At the same time, I see Napa as kind of the epitome of the type of touring that we at Zephyr Adventures don't do. Most people who visit Napa drive from winery to winery, never seeing much more than the front of a tasting bar or the occasional cave cellar tour.
Right next door, Sonoma County still offers that sense of adventure we are looking for, which is why my colleague Reno and I visited Sonoma County last week to revamp our existing California tour.
While famous, Sonoma County still is an enigma to many people. Some simply associate it with Napa while others think of it mostly as the City of Sonoma. It is much more than either Napa's neighbor or one city. Sonoma County is diverse, with sophisticated small cities and towns, twelve different wine growing regions, and scenery ranging from the Pacific Ocean to inland mountains to towering redwoods. It's a great place for an adventure wine tour.
It is also still not so famous that the people have lost their friendly attitude. At least most of the people. As we roamed around the county setting up our new tour, we did come across a few wineries where "gatekeepers" at the tasting rooms did their best to keep us away from the real decision makers. At one, the marketing manager sat on the other side of the wall as she said "tell them I work best by phone". We wanted to pull out our cell phones right there and call her from the other side of the partition!
We were much more successful when we came in contact with the "old guard", growers and vintners who have been in Sonoma County for years and know most of the other key wine players. And thanks to Larry LeVine of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, we had access to a number of these people.
Larry is a unique guy. He works for a county commission but thinks like a small business person. He was enthusiastic about his ideas and just as enthusiastic about ours. He loves wine, likes to walk through the vineyards, and is passionate about Sonoma County. Needless to say we got along great. Larry was a big help in setting up our new Sonoma Vineyard Walking Adventure.
In the past, we have run bike tours in Napa and Sonoma. However, we decided these just weren't special enough, nor did they give us the inside access we want on our Wine Adventures. So, we switched entirely to Sonoma and from biking to walking.
Vineyard Walks, which make up the bulk of our new tour, are pretty special. The walks not only afford us but require us to have intimate contact with the local wine industry, since vintners don't want us tromping through their fields without an escort.
That worked out great since some of Sonoma's major players were excited to hear we would be bringing people into Sonoma County's vineyards and not just into the tasting rooms.There is a difference. If you visit 10 tasting rooms on a two-day spree, you might remember which wines you like - if you keep good notes. However, you'll know little about the wineries and nothing about their grape growing techniques. Yet wine making is a 12-month job (it seems like a 14-month job as I listen to the workers) and drinking the wine is only the final step. On a Vineyard Walk, we learn about the workers, the seasons, the land, the wine making, and the grapes themselves.
For me personally, I don't have a memory for whether the 2003 Cabernet is better than the 2001 or whether X winery had a 90-point Zinfandel or an 87-point Shiraz. What I remember is the cool ridge trail we took with Don the winemaker, the eagle I saw circling above the fields, and the incredible sunset over the yellow-colored leaves that capped a gorgeous fall day. And it is those memories that make my Sonoma wines all the more delicious.
Note: Credit for the first photo goes to Sonoma County Tourism Board, www.sonomacountry.com.
