Sonoma Coast labeling??

WINE TALK
1

I am sure there are standards but I was wondering about Russian river wines being labeled Sonoma coast. Is there a percentage rule?

I have found one that i really like, that upon further research, turns out to be partially RRV fruit.

Benovia sonoma coast '09- fruit comes from the following sites.

Dutton Manzana- in the green valley area.

Martaella- laguna de santa rosa area (rrv)

Martinelli- i can only assume one of two martinelli sites they source from, both in the rrv.

Peterson- this is in the Petaluma gap, and is obviously where the Sonoma coast moniker comes from.

Now i will say i really love this wine. And i don’t really have issue with its composition. But I do feel like unless this wine is 80% Peterson, the distinction on the label is kinda misleading. I would probably be inclined against taking this to a Sonoma coast themed tasting because of this.

Anyone know the rules and policies regarding this matter? Thanks s [cheers.gif]

2

RRV and Green Valley are AVA’s within the Sonoma Coast. Currently, even a wine that is 100% RRV fruit can be labeled Sonoma Coast. It’s not a great system.

Hope that helps.

Jason

3

Yep, true. Wiki knows everything and it says this:

Sonoma Coast AVA (wine region)
Part of California, North Coast AVA, Sonoma County
Sub-regions Chalk Hill AVA, Green Valley of Russian River Valley AVA, Los Carneros AVA, Northern Sonoma AVA, Russian River Valley AVA, Sonoma Valley AVA

4

Here is the weird part, and maybe someone can clarify…I was surprised to see Carneros as part of the Sonoma Coast AVA, so I turned to Wiki once again…because Wiki knows everything, of course. How does Carneros belong to so many AVA’s? Is it that just a piece is in Napa, and a piece is in Sonoma Coast, etc… or is it more like a club and you can just join the AVA’s you want to be associated with?

Part of California, Napa County, Napa Valley AVA, North Coast AVA, Sonoma Coast AVA, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley AVA

5

Thanks Jason,
It does indeed help understand the breadth of the problem here. Screaming for better system of dividing this up. With respect to the above wine, ( Benovia S. coast) I believe that the majority of the fruit is from the windgap. Tasting the wine in context, with there other purely russian river offerings, it is markedly different, more “coastal” wine. I imagine that in the realm of larger production brands, this is more of an issue.

6

I think that is why there is an effort to come up with a “True Sonoma Coast” ava.

7

The cynical answer is that large, rich wineries can lobby to get their vineyards added to an AVA by having the AVA expanded. I see this as a bigger problem for the RRV than Carneros. At least in Carneros you can see pretty clearly the geological feature that defines the AVA (the low, flat plain expanding northward out of the San Pablo Bay) but I guess this is also SC because of coastal influences brought by the bay?

The Sonoma Coast designation is clearly meaningless and this can be easily seen as people refer to the “True Coast” and the “Wind Gap” to actually give some meaning to the distinction. The AVA system is lagging. There are movements afoot to break up the SC AVA but in today’s world where “cool climate” is a hot buzzword you can bet there are some large wineries who don’t want to lose that designation. The answer for the wine lover is, it’s meaningless, so unless you can drill down for some more specific information, ignore it. …and if you love a wine, who cares?

8

I believe the term “true” has been abandoned, and the term “west sonoma coast” has been adopted. There is a west sonoma coast vinters group pushing this, proposing the sub-ava be further subdivided into Green valley, freestone, occidental, fort ross- seaview, sebastopol hills, and annapolis. I feel like this, as well as a windgap distinction would really help. Now of course there the issue of where to draw the actual lines, and some sites make this tough, so i imagine there ismuch deliberation ahead.

9

West Sonoma Coast Vintners Association: http://www.westsonomacoast.com/

10

Even that has a few out of place wineries. Looking at the map, I wouldn’t have included Failla, Sojurn, Whetstone, or Patz and Hall. All good wineries, but they don’t seem to fit the geographical plausibility check. Of course, Patz and Hall’s address appears to be an office or HQ, so not sure if that is representative or not.

[scratch.gif]

11

It’s all about where the grapes are grown, not where the winery is located.

Failla: The winery is in Napa, but few of their grapes come from Napa. Failla’s Estate Vineyard (Pinot Noir) is in the same area as Flowers, Hirsch, Marcassin, and Peter Michael. Failla also bottles Pinot Noir from Hirsch Vyd.

Whetstone: Also located in Napa, but makes Pinot Noir from three “true” Sonoma Coast vineyards (Hirsch, Bella Vigna, and Guidici Family).

Sojourn: The winery is in the town of Sonoma, but makes Pinot Noir from three “true” Sonoma Coast vineyards (Ridgetop, Gap’s Crown, Rogers Creek).

Patz & Hall: The winery is in the town of Sonoma, but makes Pinot Noir from three “true” Sonoma Coast vineyards (Burnside, Jenkins Ranch, Gap’s Crown).

12

Winery is in Santa Rosa (Vinify), tasting salon in Sonoma.
Sangiacomo Vineyard is in Carneros on Broadway in Sonoma.

13



Aha. The Sonoma address is the only one I found on the Soujourn website.

My mistake, correction made.
They apparently label their Sangiacomo PN “Sonoma Coast,” which, while technically correct, doesn’t seem to comport with membership in the West Sonoma Coast Vintners Association.

14

Excellent points…just looked strange on the map.

15

I’m pretty sure that there is a Sangiacomo vineyard in the ‘true’ sonoma coast in addition to the one in Carneros.
Hopefully some one who truely knows will come along and straighten this out.

16

The first hit I got from a web search was this from Greg LaFollette’s site.

That’s not Carneros, but I guess it is not West Sonoma Coast either.

17

It there were a Petaluma Gap AVA, that would be it.

http://www.petalumagap.com/map.html

18

Only by some mon amis…:

19

Grand True?

20

damn- I totally missed that opportunity.