Читать книгу Sonoma County - Tina Caputo - Страница 6
ОглавлениеAn industry that began with settlers and missionaries, and survived Prohibition and phylloxera, is now responsible for arguably California’s best cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
Sonoma County’s winemaking history begins in, of all places, Russia.
Years before Spanish missionaries began planting vines in the Sonoma Valley, colonists from Russian Alaska settled on the Sonoma Coast. In 1812, they established Fort Ross as an agricultural and hunting base for their settlements back home, and planted Northern California’s first grape vines at the site a few years later.
Around 1825, Spanish missionary José Altamira planted vines at the site of Mission San Francisco Solano, near what is now the town of Sonoma. (The town was named for an indigenous word that roughly translates to “Valley of the Moon.”) In 1834, the Mexican government appropriated California’s missions and charged General Mariano Vallejo, California’s military commander, with distributing the land for development. During this period, vine cuttings from the Sonoma mission were used to plant new vineyards throughout the northern California territory.
Meanwhile, the Russian settlers expanded their efforts into the Russian River Valley, and continued cultivating vineyards until they left California in 1841. By then, the roots of Sonoma County’s viticulture industry had been firmly established.
The next turning point in Sonoma’s vinous history came in 1856. That year, settler Cyrus Alexander planted vines in northern Sonoma County, in the region now known as the Alexander Valley. Also in 1856, Hungarian nobleman Agoston Haraszthy purchased the Sonoma Valley property that would become the Buena Vista Winery.
“In 1825, Spanish missionary José Altamira planted vines at the site of Mission San Francisco Solano, near what is now the town of Sonoma”
European influences
In 1861, Haraszthy travelled to Europe to study viticulture, and brought back cuttings of more than 450 grape varieties from France, Germany, Italy and Spain. He planted many of these cuttings at Buena Vista and adopted innovative grape-growing techniques that he encountered during his travels. Haraszthy’s efforts earned him a place as a key figure in the development of California’s commercial wine industry – and Sonoma’s in particular.
Sonoma County’s wine industry continued to grow and thrive until 1873, when a worldwide outbreak of the phylloxera root louse all but wiped out its vines. It took years to replant the vineyards, but by 1920, Sonoma had 256 wineries and more than 8,900 ha (22,000 acres) of producing vineyards.
Unfortunately, 1920 also marked the launch of Prohibition, banning commercial alcohol production in the United States for 13 long years.
Home producers save vine growers
The effects of Prohibition were not all negative, however. Because each household was allowed to make 757 litres (200 gallons) of wine per year, home winemaking surged. People needed grapes to make their wines, and that kept Sonoma growers from pulling out their vineyards. During Prohibition, the region’s producing vineyards grew to more than 12,000 ha (30,000 acres).
The wineries weren’t so lucky. By the time Prohibition ended in 1933, fewer than 50 Sonoma County wineries remained. Of the 700 wineries in all of California, only 160 had survived – mostly by producing sacramental wines.
In the years following Repeal, families established new wineries to rebuild Sonoma’s diminished wine industry. World War II helped in that regard, by preventing French wines from being imported into the country. The lack of French wines opened the door for local wineries to grow their businesses, mainly in producing bulk wines.
A new crop of Sonoma County wineries opened in the 1970s, in response to a nationwide jump in wine consumption. In 1970 alone, US wine consumption grew by 40%.
As demand grew, so did quality. While most wine lovers know about Napa Valley’s victory in the famous 1976 “Judgment of Paris” tasting, in which California wines beat the French in a blind tasting, few realise that Sonoma also played an important role in that event. Nearly half of the grapes in Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Chardonnay, the tasting’s top-ranking wine, came from Sonoma County vineyards.
Even so, it was not until 1989 that wine grapes became Sonoma County’s top revenue-generating agricultural crop, surpassing dairy, grain and other products.
“Sonoma County is considered by many as the state’s best region for cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay”
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay lead the way
Today, Sonoma is home to 17 distinctive American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), with the Petaluma Gap projected to become the 18th later in 2017, plus nearly 500 wineries. Over 23,500 ha (58,000 acres) are planted to more than 60 grape varieties (Sonoma County Vintners, 2017). Pinot Noir is the county’s most-planted red grape, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay tops the whites, with Sauvignon Blanc a distant second.
While Sonoma County’s winemaking history predates the Napa Valley’s, it only recently began to emerge from Napa’s shadow. For decades, the Napa Valley got all the glory as a mecca for high-end Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, while Sonoma was known as “that other region”.
Not anymore. Years of experimenting with different vineyard sites and varieties have given growers and vintners a much better handle on what to plant where, and today Sonoma County is considered by many as the state’s best region for cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It’s even giving Napa Valley a run for its money with Cabernet Sauvignon – especially from mountain vineyard sites.
And thanks to a 2011 “conjunctive labelling” law, which requires the region’s wineries to include “Sonoma County” on its labels in addition to the AVA designation, Sonoma wines are finally getting the recognition they deserve.
