The Traveling Grape

Immediately to the west of Napa Valley is the Sonoma Valley which actually produces more wine than Napa with a rich history. Sonoma County has 13 AVA’s and more than 50 grape varieties are planted here.

The cooler Carneros area and the Russian River Valley are best known for Chardonnay and Pinot, while the warmer Dry Creek Valley and Rockpile areas make some of the state’s best Zinfandel. Alexander Valley is known for its excellent Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. For whites, Chardonnay is the county’s leading variety with 16,000 planted acres and Sauvignon Blanc second at 2,500 acres. For red varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon leads the way with 12,000 acres, followed by Pinot Noir at 10,000 acres, Merlot with 7,500 areas and Zinfandel with 5,000.

•Carneros~Chardonnay, elegant Pinot Noir, Sparkling
•Sonoma Valley~Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Melot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zin
•Sonoma~Mountain Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Zinfandel, Pinot
•Sonoma Coast~Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
•Bennett Valley~Merlot
•Green Valley~Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc
•Russian River~Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
•Chalk Hill~Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc
•Knights Valley~Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petite Verdot
•Alexander Valley~Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Zin, Syrah, Sangiovese
•Dry Creek~Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
•Rockpile~Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sarah, Syrah, Zinfandel
•Northern Sonoma~Same as: Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill, Dry Creek, Knights Valley, Rockpile, Russian River

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 10:33 am and is filed under Learning about wine, Sonoma Wineries, Wine Facts - History, Wine Facts - Trivia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.