Sonoma In The City is the touring Taste of Sonoma event presented by Sonoma County Vintners, Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, Sonoma County Tourism Bureau and Full Circle Wine Solutions. I had the pleasure of attending the trade/media portion of this event held recently in Los Angeles at The London hotel in West Hollywood.
Sonoma County has several diverse microclimates, and is actually divided into 15 AVAs [American Viticultural Areas], creating a wide variety of wines and winemaking styles. The following areas were represented in this tasting:
Alexander Valley
Bennett Valley
Dry Creek Valley / Rockpile
Russian River Valley / Green Valley
Sonoma Coast / Fort Ross – Seaview
Sonoma Mountain / Sonoma Valley / Carneros
The following wineries were pouring samples:
Alexander Valley Vineyards
Anaba Wines
Arrowood Vineyards & Winery
Benovia Winery
Blue Rock Vineyard
Capture Wines
Cartograph
Chateau St. Jean
DeLoach Vineyards
Donum
Dry Creek Vineyard
Dutton-Goldfield Winery
Ferrari-Carano Vineyards & Winery
Flowers Vineyards & Winery
Foppiano Vineyards
Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery
Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards
Gundlach Bundschu Winery
Hanzell Vineyards
Hartford Court Winery
Hidden Ridge Vineyard
Hook & Ladder Winery
Huge Bear Wines
Inman Family Wines
Iron Horse Vineyards
J Vineyards & Winery
Jemrose
Joseph Swan Vineyards
Keller Estate
Kelley & Young
Kendall-Jackson
La Crema
La Follette Wines
Landmark Vineyards
Lasseter Family Winery
Laurel Glen Vineyard
Longboard Vineyards
MacRostie Winery & Vineyards
Martinelli Winery
Matanzas Creek Winery
Mauritson Wines
Murphy-Goode
Papapietro Perry Winery
Paradise Ridge Winery
Patz & Hall
Pedroncelli Winery
Petroni Vineyards
Robert Young Estate Winery
Rodney Strong Vineyards
Schug Carneros Estate Winery
Seghesio Family Vineyards
Stone Edge Farm
Stonestreet
Taft Street Winery
Thomas George Estates
Three Sticks
Trione Vineyards and Winery
In addition, some of the growers associations were represented, pouring wines from additional wineries that did not necessarily have a pouring station of their own:
Bennett Valley Grape Growers
Rockpile Grape Growers Association
Russian River Valley Winegrowers
Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance
West Sonoma Coast Vintners
Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley
Admittedly, I focused less on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and more on varietals that are of particular interest to me. That being said, my favorites of the day were:
Bruliam Rocky Ridge Zinfandel, Rockpile 2009 [poured by the Rockpile Grape Growers Association]
Foppiano Vineyards Estate Petite Sirah 2009
Fritz Estate Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley 2009 [poured by the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley]
Inman Family Wines OGV Estate Pinot Gris, Russian River Valley 2011
J Vineyards & Winery Chardonnay, Russian River Valley 2009
Jemrose Egret Pond Viognier, Bennett Valley 2010
Jemrose Cardiac Hill Syrah, Bennett Valley 2009
Jemrose Foggy Knoll Grenache, Bennett Valley 2009
Jemrose Gloria’s Gem, Bennett Valley 2009
Lasseter Family Winery Enjoue, Sonoma Valley 2010
Lasseter Family Winery Paysage, Sonoma Valley 2008
Longboard Vineyards Syrah, Russian River Valley 2008
Mauritson Wines Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley 2010
Mauritson Wines Rockpile Ridge Zinfandel, Rockpile 2010
Petroni Vineyards Brunello, Sonoma Valley 2005
Petroni Vineyards Rosato di Sonoma, Sonoma Valley 2010
Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley 2009 [poured by the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley]
Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel, Sonoma County 2010
Taft Street Winery Chardonnay, Russian River Valley 2009
Our one tactical error was thinking that, because the tasting started at 1:30 PM, we should have lunch first. We ate at the excellent Boxwood Café, which is the casual arm of the Gordon Ramsay restaurant also at The London. But, when we entered the tasting room, there were plenty of delicious passed appetizers, as well as a carving table that included rack of lamb and whole roast suckling pig. This food was also provided by the Gordon Ramsay restaurant and was not only amazing, but the carver of the pig also provided the laugh of the day when he moved it into position and admonished it to “stay!”
Michael Perlis provides outsourced controller services to businesses that do not need a full-time controller. He balances this with his interest in wine: reading and writing about it and, of course, drinking it. He is still trying to figure out how to combine these two pursuits. Feel free to contact him about either at mcpfinancial@aol.com or michaelthezinfan@aol.com.
