The Sonoma Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

which centers on the

Sonoma Valley Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards a ...

in the southern portion of the county. The name 'Sonoma' means 'Valley of the Moon' in the local Native American dialect. The

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

is bordered by two mountain ranges: the

Mayacamas Mountains The Mayacamas Mountains are located in northwestern California in the United States. The mountain range is part of the Northern Inner Coast Ranges, of the California Coast Ranges System. Geography The Mayacamas Mountains are located south of the ...

to the east and the

Sonoma Mountains The Sonoma Mountains are a northwest–southeast trending mountain range of the Inner Coast Ranges in the California Coast Ranges System, located in Sonoma County, Northern California. Geography The Sonoma Mountains range is approximately long. ...

to the west.

History

Sonoma Valley has played a significant role in the history of

California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...

. The first vineyards in the valley were planted by

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

s at

Mission San Francisco Solano Mission San Francisco Solano was the 21st, last, and northernmost mission in Alta California. It was named for Saint Francis Solanus. It was the only mission built in Alta California after Mexico gained independence from Spain. The difficulty o ...

in 1823. In 1857,

Agoston Haraszthy Agoston Haraszthy (; hu, Haraszthy Ágoston, es, Agustín Haraszthy; August 30, 1812 – July 6, 1869) was a Hungarian-American nobleman, adventurer, traveler, writer, town-builder, and pioneer winemaker in Wisconsin and California, often refe ...

established one of California's first successful commercial wineries here when he founded

Buena Vista Winery Buena Vista Winery is a winery located in Sonoma, California, United States. It is the second oldest winery in California after the D'Agostini Winery, which was founded a year prior in 1856. It was founded by Agoston Haraszthy in 1857. The winery ...

. By 1920, there were 256 wineries in Sonoma Valley with more than planted to grape vines.

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

affected Sonoma Valley as hard as any other wine region in California, and most wineries were unable to continue operating. Recovery after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 was slow, and only about 50 wineries survived. In 1969, there were still only 58 bonded wineries in Sonoma Valley. The wine industry in the valley began to expand rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s. By 1975 some 24,000 acres (9,700 ha.) were under plantation. Official boundaries for the Sonoma Valley wine region were codified into federal law in 1981 as the eighth designated American Viticultural Area. By 2005, there were 254 wineries, and over under vine. The wine industry annually contributes over $8 billion

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

to the local economy.

Climate and geography

The area is known for its unique ''

terroir (, ; from ''terre'', "land") is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these contex ...

'' with

Sonoma Mountain Sonoma Mountain is a prominent landform within the Sonoma Mountains of southern Sonoma County, California. At an elevation of , Sonoma Mountain offers expansive views of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Sonoma Valley to the east. In fact ...

protecting the area from the wet and cool influence of the nearby

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. The Sonoma Mountains to the west help protect the valley from excessive rainfall. The cool air that does affect the region comes northward from

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water c ...

through the Los Carneros region and southward from the Santa Rosa Plain.

References

External links

Sonoma Valley Wine
Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers
Sonoma Valley
{{Coord, 38, 22, N, 122, 30, W, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title American Viticultural Areas of the San Francisco Bay Area Sonoma Valley Geography of Sonoma County, California 1981 establishments in California American Viticultural Areas

History

Climate and geography

See also

References

External links