100 Amazing Sonoma County Wines

This list of wines was published in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and was written by a freelance wine writer and wine judge based in Sonoma County. She considers the wines even more remarkable because many came from tough years of wildfires.

Some are a bit expensive, but only one touches the hundred dollar threshold. Still, 34 are over fifty bucks and that's no small change for most of us.

It's a list from all types of wines so there's probably something here that will interest you.

The 100 most amazing wines in Sonoma County

Good Wine Trends

The previous entry here was about the not-so-good trends. Here are the better ones.

Not So Good Wine Trends

Yeah, there have always been trends in wine. And a lot of really dumb trends in craft beer. Hard seltzer? LOL Here's a look at what seems to be the worst in wine trends.

Thinking About Getting Into the Wine Industry?

As the Pandemic (hopefully) winds down, there are many jobs going unfilled. The wine industry is no exception. People want to go into the wine industry because the product you are making or selling is fun. Others want the opportunity to live in wine country and enjoy the lifestyle. 

How to Ruin Your Wine

Wine is fragile. It can be screwed up in the vineyard (rare), in wine making (not very often), or once it leaves the winery (too often).

Wine Components

There are main elements to every wine. This is where all the different smells and flavors start. This is also a good place to begin if you're just learning how to describe wines. This knowledge is useful in describing what sort of wine you're looking for when in a store or restaurant.

The Tale of Napa's Burgess Cellars

Burgess Cellars was founded in 1972 by the Burgess brothers, then passed down to the son of one of the brothers. In September 2020 Burgess Cellars was sold to Gaylon Lawrence Jr. Lawrence is a billionaire real estate mogul and had recently begun buying property in Napa Valley, including Heitz Cellars. Nowadays, you pretty much have to be a billionaire to play in Napa real estate.

Yelp Says These are the Best Restaurants in Sonoma County

Yelpers gave these county restaurants their top scores. You might wonder why some are on the list. I do, but then I learned not to always trust Yelp some years ago. The good news is most are fairly inexpensive.

From Sonoma Magazine here are the best according to Yelp.

Essential Sonoma County Restaurants

  Essential restaurants, theirs and mine though I'm not even sure what an "essential" restaurant is. Sonoma Magazine put out their 25 essential restaurants of Sonoma County. I've been to eight of those they selected. Some I haven't made it to because they're far away for a dinner out (Sonoma is a big county). A couple are a bit expensive for my taste; others because it's generally not a type of cuisine I'll spend money on.