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

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.

If you take a moment to ponder who deserves the title as Father of Californian wine, a few names may pop into mind. Limiting our scope to recent generations, Robert Mondavi might be the most obvious choice, as he helped to transition Napa Valley from its post-prohibition bulk wine doldrums to its rightful place among the greats of the modern wine producing regions.

California Pinot Noir 2009 90 D/H 2008 91 D/H 2007 93 D/H 2006 88 D/H 2005 90 D/H 2004 89 D/H 2003 90 D 2002 92 D 2001 91 D 2000 85 D 1999 90 D 1998 85 D 1997 91 D 1996 88 D 1995 86 D 1994 88 D 1993 83 D 1992 84 D 1991 83 D 1990 78 D Vintage Charts should be used for a generalized guide in lieu of...

Bottle Shock On May 24, 1976, Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant hoping to stoke sales at his French-wine-only shop, held a wine competition in Paris. In this competition French judges were invited to blind-taste top chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons from France and California. In an event that would later be dubbed the Judgment of Paris , the California wines –included merely to serve as the “sacrificial lambs” to the supposedly superior French wines- won the competition in a shocking upset. This singular event revolutionized the wine industry and put California on the map as a major world producer of fine wine. This story comes to life on the silver screen for the first time with the film Bottle Shock , starring Bill Pullman, Alan Richman, and Dennis Farina among other notables. I recently chatted with Bottle Shock Co-Writer and Producer Jody Savin about the film. Why this film now? To answer this question in a socio-political sense, I would venture to say that we live in challenging times.

Merry Edwards Sorting Grapes There is nothing I enjoy more in my role here at IntoWine than when I get to interview wine industry pros. "Peeking under the hood" and hearing what an accomplished winemaker has to say about their passion is simply fascinating. Recently I had the great fortune of chatting with Sonoma winemaker Merry Edwards about her career, her winemaking philosophy, and Merry Edwards Wines , her eponymous wine label and life-long dream. A pioneer for women in the winemaking industry, Merry Edwards is a renowned viticulturist and winemaker. Her work over the past 30 years has garnered her numerous awards and accolades including being named the "2004 Winemaker of the Year" by the San Francisco Chronicle .