Sonoma California - Where Oceans, Mountains, and Vines Meet
Sonoma California - Where Oceans, Mountains, and Vines Meet
- from russian roots to world-class wines
Most USA wines come from California, about 85% in fact, making California the world’s 4th largest wine producer after Italy, France, and Spain. Sonoma is important in Northern California in terms of wine. Sonoma is a wine region that encompasses a town, a valley, and a county, all with the same name. It contains 19 wine sub-regions.
Russian newcomers planted grapes on the Sonoma Coast at Fort Ross in the early 19th century, followed soon after by Spanish missionaries. California’s first commercial premium winery is attributed to Buena Vista, founded in 1857.
At the start of Prohibition there were approximately 250 wineries in Sonoma. This kicked off a decline in the industry, which was extended by the Great Depression and the Second World War. Wine production in the region did not pick up again until around the 1976 Judgment of Paris, a blind wine competition where some California wines won to the dismay of the French. The winning Chardonnay was produced mostly from Sonoma County grapes.
Sonoma Valley parallels Napa Valley with the Mayacamas mountains separating the two valleys. Sonoma Valley has about 60 miles of Pacific Ocean coastline. This coastline provides cooling influences to the region’s overall warm Mediterranean climate. The Russian River is also key as it draws in fog and cooling marine air.
Isn’t there another mountain range around there? Wouldn’t this range block the Pacific winds and fog?
Indeed, the Northern Coast Range parallels the coast. The Pacific Ocean cooling winds flow through the Petaluma wind gap, a break in the Northern Coast Range, and then continues down the Russian River valley.
Why do I care about cooling effect relevant anyways?
Grapes require heat to ripen fully, this will vary depending on the grape variety. Cooling winds and fog help to cool down the grapes which retains grape acidity to make the wines taste balanced. It also slows down ripening, this allows time for flavors to build complexity in the grapes to make more flavorful wines!
Sonoma can grow various grape varieties due to the various levels of cooling throughout the region. The coolest portions (blue on the map) grow Chardonnay and Pinot noir, the moderate temperature sub-regions (green) grow Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot, and finally the warmest (dark pink) grow Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. These choices are based on how much heat the respective grape needs to ripen.
Our featured wine is from the Alexander Valley, where the Russian River runs throughout its 25-mile length. The Mayacamas Mountains line the eastern border of the narrow Alexander Valley. It is named after the man who first grew vines - Cyrus Alexander. Cyrus arrived in the area in 1840 and received a land grant of about 50,000 acres from the Mexican government.
Cool! I forgot that California, as we know it today, did not exist at that point.
In Alexander Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon is the predominant grape, but Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, and Merlot is also grown there.
Cabernet Sauvignon is a variety that requires a decent amount of heat to fully ripen. Styles of Cab Sauv will vary remarkably depending on the vineyards’ cooling influences. Generally, cooler vineyards will produce wines with lower alcohol and lesser body, with the other extreme producing a very ripe style with full body and high alcohol. Other factors like grape growing, harvesting, and winemaking choices will also influence the style.
Always so many factors in wine production!
The featured producer is Goldschmidt Vineyards, whose owners Yolyn and Nick Goldschmidt originate from New Zealand and now reside in Sonoma County. Nick, the winemaker, has university degrees and winemaking experience from New Zealand and Australia. He also worked as a winemaker in Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and the state of California.
Nick and his wife, Yolyn moved to Sonoma in the ‘90s eventually establishing Goldschmidt Vineyards. They focus on single vineyard, 100% grape varietal, handcrafted, small production artisan wines from around the world. They oversee two brands. The Forefathers line produces wines from New Zealand, Australia, and California, and the Goldschmidt line focuses on Sonoma and Napa.
The Goldschmidts have five grown children: two boys and three girls. When the girls were much younger, Nick had the idea to include the silhouette of his girls on labels. Each one scribbled a color to reflect her personality and style. Chelsea the oldest daughter, has her profile adorning a Merlot from Alexander Valley, while Hillary the youngest one has a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa.
The middle daughter, Katherine, pictured above, has today’s featured wine, the Goldschmidt Katherine Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 from Stonemason Hill vineyard site in Alexander Valley. The color on the label matches her red flowing hair. Katherine is said to be the creator of her own destiny, challenging the status quo is her M.O. The wine’s tech sheet describes the wine as complex, vibrant, and bewitching all characteristics that mirror her personality.
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Goldschmidt Katherine Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 from Stonemason Hill, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA
Style: New World Moderately Full Body Red Wine
Varieties: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
This rich wine has flavors of ripe strawberry, raspberry, cassis, ripe blueberry, blackberry compote, and mint. This fruit-driven wine is balanced by many secondary and tertiary notes like cloves, vanilla, milk chocolate sauce, earth, leather, tobacco, cigar, wet leaves, and forest floor. The ripe fine-grained tannins are moderately high and the finish is persistent.
Best pairings: Herb-crusted lamb, Roasted duck or grilled beef steak, Boeuf Bourguignon, Grilled Portobello mushrooms, Ratatouille, Hard cheeses like Old cheddar or Parmesan
Serving Temperature: 16-18 degrees Celsius
Serving Tips: Decant for 30 to 60 minutes.
Cost: ~$32 Cdn
I have compiled all my wine recommendations in one place. I will do my best to keep this up to date. I also include the link(s) to the article in which the wine was featured.
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SOURCES:
Alexander Valley Winegrowers. Available at: https://alexandervalley.org/ (Accessed: 16 September 2024).
Goldschmidt Vineyards. Available at: https://goldschmidtvineyards.com/ (Accessed: 16 September 2024).
Harding, J. and Robinson, J. (2023) The oxford companion to wine. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
MacNeil, K. (2022) The wine bible. New York, NY: Workman Publishing.
Sonoma County Vintners. Available at: https://sonomawine.com/ (Accessed: 16 September 2024).
Wine & Spirit Education Trust (2021) D3: Wines of the World - An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.