Unfiltered, Unfined

Last week I detailed the first half of my wine tasting adventure in Northern California (see Napa Wines in Napa). This time it’s Sonoma’s turn. Sonoma is quite a bit larger and much less tamed than its cousin to the east. Therefore I invited my friend Steve along, gaining the benefit of his palate while sharing driving, navigational, photographic and food-spotting duties.

While tried-and-true wines are by far the most easily accessible, some of the most interesting values are from relatively unknown regions and grapes. Wines from off the beaten path have much less name recognition than those from well-known areas such as Napa and Bordeaux, or varietals like Pinot Gris and Cabernet Sauvignon. The producers can’t charge a premium merely for the letters on the label, and as a result the wines are often much easier on the pocketbook.

While verticals usually explore a single terroir, horizontals often look at similar terroirs, those that are in some way connected by geography or winemaking philosophy. Terroir is a French word that roughly translates as “sense of place.” Terroir is all about location, climate, regional style and the vagaries of each individual growing season.