Sonoma County

• Alexander Valley
• Bennett Valley
• Best of Sonoma
• Dry Creek Valley
• Fort Ross/Seaview
• Moon Mountain
• Pine Mountain - Cloverdale Peak
• Russian River Valley
• Sonoma Coast
• Sonoma Mountain
• Sonoma Valley
• Knights Valley

IntoWine recently caught up with george wine company's winemaker and founder, George Levkoff to discuss wine making and his thoughts on current trends in the wine industry. What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career? I became a winemaker as a result of an epiphany I had at dinner in late 1994. The restaurant was Joe’s in Venice, CA, and the meal was tuna foie gras. My friend Mark brought along two bottles of pinot noir from Williams Selyem, Rochioli Vineyard 1991 & 1992. The meal which I had many times before, never tasted better, and I proclaimed that one day I would make wine like this in Healdsburg, a town I had never visited. Four years later I sold my house and quit my job, and moved to Healdsburg.

It's not often you get to witness the beginnings of greatness. In the wine world, most consumers don't discover the best small production wines until they are either priced out of reach or available at the end of a very long waiting list. Wine lovers: here is your chance. Greg La Follette, one of California's (and perhaps the world's) finest makers of pinot noir and chardonnay has launched his own label, the eponymous La Follette Wines , and for perhaps the first time in his career is able to focus purely on making great wine for his own label, without distraction. Buy now or forever hold your peace.

What happens when you cross the Carolinas with California? Calicaro wine, that's what. IntoWine recently caught up with Dave Ball, founder of Calicaro wine to discuss his nascent wine venture and his thoughts on winemaking.

California's Sonoma County has a near-perfect climate for growing cool-weather grapes. Fog banks that creep over the hillsides from the Pacific Ocean and relatively cloudy weather during key months (Californians call it "June Gloom") make many parts of Sonoma an ideal place to plant pinot noir and chardonnay.

Since grade school we’ve all heard the fatigued proverb, “It’s better to give than to receive.” Most of us wouldn’t argue with that, at least not publicly. Privately however, well, who doesn’t want free stuff? In truth, the wine industry is a magnanimous group, routinely called upon to provide free juice for charity auctions, public and private tastings, festivals and most anyplace where wine is poured and people want to imbibe at little or no cost. These three west coast wineries showcase the dedication of making wine, making changes, one bottle, and one person at a time.

Sonoma is the sister valley to California’s Napa Valley wine region and offers some amazing wine delights in its own right. Nestled just west of Napa Valley,...

Visit DanAykroydWines.com Whether you know him from Saturday Night Live , the Blues Brothers , Ghostbusters or the myriad films in which he has appeared, Dan Aykroyd’s DNA is found throughout the blueprint of pop culture. Now, three decades after exploding onto the scene as an SNL cast member, he has turned his attention to winemaking with the launch of Dan Aykroyd Wines . IntoWine recently caught up with Dan to learn more about his wine venture. What first got you into wine? I really got interested in wine when I started working on Saturday Night Live. Up to that point my level of sophistication was mostly drinking Mateus Rose to impress various young ladies on dates or back at their place, if I was lucky. However Steve Cropper the legendary blues musician who played in the Blues Brothers band and on the show took me under his wing and taught me a lot about wine. He was the one who introduced me to Grand Cru Bordeaux and Burgundy and the wonderful big reds of California. While he’s the one who got me started it was really my friend Issac Tigrett who was one of the founders of the House of Blues who gave me my graduate course in fine wine.