Sonoma Wineries:
Sonoma
Valley Lifestyle: Fine Food and Fine Wines
Hi-jinks, costumes and practical jokes are on the menu at the annual Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction, when the wineries raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities. And at the old-time Fourth of July parade around the plaza, scions of winery families and children of vineyard workers ride together in decorated pick-up trucks.
Sonomans live a wine country lifestyle about which books are written. Above all, they are wine buffs and “foodies,” appreciating the artisanal cheeses, specialty fruits and vegetables, and rustic breads produced locally, and sold at twice-weekly farmer’s markets.
Among exceptional cheeses made in Sonoma are Vella’s Bear Flag Dry Jack; the Sonoma Cheese Factory’s lusciously soft Teleme; and Laura Chenel’s famous goat cheeses, produced at her factory just east of town. Artisan Bakers’ crusty sourdough loaves won the 1996 Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (World Cup of Baking) in Paris, a first for an American baker. Renowned chefs from around the world teach classes at Ramekins Sonoma Valley Culinary School in an adobe-like, “rammed earth” building. The gourmet gadget store, Williams-Sonoma, was launched here, and the noted food writer, M.F.K. Fisher, lived here in the twenty years before her death.
From the plaza, you can walk, bike or drive on quiet, tree-shaded country roads to several historic wineries, and drive to more than three dozen more in the valley. Morning fogs drifting in from San Pablo Bay and cooled airflows from the Pacific over the Santa Rosa Plain balance hot summer and fall temperatures, and along with well-drained, stony soils, create a distinctive terroir that produces wine grapes with concentrated, complex flavors, notably Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Italian varietals.
Continue
the Sonoma Winery Tour with Stops at
Ravenswood Winery and Buena Vista Winery »
The article on this page is adapted from the book, Backroads of the California Wine Country by Karen Misuraca (www.karenmisuraca.com), published by Voyageur Press.
Photo Credit: The pictures on this page are by Lisa Moore. www.studioponderosa.com