Sonoma is also generally known as a more laid-back place to taste wine than its neighbor the Napa Valley. Although there are certainly Sonoma wineries that put on the razzle dazzle -- Francis Ford Coppola's winery in Geyserville, for example -- overall there tends to be less hoopla in Sonoma.
AVAs in Sonoma County, largest to smallest
- Russian River Valley, known for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. 70 wineries.
- Sonoma Valley, known for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot. 55 wineries.
- Dry Creek Valley, known for Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. 50 wineries.
- Alexander Valley, known for Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay. 42 wineries
- Carneros , known for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and increasingly Syrah. 22 wineries.
- Green Valley known for Pinot Noir (and its fog). 10 wineries.
- Sonoma Coast, known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Seven wineries.
- Bennett Valley , known for Merlot. Four wineries.
- Chalk Hill,known for Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Four wineries.
- Sonoma Mountain , known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Three wineries.
- Knights Valley, known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Two wineries.
- Rockpile , known for Zinfandel and Petit Syrah. No wineries.
- AVAs in Sonoma County, A-Z.
Plan Your Sonoma Wine Visit
Sonoma County Vintners, an organization that promotes the area’s wine, maintains a very helpful website for visitors. In addition to allowing visitors to sort wineries by AVA, there are a number of suggested wine tasting routes – by varietal, as well as by experience, for instance, one route includes dog-friendly wineries, another wineries to visit by bicycle.
The Sonoma County Visitor’s Bureau also maintains a listing of wineries, which you can sort by “experiences”, for instance, whether the winery charges a tasting fee, the availability of picnic facilities, lodging and guesthouses and so on.
- Sonoma County Wine Maps
- Wine Road, an alliance of some 200 wineries in Northern Sonoma, maintains a beautifully designed and useful set of maps on its website.
- Healdsburg and Healdsburg-area wineries.
- Guerneville lodging and restaurants.
- Wineries by region
- Suggested tasting routes
- Sonoma County Wine Events
Note that that Sonoma county’s wine growers have organized themselves by valley, and the major wine production areas each have their own websites with traveler’s resources, with varying degrees of usefulness. See a list here.
