Mendocino County: Something For Every Wine Lover

Sandy beaches cradle the vast Pacific Ocean on the Mendocino coastline; towering redwoods carpet the forests of Mendocino County’s state parks; in the winter, whales can be seen peeking up from the vast ocean waters, and everywhere you turn there’s a charming little town filled with cafés and curio shops. For visitors to Mendocino County, there’s no shortage of adventures to be had. With all of the activities Mendocino has to offer, it’s easy to forget that it’s also a thriving wine region. But if you skipped out on wine tasting while visiting the area, you’d be missing some of California’s finest and most diverse wines.

Mendocino County doesn’t always get the recognition that it’s southern sisters, Napa and Sonoma do, and maybe that’s because the winemakers are less concerned with making over-the-top wines that wow the public with high point scores, and are more concerned with the subtle nuances of different grape varieties and the connection between the earth and the bottle. Mendocino County has more organic vineyards than any other county in California, and the many of the winemakers see themselves as humble farmers rather than flashy business execs. But just because Mendocino County lacks the showiness of some of the more well-known wine regions of California doesn’t mean that it is a novice in the wine industry. Wine grapes have been growing there since the California gold rush era. Though prohibition stifled wine production in Mendocino County, a rebirth erupted in the late 1960’s with pioneer wineries like Parducci and Fetzer paving the way of success for others to follow.

Mendocino County encompasses the wide stretch of land just north of Sonoma County all the way up the California coastline to the tiny beach town of Fort Bragg. Included within the region’s recognized AVAs are Mendocino, Anderson Valley, McDowell Valley, Potter Valley, Cole Ranch, Redwood Valley, and Mendocino Ridge. With such a vast expanse of land under vine, and with each region possessing its own unique climate, it’s no wonder that the wines from Mendocino County run the gamut of grape varieties and styles, from the lean racy Rieslings of Anderson Valley to the bold, spicy Zinfandels of Redwood Valley.