lgsjr – Page 38 – Power Tasting – The Wine Tasting Experience

No Left Turns

There’s no place in the world that’s more fun for wine tasters than Napa Valley. So many wineries. So many great wineries! And they’re one after another after another, primarily on two main roads and the cross streets that connect them. Of those two main roads, the one with the greatest concentration of top-flight wineries is Route 29, also known as the St. Helena Highway. However, the ability to choose from among such a plenitude means that lots of people want to drive along that road and visit.

Especially on weekends and holidays, traffic is so dense that it is difficult to get from one place to another. If you only have the chance to travel to Napa Valley on a weekend of holiday, you’re pretty much stuck with a bumper-to-bumper crawl. There’s nothing you can do to make it easy, but there are ways to make a voyage into this fabulous corner of Wine Country easier, less onerous.

Do your homework before you go. Don’t expect to show up in Napa Valley on a gorgeous summer weekend (and they seem like they’re all gorgeous weekends) and go to a favorite winery in St. Helena, then down to Yountville, back up to Oakville and finish in Calistoga. For one thing, the stretch of Route 29 with all the wineries is nearly 30 miles long. Don’t plan to go back and forth all day long. You’ll spend all your time in the car instead of in tasting rooms. So get a map and plan your destinations before you get behind the wheel. There are several good maps available on the web; try https://www.visitnapavalley.com/wineries/winery-map/.
No left turns. One thing that the map won’t tell you is how difficult it is to get from one side of Route 29 to the other. Even with all the traffic, it’s still a country road with very few lights. So if, for example, if you’re at Heitz Cellars and you want to go across the street to Flora Springs Winery (you can see it from there), it can take as long as 15 minutes for the flow of cars on the two sides to part long enough for you to get across. So plan your itinerary so that you visit a few on the east side heading north; then go to an intersection with a light; turn around and go to some on the west side heading south.

Photos courtesy of Heitz Cellars

Some areas are easier than others. There are certain strips of Route 29 where it’s easier to visit excellent wineries without having to drive very far between them…and not turning left. For example, on the east side between the Oakville and Rutherford Cross Roads, there are Opus One, Nickel & Nickel, Cakebread, Sequoia Grove, Foley Johnson and St. Supery. If you can’t find a few sips of wine that you like amongst all of those, you either have extraordinarily high standards or you’re just not trying. And then at the end you have Rutherford Grill, where you can get something to eat.
Avoid Route 29 altogether. There are great Napa Valley wineries elsewhere than this crowded road. The roughly parallel artery running north and south is the Silverado Trail, which is wider and much less travelled. Wineries along there are not to be sneezed at either, including Clos du Val, Chimney Rock, Regusci, Stag’s Leap, Stags’ Leap (watch that apostrophe), Pine Ridge and Silverado Vineyards. Left turns are no joy here either so you can follow the same strategy as on Route 29.

The best advice, as always, is to prepare your trip in advance and to be sensible in both your selection of wineries to visit and the amount of wine to taste. Don’t let “Oh, it’s so crowded” discourage you from visiting one of, if not the, best American winemaking region. If so, go visit during the week, not on weekends.

Tasting the Barrels

Some time ago, we took a class at the Joseph Phelps winery in St. Helena on the subject of cooperage, the making of wine barrels. We learned that the source and treatment of the oak makes a distinct difference in the taste of the wines matured in them. Then, on a visit to Paso Robles we got a graduate course.

The location was the Écluse winery (www.eclusewines.com), on a hill on the west side of town. Écluse is the French word for the locks that accommodate slopes in canals, opening and closing to allow boats to pass at different levels. The owners are Steve and Pam Lock, hence the name of the winery. We had heard about their Rhone varietals and asked for an appointment to come visit. Like many wineries in Paso Robles, Écluse is only open for the public on weekends. As we were in the area Monday through Thursday, a special appointment was de rigeur (more French).

We pulled into a gravel lot in front of a barn-like structure and were greeted by Steve Lock himself. Inside the barn were racks of barrels full of maturing wine and a small bar area with some boards stretched between a few barrels and wine bottles resting on them. This was wine tasting like it used to be, Napa in the ‘70s! We explained to Steve that our interest was in the Rhone grapes and he was happy to oblige us. Then he explained that Écluse is as well known for its Cabernet Sauvignons as its Rhones. Would we like to try some?

Steve Lock serving in the barrel room. Photo courtesy of Yelp

We guess we must have given Steve an idea that we were really interested in wine because he then involved us in a fascinating experiment. He had juice from the same vintage of his Cabernet Sauvignons aging in new French, American and Hungarian barrels. The French barrels have the finest grain, imparting a mellow, oaky flavor. The Americans have the widest grain, giving the wines a distinct top note. The Hungarians are in-between and project a creaminess to the wines. Steve took a wine thief and poured some of each, one at a time, into three different glasses. We sipped each and had never understood the impact of the cooperage on the taste of wine as much as we did that day.

A wine thief in use. Photo courtesy the Weekly Grape.

Then we got to play assistant winemaker. Steve gave us each another glass and encouraged us to blend some of the wine that we still had from the three barrels. We have no memory of what we made that day, but we are quite certain that it wasn’t as good as what came out of the bottle we received a few years later, since we joined the Écluse wine club that day.

Sanford Winery & Vineyards

Sanford Winery (http://www.sanfordwinery.com/) makes Burgundian wines – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – in Santa Barbara County’s famed Santa Rita Hills. Sanford has a tasting room in the Santa Rita Hills that we haven’t visited and also one in the city of Santa Barbara, which we have. Sanford is a Terlato property, the same as Chimney Rock in the Napa Valley. That fact alone is evidence of high quality wines and knowledgeable servers. Santa Barbara’s wine tasting scene is a bit schizophrenic, with a wild party atmosphere in the so-called Funk Zone downtown near the ocean and more refined tasting rooms uptown in or near the classy shopping district on State Street. Needless to say, Sanford is uptown.

Some in-town tasting rooms are strictly commercial. Others project a feeling of being in a nice club room. Still others try to incorporate the atmosphere of the town they are in into the tasting room. Sanford is a bar, a very classy bar to be sure, but all the same, a bar. It has a polished wooden floor, some large and small tables and a bar with some high stools. There’s no standing tastings at Sanford.

Photo courtesy of Winery Explorers (http://wineryexplorers.com/)

It’s in a shopping center. Again, it’s an up-scale shopping center with restaurants and shops full of beautiful things, but it’s a shopping center and it affects the wine tasting experience at Sanford. The wines, which are first-rate, become another expensive luxury item. Okay, all wine is an expensive luxury, but it doesn’t need to feel that way. So when you visit Sanford, and we hope you do, keep the door at your back.

Photo courtesy of Sanford Winery

What you will get when you go to Sanford is, in ascending order, a lesson in their wines, their Sanford & Benedict vineyard and winemaking in the Santa Rita Hills. All of this is accompanied by quite a broad range of wines for you to sample. Some of the wines Sanford produces are breathtakingly expensive; in all likelihood you won’t get a chance to taste those. But the ones that are available to taste give an excellent perspective of what the Santa Rita Hills is capable of and what American Pinot Noirs ought to be.

In some ways, the best part of tasting in Sanford’s Santa Barbara location is that you get to sip these wines without the necessity of an hour or more of driving to Lompoc, where Sanford is based. In fact, that case could be made for tasting wines in the city of Santa Barbara rather than trying to take in all the wineries in the rather vast county of Santa Barbara. Many other top-end wineries have realized that and have opened tasting rooms in-town.

The wine-tasting experience at Sanford Santa Barbara is a bit unusual but definitely worthwhile. The same may be said of visiting Santa Barbara itself, to be addressed in a future Places to Visit article.

Amador County

There are other wines to drink in California’s Amador County, but the main reason to go wine tasting in this part of Wine Country is to try the Zinfandels they’re famous for. There are wineries all over the county, but the greatest concentration of them is in and around the town of Plymouth, mostly on or just off Shenandoah Road, also known as the Shenandoah Valley, about 50 miles east of Sacramento.

There is also a fair number of wineries about a half hour north of Plymouth in another town called Placerville. We haven’t visited there yet so offer no opinions in this article. If you have several days, by all means try locations other than Plymouth, but we recommend against doing a lot of tasting in one place and then driving for some time to another. You mostly drive on small roads. Keep it easy and keep it safe.

While many of the wineries have built glass and steel tasting rooms, none of them come close to palatial. Many wineries, including some of the more popular ones, are located in wooden buildings. They are hardly sheds, but they do project a rustic ambiance that, overall, describes Amador County. There are a lot of ranches around the county. You definitely know you’re in the country when you visit there.

Photo courtesy of Helwig Winery

One feature of Amador county wineries is that many of them have restaurants. Among them are Villa Toscana and Renwood. You’d better look for them if you want something to eat because once you’re down the road in the Shenandoah Road it’s a bit of a drive back into town, and event then there aren’t many places to eat.

Photo courtesy of Renwood Winery

With the restaurants in the wineries, the wine tasting experience is different. You feel more like being in a bar and grill than in a tasting room. At one place we saw people sitting on bar stools ordering plates of cheese and charcuterie, in another one just besides the tasting room was the restaurant. Lucie felt that it was more commercial and that people living around the area go there to party. They seem to consider the wineries like their local bars which takes something away from wine tasting experience.

You’re not quite in the mountains in Amador County but you certainly are in the foothills of the Sierras. Thus there are quite a few wonderful views to be had on a pretty day. We’ve also had the experience of being there on a rainy, foggy day and you do feel a bit closed in.

Among the wineries to consider when you drive out to Amador County (and you will drive as there are no commercial airports closer than Sacramento, forty miles away) are Renwood, Helwig and Turley. Renwood is the biggest, most commercial winery in the region and its Zinfandels are widely available. Helwig has a rather large tasting room, made of wood and offers excellent views. Turley is interesting because it’s the northern outlet of the same label in Paso Robles. We are familiar with the Central Coast winery and often buy their wines but we found virtually an entirely different selection in Amador County.

Turley winery in Amador County

There’s always a reason to go for a tasting trip anywhere in Wine Country. There are some first-rate wines to be experienced in Amador County and if you are a Zinfandel fan you’ll find much that will interest you and a few wines that you will find exciting. Wine tasting in Amador County is certainly is more than “a pleasant day in the countryside” destination.

The Other California

For most travelers to California who are seeking wine tasting adventures, the most obvious destinations are Napa Valley and Sonoma County, which we have dubbed Napa/Noma. More than 90% of the wineries we have visited in that state have been in those locations. And why not? The wine is world-renowned; the scenery is ravishing; and they are close to San Francisco, a frequent business destination. However, there are other areas of the state that produce wine, some of it of excellent quality.

In this and subsequent issues, we will use the Places to Visit column to introduce some of these grape-growing areas. In a previous edition, we did highlight the Temecula Valley near San Diego which, in our opinion, has more to offer as a pleasant day in the vineyards than an occasion to sample great wines. In this and future issues of Power Tasting, we’ll discuss Amador County, Santa Clara Valley, Paso Robles, Santa Maria County and Santa Barbara County. It will be an irregular series, because we still want to write about other locations in Wine Country.

Here are a few things to consider if you want to visit the “Other California”:

Be prepared to drive. Most of us don’t live near to any of these destinations and most visitors don’t often visit far from the major urban areas. And even if you do live near one of them, you’re pretty far from all the others. All the normal rules of safe wine tasting apply: Know your limit and don’t even get close to it. Sip, don’t drink and use the pour bucket. Put some food in your stomach. Space out your winery visits. These points cannot be stressed enough.
Do some homework before you go. It’s likely that many, if not most of the wineries in any given area are unknown to you. So get on your favorite search engine and look for “best wineries” in the area you’ll be visiting. This is no guarantee as some sites contain nothing but self-promotion. But if you see an article in one of the local newspapers, there’s a higher likelihood of getting some unbiased information.
Don’t expect too much. There’s a reason why Napa Valley and Sonoma County are so well known: many wineries there make a lot of really excellent wine. You can find some excellent wine in other areas as well, just not in the same profusion. In any Napa AVA, you’ll find many superlative wineries, a few that are okay but not great and very few, if any, that are awful. In some of the other areas of the state, there may be a few great ones, a lot of okay ones and quite a few really poor ones.
Keep an open mind. Even if you’re not crazy about too many wines you taste, you still can have a pleasant day in a region that may be new to you. At any given winery, you may have to sip and pour quite a few samples until you find a particular wine that appeals to you. Think of it this way: you might discover an unknown gem amongst the dross. It’s worth it to keep searching.
Focus on what that region does best. Every region has a reputation for certain grapes. For example, Amador County is known for Zinfandel and Santa Barbara is famous for its Pinot Noirs. So go ahead and sip a Merlot or a Sauvignon Blanc, but keep your taste buds alert save your alcohol content for what they do best.

Perhaps the best way to summarize our advice concerning the Other California is to approach each region with a sense of adventure. The worst that can happen is you’ll be able to avoid certain wine regions on restaurants lists. The best might be the thrill of an unexpected discovery.

Santa Rosa’s Wednesday Night Market

We have found that the toughest times on a wine tasting trip are the hours after wine tasting and before dinner. You’ve come back to your hotel from your last winery of the day, maybe gone for swim, freshened up…and now what? On other types of vacations, you’d find a nice lounge and have a pre-dinner drink. But you’ve been sipping wine all day and you’ll possibly have some more with your meal, so more alcohol at this point is not a good idea. A little shopping in Sonoma, Yountville, Healdsburg or St. Helena would be nice but the stores are all closed. Where to go? What to do?

If you are in or around Santa Rosa on a Wednesday evening in warm weather, here’s a suggestion: the Wednesday Night Market on 4^th Street near Courthouse Square. If you’d like to spend a little time getting to know the local populace and not just hanging out with wine snobs, come on down. There’s a high chance that you’ll be rubbing shoulders with the same people who farmed the grapes and made the wine that you were sampling all day. They’re out to buy things they need, listen to some music, party a bit and generally enjoy themselves. You can join them.

The Wednesday Night Market is actually a street fair and a farmer’s market mixed together. It’s a long row of little tents where vendors sell food, drinks, crafts, art, knickknacks, household services and, most particularly local produce. Scattered among the booths are music venues, leaning heavily to country & western and Mexicana. People use the term “dancing in the streets” to imply joyous celebration, so on these summer evenings you can come be a part of it. There are also many children’s activities, which for some wine tasting visitors may solve yet another problem.

You can enjoy an ambulatory meal of local specialties, mostly Mexican-inspired, like tacos and grilled turkey legs. Of course, the usual hot dogs and pizza are available too. (The food at the numerous street fairs in New York City are more Italian-flavored. We didn’t see any calzones or zeppoles in Santa Rosa). There are little terraces where you can sample Sonoma County wines, which you have probably been doing all day anyway, or chug a cold beer on a hot night.

Photo courtesy of the Rincon Valley blog

The best of the best of the Santa Rosa street market is the produce. In case you had forgotten, you will immediately remember that California is the fruit basket of the United States. Go from one stall to another and vendors will offer you samples: peaches, plums, radishes, strawberries, carrots, cherries, melons and tomatoes. Oh, the fruits and vegetables of summer in California! Everything is fresh, colorful and bursting with flavor.

Photo courtesy of KQED

You, or at least most of you, don’t live in or near Santa Rosa, so what are you going to do with anything you buy? Hopefully you have a refrigerator at your disposal at your hotel, so your purchases will last a few days. Even so, your mouth will be bigger than your belly. So what? Of course, it’s always a shame to throw away food but the prices at the Wednesday Night Market are so low, especially with regard to the quality you get, that we’re probably talking about less than you paid during the day for a tasting at a single winery. So get yourself peaches or strawberries that you’ll remember forever.

In 2017, the market will occur on Wednesday nights from 5:00 to 8:30, from May 3 to August 16. Enjoy!

Chimney Rock Winery

Chimney Rock is nestled in the heart of Napa Valley’s Stags Leap district, but it would feel right at home in Sonoma County as well. It’s a welcoming sort of place, pretty but not overly grandiose, where the wine is first rate and the servers are real educators – unless there is a heavy weekend crush. We recommend you visit Chimney Rock while in Napa Valley but do so on a weekday if you can.

The building looks like a cute Dutch cottage, veering to the point of cutesy. Still, it doesn’t look much like anything anywhere else in Wine Country, South Africa excluded. It certainly isn’t overwhelming, inside or out. The interior contains a U-shaped bar that can get rather crowded at times. There are also tastings held on the terrace, which isn’t particularly ornate, either. All of which is to say that Chimney Rock is nicely appointed and cozy.

Tastings are not inexpensive, starting at $50 for a simple stand-up tasting at the bar. They can be special enough that the fee is worth it. More than anything else, we have found that the term “Wine Educator” on the servers’ badges is well earned. Now, this is not universally the case. A young person pouring on a weekend doesn’t have the knowledge or communication skills of someone with some grey hair on a normal weekday. So, choose carefully where you stand at the bar and if you’re not getting the answers you want, move over a bit.

The wines you will be served fall into two categories: Cabernet Sauvignon and other. Your server will probably start you off with what they call Elevage Blanc, which is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and the rarely encountered Sauvignon Gris. It’s pleasant, maybe more than pleasant, but it’s not the reason to visit Chimney Rock; the reds are the stars of the show.

While Chimney Rock makes several single vineyard wines, you are most likely to be served their 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and their Elevage, which is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot (no Malbec, just to say they have all five Bordeaux grapes). Often, you have the chance to taste a short vertical of either label or both. Just such a tasting as this, even without explanation, is a real education and with the expertise of the Wine Educator added can make for a unique wine tasting experience.

Chimney Rock wines tend to get very high marks from the rating magazines, so be prepared to sip some beverages that experts (whatever that means) think highly of. Also, alas be prepared to spend a lot if you want to buy a few bottles. To that extent, Chimney Rock is very Napa Valley.

Chimney Rock Winery is owned by the Terlato Wine Group, so you might also get a chance to taste some wines under the Terlato label. In our opinion, these are also rather god but not quite up to the Chimney Rock-branded wines. If you engage your Wine Educator with knowledgeable questions, you’ll probably also be treated to some other specials that they keep below the bar.

Some wineries, in both Napa Valley and Sonoma County, play up the architecture, the views, food pairings and other non-wine experiences. A visit to Chimney Rock is all about the wines.

Jordan Winery

Jordan Winery is located between the Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys in Sonoma County. Even though it’s a Sonoma winery, it has the feel (and the wines) of the Napa Valley. The building itself is intended to resemble a grand French chateau, although there’s a lot of reminiscence of an English manor house as well. The story (apocryphal or not) is that Thomas Jordan wanted to buy a great Bordeaux chateau and finding that none were for sale, decided to build one in California instead. If anything could be called a Napa Palace, this is it, but it’s in Sonoma. It awes but somehow doesn’t overwhelm the visitor.

The Jordan Winery (Photo courtesy of Jordan Winery)

Since the winery opened in 1979, the only wines made for general sale have been Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. How Napa-fied is that? (There is also a true Champagne made in France under the Jordan label, but that doesn’t count.)

The wine tasting experience lives up to the grandeur of the building. There are only seated tastings in library, which may also be combined with tours of the winery and of the entire estate. We suppose Jordan might take a walk-in if there were space available, but we wouldn’t advise risking it as here are rarely any open places. We have taken many tours of many winemaking facilities and they all blend together in our memories, but this one is special, if only for the history of the building and the grounds. Yes, it’s definitely California but it all has a very French feel to it.

After touring the property, you are ushered into an anteroom to the library. Your hosts (it’s unfair to call them simply servers) pour a little something to get you in the mood, an aperitif so to speak. It’s usually a glass of Chardonnay, but we have also had a sip of some rare wine that was made years before, just for members. The room is as luxurious as you might imagine a chateau to be, all honey-colored wood, shelves, oriental carpets and exquisite knickknacks. Jordan has deservedly built quite a reputation for their wines, so the preliminary tastes are no disappointment.

Finally, you are led into the library, with a long table set with dishes of savories to accompany the main event, the Cabernet Sauvignons. The host explains what you are drinking as you sip. There will always be a few recent releases, topped off with an older selection. If you’re lucky, they’ll find a dessert wine that was only made in such-and-such a year. You will be impressed. That’s the whole idea.

Frankly, we are not fans of the overblown architecture and fancy airs that can be found at some wineries that make higher priced wines. It’s a matter of taste, but that’s not our taste. We have visited real Bordeaux chateaux and Jordan, if artificial, manages to emulate and honor the French tradition within a California setting. After almost 40 years, it’s no longer fake French but rather it’s real California. Grace, beauty and good wine are always in season, no matter the venue.

Visiting Napa/Noma in January

We’re often asked “What time of year is best to visit Napa and Sonoma?”. We always answer that it doesn’t matter, that there are pluses and minuses whatever time of year you go there. With this issue, Power Tasting initiates an occasional series that will try to capture the essence of each of month of the year in California’s foremost wine making regions. It’s still a good idea to go whenever your calendar allows, but some months might fit your tastes better than others.

One way in which Napa Valley and Sonoma County are alike is the weather. It’s not going to rain on one side of the mountain and be sunny on the other. And in both regions, all year long, you are likely to observe the same strange weather phenomenon: no matter the season, days begin cold, humid and grey. Then at mid-morning, in a period of 15 minutes or so, the clouds part, the sun comes out and you spend the rest of the day under glorious blue skies.

However, in January you run a fair chance of it being grey and rainy for the entire day. 2017 had a historically wet winter, complete with some significant flooding in certain areas, especially Russian River. [“Russian River rises again, flooding Guerneville”, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Russian-River-Guerneville-flooding-rise-level-10917521.php#photo-12167050 gives an especially good look at what it was like.] There’s nothing like a flood to spoil an otherwise pleasant day of wine tasting. But even in the notorious drought years, you could still get a lousy day in Wine Country in January.

Floods aside, there is some benefit to wine tasting on a rainy January day: There aren’t as many people there. The tasting rooms aren’t as crowded; you can get a table at the best restaurants; and the hotels lower their prices. Your odds are good, especially on a weekday, but it can still be very crowded at times. Mid-January brings the Martin Luther King holiday weekend and those wanting a last blast of Christmas and New Year’s come out in droves. We were shocked on several occasions to find normally sedate wineries packed with people who were obviously more interested in imbibing than tasting.

One of the glories of visiting these regions, especially Napa Valley, is the outburst of color known as Mustard Season. At this time, wild mustard naturally blooms in the fields and many grape growers let it stay. We once thought it enhanced the soil but we later learned that farmers like pretty views just as much as visitors do, so it’s an esthetic decision on their part, not an agricultural one. To our memories, Mustard Season used to occur more in the February-March time of year, but it is coming earlier now. Maybe it’s global warming or the heavy rains, but it’s happening earlier now and lasting longer.

Photo taken on January 16, 2017

As can be seen in the photo, there are plenty of bright, sunny January days in between the showers. It may be a little colder than some would like for wine tasting (that would be Steve) but you don’t get the searing hot afternoons that others detest (that would be Lucie). Generally, a sweater, light jacket or down vest is appropriate for the January temperatures in Napa/Noma. And you almost never get any snow.

Because the vines are bare in January, it’s best not to plan visits to wineries where one of the main attractions is the view across the vineyards. You may still want to taste the wines at, say, Stag’s Leap in Napa or Rochioli in Russian River but you will lose an important part of the wine tasting experience. If your trip in January is the only time you will be in Napa/Noma for a long while, definitely visit wineries such as these, but put your imagination in overdrive to get an idea of what it’s like in high summer.

Napa/Noma

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

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

Does that sound just a tad schizophrenic? Well, there’s a lot of truth in that. Both Napa Valley and Sonoma County are very special places for us and we visit one or the other or both almost every year. 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?

The view from William Hill in Napa Valley

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

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

The view from A. Rafanelli in Dry Creek

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

The strongest argument for treating Napa Valley and Sonoma County as one wine tasting destination is the ease of traveling between the two. 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. Or you can continue up Route 29 until it leads you into Alexander Valley. The counterargument, by the way, is that you shouldn’t attempt the mountain crossings at night after a day of wine tasting. We learned that lesson the hard but fortunately safe way.

For many years, we visited one or the other but not both. Recently, we have been packing our bags and spending a few days in Napa Valley and then a few in Sonoma County. That’s great if you have the time. But this strategy doesn’t answer the question as to whether they are one place or two. At the end, we say that the answer is “Yes”. They are one place just as Manhattan and Brooklyn are both New York and they are different for just the same reasons. They are much alike but they feel different. A Sonoman tell you that they are jus’ folks and the Napans are snobs. Napans say that they are cultured and the folks on the other side are hicks. 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. Visit both. Reach your own conclusions. Enjoy the wine.