The Sonoma Valley AVA is an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

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 seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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 used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

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 th ...

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. ...

. The first vineyards in the valley were planted by

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

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 difficult ...

in 1823. In 1857,

Agoston Haraszthy Agoston 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 referred to as the "Father of California Wine", a ...

established one of California's first successful commercial wineries here when he founded Buena Vista 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 alcoholic b ...

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: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

to the local economy.

Climate and geography

The area is known for its unique ''

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, 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, th ...

'' with

Sonoma Mountain Sonoma Mountain ( Coast Miwok: ''Oona-pa'is'') 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 Sono ...

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 Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. 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 the 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 wate ...

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 Sonoma Valley 1981 establishments in California American Viticultural Areas of Sonoma County, California

History

Climate and geography

See also

References

External links