Quintessential Sonoma County Vineyards

Consumers who buy a lot of premium wine may have favorite vineyards. Example, "I just love any Pinot Noir from the Van der Kamp Vineyard."  

This post was inspired by Sonoma Magazine's a list of  "The Most Iconic Vineyards in Sonoma County." It's a nice try, but my list is better. :)  We agree on some, not on others. People will still disagree with mine, but it is based on living in Sonoma County and drinking local for a lot of decades. If you can't trust experience, what can you trust? 

This is about consistently producing above normal quality wines over many years, sometimes with a little uniqueness or fame thrown in.

Sonoma County Over the Years

The previous post, dated Nov 19th, was on agriculture-related changes to Napa Valley over time. This one is on Sonoma County. Just like Napa, the wine grape crop has exploded in the past 60 years, figuratively, not literally.   :)

A Look at Napa Over the Years - With Graphs

Three graphs that tell a tale of trends in Napa wine. Every pictures tells a story, don't it?

Picking a Value Bottle of Wine

Shopping for wine? Are there tricks to help pick out a bottle that will be great, but won't cost a fortune? Yes. The previous post from a couple of days ago talked about shopping by wine regions in California. This one talks more about the who, what, and where of buying. It's not guaranteed, but it's better than choosing a wine because of the flowers on the label or because you like Snoop Dogg.  :)

Getting Value in a Wine Purchase

Different grape growing areas of California have different wine prices. Location, location, location.

Napa Valley is the most expensive wine region in the country. Why? Supply and demand. That doesn't mean wines from other parts of the state are of lesser quality. Following are some premium California wine regions with lower priced wines.

The Future of Growning and Making Wine

Looking not too far into the future, what do we see for changes in the way grapes are grown and wine is made? Like other predictions, this is making assumption on current trends. There is always the unforeseen.

2020 Calif Wildfires Impact on Wine Making

2020 saw the largest area burnt in California in one year plus five of the top seven fires occurred in 2020. Disruptions from the fires and wildfire smoke caused some of the worst problems ever for the local wine industry. The wines from that year are often found for sale now so this is a good time to revisit the issues that grape and wine production workers went through that year.