The history of winegrowing in Sonoma County goes back more than 200 years, with grapes planted in the region as early as 1812. By the 1920s, driven by European immigrants who brought their viticultural traditions with them, there were more than 250 wineries in Sonoma County. While that number dropped to less than 50 wineries by the end of Prohibition, the region had already established itself as a New World mecca for wine.
In the decades that followed, different parts of Sonoma County earned acclaim for specific grape varietals, and efforts emerged to define different regions within Sonoma County. Building on the region’s reputation for excellence, the Sonoma Coast earned official status as an American Viticulture Area (also known as an AVA or appellation) in 1987. The Sonoma Coast AVA is one of California’s most diverse wine regions. Much like the Napa Valley AVA, which includes 16 sub-AVAs, the Sonoma Coast encompasses nine unique sub-AVAs: Chalk Hill, Fort Ross-Seaview, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Los Carneros, Northern Sonoma, Sonoma Valley, the Russian River Valley, which is home to our Estate House and our Thale’s Vineyard, and the Petaluma Gap, where we established our Nightwing Estate Vineyard.
Spanning almost half a million acres of land, the Sonoma Coast extends from the border of Mendocino County in the north to San Pablo Bay in the south, and from the windswept Pacific Coast to the rolling hills of Sonoma County’s southeastern dairy lands. While the AVA offers an abundance of microclimates, geology, and soil types, in general, the best Sonoma Coast wines benefit from wind and fog off the Pacific, and the fact that the region consistently receives almost twice the annual rainfall of AVAs that are further inland. These factors generally ensure a long, temperate growing season, which allows for slow, even ripening and acid retention, both of which contribute to the extraordinary quality of our Sonoma Coast wines.
Today, many of North America’s highest-scoring and most celebrated Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays are grown on the Sonoma Coast, with Sonoma County being named the “Wine Region of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast in 2019, and wines from the Sonoma Coast are consistently featured on Wine Spectator’s annual list of the “World’s Top 100 Wines,” including the “2011 Wine of the Year.” The acclaim of the Sonoma Coast AVA has only grown over the past two decades during the Pinot Noir boom that has reshaped the map of California winegrowing. During this time, many wineries like MacRostie that focus on cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as well as winegrowers, have headed ever further west and north to plant new vineyards using the best modern plant material and state-of-the-art viticultural techniques.
Because of its large size and diversity, the Sonoma Coast can produce wines in a range of styles. For Chardonnays from the coolest regions like Green Valley, this can mean sleek, acid-driven wines with zesty citrus flavors and sophisticated minerality. In warmer vineyards, the flavor spectrum can change from citrus to stone fruit to tropical. Pinot Noir can follow a similar spectrum of ripeness from tart red berry and forest floor flavors to more opulent blue and black fruit flavors at warmer sites.
At our Sonoma Winery, Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen embraces the diversity of the Sonoma Coast vineyards we partner with to create vibrant, beautifully balanced wines with profound aromas and complex, layered flavors. This is certainly true for our 2022 MacRostie Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, which recently earned 93 points from both Wine Enthusiast and The Tasting Panel. Blended using grapes from theSangiacomo and Ricci vineyards in Carneros, and sites farmed by the Dutton and Martinelli families in the Russian River Valley, it combines notes of lemon and stone fruit from Carneros with the acid-driven tension, green apple, and tropical fruit of the Russian River Valley. For the 2022 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Heidi focused on her favorite sub-AVAs for Pinot, notably the Russian River Valley, Carneros, and the Petaluma Gap. From the earth and spice notes of Carneros to the lush fruit of the Russian River Valley to the power and complexity of the Petaluma Gap, each vineyard and region brings something distinctive and compelling to the final wine.
We also explore many single-vineyard expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast at sites like Walala Vineyard and Wildcat Mountain, as well as from acclaimed sub-AVAs like the Russian River Valley (Kent Ritchie Vineyard, Thale’s, Mirabelle, Klopp Ranch), the Petaluma Gap (Nightwing Vineyard, Gap’s Crown) and Los Carneros (Sangiacomo Vineyard).
While the Sonoma Coast is globally renowned for its wines, it has also earned acclaim as one of the world’s premier destinations for wine tourism and relaxed, down-to-earth hospitality. Sonoma Coast wine country has become a must-visit destination by combining world-class wines, Michelin-starred restaurants, and beautiful hotels with a warm, unpretentious attitude. It is also home to numerous tasting rooms and not-to-be-missed annual wine events like Winter Wineland (January), Taste of Sonoma (June), the Sonoma County Wine Auction (September), and Pinot on the River and Healdsburg Crush (October).
Whatever your taste is in wine, food, and outdoor fun, the Sonoma Coast has it all!
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