{"id":576,"date":"2017-05-30T17:27:01","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T17:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=576"},"modified":"2017-06-19T21:00:38","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T21:00:38","slug":"napanoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=576","title":{"rendered":"Napa\/Noma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Napa Valley is the most beautiful winemaking area in California.\u00a0 It stretches 30 miles between two mountain ranges, the Mayacamas and the Vaca.\u00a0 There are hundreds of wineries there and many of them are the most famous in America.\u00a0 We always have a wonderful time when we visit there.<\/p>\n

Sonoma County contains the most beautiful winemaking areas in California. There are several distinct growing areas, several of which specialize in certain grapes.\u00a0 There are hundreds of wineries there and many of them are the most famous in America.\u00a0 We always have a wonderful time when we visit there.<\/p>\n

Does that sound just a tad schizophrenic?\u00a0 Well, there\u2019s a lot of truth in that.\u00a0 Both Napa Valley and Sonoma County are very special places for us and we visit one or the other or both almost every year.\u00a0 That raises a question that is the theme of this article: for the wine tasting visitor, as opposed to a winemaker, are they two distinct places or just one, divided by mountains?<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2496\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The view from William Hill in Napa Valley<\/em><\/p>\n

The case for distinctiveness starts with the grapes.\u00a0 Chardonnay is grown plentifully on both sides but Cabernet Sauvignon (and to a lesser extent, Merlot) is the king of Napa Valley.\u00a0 Sure, there is lots of Pinot Noir in Carneros on the south end, but that sector is\u00a0 split between Napa and Sonoma Counties, so by definition Carneros is an outlier.\u00a0 Sonoma County also has lots of Cabernet Sauvignon, but it\u2019s concentrated in Alexander Valley and Chalk Hill.\u00a0 Zinfandel is in Dry Creek and Pinot Noir is the star in Russian River, Green Valley and the aforementioned Carneros areas.<\/p>\n

[To be sure, all the foregoing is an over-simplification.\u00a0 You can find some of everything everywhere.\u00a0 But the reason that the wines in each AVA are world-famous is because of the grapes mentioned.]<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3398\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The view from A. Rafanelli in Dry Creek<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, they\u2019re much the same as well.\u00a0 Both Napa Valley and Sonoma County have great restaurants, attractive wineries and ample opportunities to learn about wine.\u00a0 Sadly, the hotels on both sides are getting waaaay too expensive, as are the charges for tasting.\u00a0 They both offer mountain and valley fruit, along with the disputes about which is better.<\/p>\n

The strongest argument for treating Napa Valley and Sonoma County as one wine tasting destination is the ease of traveling between the two.\u00a0 Route 121 traverses them both on the south end; the glorious Oakville Grade is in the middle; and Mark West Springs\/Petrified Forest Roads are at the north.\u00a0 Or you can continue up Route 29 until it leads you into Alexander Valley.\u00a0 The counterargument, by the way, is that you shouldn\u2019t attempt the mountain crossings at night after a day of wine tasting.\u00a0 We learned that lesson the hard but fortunately safe way.<\/p>\n

For many years, we visited one or the other but not both.\u00a0 Recently, we have been packing our bags and spending a few days in Napa Valley and then a few in Sonoma County.\u00a0 That\u2019s great if you have the time.\u00a0 But this strategy doesn\u2019t answer the question as to whether they are one place or two.\u00a0 At the end, we say that the answer is \u201cYes\u201d.\u00a0 They are one place just as Manhattan and Brooklyn are both New York and they are different for just the same reasons.\u00a0 They are much alike but they feel<\/em> different.\u00a0 A Sonoman tell you that they are jus\u2019 folks and the Napans are snobs.\u00a0 Napans say that they are cultured and the folks on the other side are hicks.\u00a0 There are palaces in both places (although more in Napa Valley). There are interesting little out-of-the-way places in both but more of them in Sonoma County.\u00a0 Visit both.\u00a0 Reach your own conclusions.\u00a0 Enjoy the wine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Napa Valley is the most beautiful winemaking area in California.\u00a0 It stretches 30 miles between two mountain ranges, the Mayacamas and the Vaca.\u00a0 There are hundreds of wineries there and many of them are the most famous in America.\u00a0 We always have a wonderful time when we visit there. Sonoma County contains the most beautiful … Continue reading Napa\/Noma<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=576"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":615,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions\/615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}