SonomaCountyWiki.com

Secrets of Napa and Sonoma CA Wines

There are wine snobs and wine drinkers, wine aficionados and wine fanatics. No matter where you line up on the richter scale of wine appreciation, it's a sure bet, you've heard of both Napa and Sonoma counties, and of their on-going feud concerning wine supremacy. In an attempt to find out once and for all, who makes the best wine, I traveled with a film crew to both counties and found out some little known facts and fables while filming " A State of VIne."

Did you know that the French think Zinfandel wine is a bastard, or that Mario Andretti likens his varietals to his children: on any given day he appreciates one more than the other? Did you know that there is a winery that sits smack right in the middle of both counties? (I interviewed the winemaker while standing in Napa and he was in Sonoma!) Did you know that Charles Shaw, a/k/a Chuck Shaw, a/k/a "Two Buck Chuck" has a huge following with both senior citizens and college students and that there is a popular song that pays homage to the brand?

To travel northern CA wine country is a feast for the senses in every imaginable way. We captured all four seasons in the vineyards and I heard Vivaldi 's concerto time and time again playing a beautiful loop in my mind. Everyone there is tied to mother nature: the soil, the rain or lack thereof, veraison ( when the berries change color) announcing it's time to prepare for the grand event of harvest; the dormant, rainy season when folks take a break from the constant work - and eat and drink and then some more! Spring emerges with wild mustard creating a vast yellow carpet below the vines, and the summer heat allows those vines to grow in splendor.

Having traversed the land from north to south, east to west, on the valley floor and mountain tops, for a year, I can attest to the fact that there is no bad time to visit CA wine country!

About the Author:
Christine Scioli owns Zan Media, a film and video production company, http://www.zanmedia.com and produced "A State of Vine" http://www.astateofvine.com.