Sonoma Environment

Wine is dynamic.

Euphemisms include elixir of the gods, social lubricant, poetry in a bottle, and (penned by Ernest Hemingway) the most civilized thing in the world. Less romantic monikers describe it as glogg, plonk, Jesus juice, and porch-pounder.

Wine is rife with evocative metaphor. It can be dry, flabby, cloying, chewy, racy, or a fruit bomb. It can have great legs, impressive structure, a round mouthfeel, even a clean finish. Its aroma can suggest bright red berries,…

The wine industry has long been at the forefront of sustainable farming. Long before organic became a buzzword, eco-friendly California winemakers in highly respected regions like Sonoma County became ambassadors for climate protection through stakeholder engagement. The rise of the sustainable winery, carbon accounting, and climate-neutral viticulture are their responses to the decades of depletion and contamination that pesticides and commercial fertilizers have caused. 

Table of Contents

Sustainable Wineries
Sustainable Viticulture
What is Sustainable Wine? …

Natural wine and organic wines are rising in popularity.

Despite the wide-ranging and heated discussions around natural and organic wine, ultimately, the difference, here in the US, is quite simple.

Organic wine is certified by the FDA. Natural wine is not. 

This is just fine for many passionate, anti-authoritarian, and raucous natural wine community members who suspect the futility of effective government regulation. The initial cost of organic certification (around $6,000), the price of annual inspections required to maintain certification,…

“The odds are against every farmer. All the time,” says Samantha Dorsey, president of McEvoy Ranch on the Point Reyes Petaluma Highway. And finding a way to overcome those odds in the age of climate change and create a top-tier, artisanal product has become increasingly challenging. 

Over the last three years, two of the top ten costliest fires in the US – The Glass Fire and CZU Lightning Complex Fire were in Northern California,…

Petaluma Gap AVA wines are said to have a bit more balance and refinement because the wind hardens and thickens the grape skins producing more tannins, which render the feeling of texture in your mouth. The microclimate produces wine with a combination of freshness, refinement and elegance with more intensity from the tannins. 

But like the rest of the Bay Area, the Petaluma Gap climate is changing. At the Golden Gate Bridge, sea level rose 9 inches between 1854 and 2016 as a result of melting land ice and the thermal expansion of ocean water.…