
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Of those 60,000 acres of wine grapes in the county 28% are planted to Chardonnay, 23% to Pinot Noir, 22% to Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by Zinfandel, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Syrah making up another 22% combined.
Sonoma County sits between Napa County and the cool waters of the Pacific. There is 50 miles of coastline, plus mountain ranges, valleys, and rivers. Many of these were established by past volcanic activity, earthquakes, and erosion. Distinct wine-growing regions are mostly defined by climates and soil types and Sonoma County has an abundance of each. For these reasons Sonoma has 17 American Viticultural Areas (also called AVAs or appellations). Some you may have heard of such as Sonoma Valley or Russian River Valley. Others are smaller and lesser-known like Rockpile or Moon Mountain.
Sonoma County is 50 miles north of the Golden Gate with a population of 485,000; 165,000 of them are in Santa Rosa. The county had about 200,000 residents in 1970, 300,000 in 1980, and 400,000 in 1990.
There are over 8,000 rooms available for overnight lodging plus 2,800 camping sites, 11 state parks, and 40 regional parks. Annual spending by visitors is over $1.6B. Sonoma County is larger than the state of Rhode Island (keep that in mind when planning your trip).
Info from nass.usda.gov sonomacounty.com
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