Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [234]
The valley is some 17 miles long and 7 miles wide, and it’s bordered by two mountain ranges: the Mayacamas to the east and the Sonomas to the west. Unlike in Napa Valley, you won’t find much in the way of palatial wineries with million-dollar art collections or aerial trams. Rather, the Sonoma Valley offers a refreshing dose of family-owned winery reality, where modestly sized wineries are integrated into the community. If Napa Valley feels like a fantasyland, where everything exists to service the almighty grape and the visitors it attracts, then the Sonoma Valley is its antithesis, an unpretentious gaggle of ordinary towns, ranches, and wineries that welcome tourists but don’t necessarily rely on them. The result is a chance to experience what Napa Valley must have been like long before the Seagrams and Moët et Chandons of the world turned the Wine Country into a major tourist destination.
As in Napa, you can pick up Wine Country Review throughout Sonoma. It gives you the most up-to-date information on wineries and related area events.
Essentials
GETTING THERE From San Francisco, cross the Golden Gate Bridge and stay on U.S. 101 N. Exit at Hwy. 37; after 10 miles, turn north onto Hwy. 121. After another 10 miles, turn north onto Hwy. 12 (Broadway), which takes you directly into the town of Sonoma.
VISITOR INFORMATION While you’re in Sonoma, stop by the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau, 453 First St. E. ( 866/996-1090 or 707/996-1090; www.sonomavalley.com). It’s open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm (6pm in summer on Fri and Sat) and Sunday 10am to 5pm. An additional Visitors Bureau is a few miles south of the square at Cornerstone Festival of Gardens at 23570 Arnold Dr. (Hwy. 121; 866/996-1090); it’s open daily from 9am to 4pm, 5pm during summer.
If you prefer advance information from the bureau, you can contact the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau to order the free Sonoma Valley Visitors Guide, which lists almost every lodge, winery, and restaurant in the valley.
wannabe winemakers PACK UP FOR SONOMA’S “GRAPE CAMP”
It’s called “Grape Camp” but it’s a decidedly adult experience—with much more potent bug juice this time. In September 2009, I joined this tour group of the Sonoma region, led by the Sonoma Winegrape Commission’s friendly, boundlessly energetic Larry Levine—our de facto camp counselor, complete with a whistle around his neck. Around 25 of us (mostly couples) were bused around to enjoy extravagant, private dinners overlooking vineyards, and saw every step of the winemaking process at a half dozen wineries, including Gloria Ferrer, Marimar Estate (www.marimarestate.com), and Stonestreet Winery (www.stonestreetwines.com), which let us blend wines the way their winemakers do. We learned that this is a difficult task, considering that the wines are blended while they’re young and still slightly bitter. A wine-pairing course at Relish Culinary Adventures (www.relishculinary.com) divided us into teams and let us whip up pizzas to pair with our assigned wine. My team fumbled for ideas at first but won by matching a full-bodied merlot with our own pie of béchamel sauce, jack cheese, Italian sausage, pear, and sweet basil—so we had bragging rights for the afternoon.
The schedule was jam-packed, starting with a 7am bus trip to the vineyards to pick grapes for an hour or so. This prompted a few jokes about tourists paying to pick grapes, but the scenery—in the heart of the Valley, with the mountains visible in the distance—was exhilarating. I chatted up the vineyard reps for winemaking tips while I picked pinot noir.
Dinners were extravagant over-the-top treats: Our first meal at Arista Winery (www.aristawinery.com) included a succulent sous vide–cooked steak, whipped up for us on-site by Charlie Palmer himself, while we sat outdoors at a long table dotted with 50 bottles of wine from the Russian River Valley. We were happy campers by the time we boarded the bus back to the inn. The second night’s meal was set in the gorgeous backyard