The Sonoma Mountain range that sits to the west of Sonoma Valley separating it from the Santa Rosa and Petaluma plains. The highest point in the range is Sonoma Mountain at about 2,500 ft.
Within the Sonoma Mountain range is the Sonoma Mountain appellation or AVA.
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| van der Kamp Vineyard Note the fog in the valley below image from vanderkampvineyard.com |
This is not a well-known grape growing area as it's not very large and has just three small wineries within its boundaries.
The Sonoma Mtn AVA is centered around the peak of Sonoma Mountain and borders on the Sonoma Valley AVA and actually overlaps a bit with the small Bennett Valley AVA. It's 8 square miles with about 600 acres of vineyards planted mostly to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah. The topography gives many microclimates as there are warmer areas where the likes of Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel grow. These microclimates and the mountain soils are what makes this region's wines different from the larger Sonoma Valley.
Some of the wineries getting fruit from here are Argot, Belden Barns, Benziger, Coturri, Laurel Glen, Kenwood (Jack London Vineyards), Kistler, and Paul Hobbs. The highly-regarded van der Kamp Pinot Noir vineyards sits at 1,500 ft elevation and was planted in the early 1950s making it one of the oldest Pinot vineyards in the state.
I haven't had wines from here often, but the ones I've enjoyed were excellent.
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| The only Gruner Veltliner in the county is planted in Steiner Vineyard on Sonoma Mtn. image from carlislewinery.net |
Sources:
Belden Barns
Carlisle Winery
SonomaCounty.com
van der Kamp Vineyards
Wikipedia / Sonoma Mountain AVA
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