Food & Wine

AVA Wines of Sonoma County: Sonoma Coast Wine Region

Many of Sonoma County's celebrated cool-climate wines are grown in the breathtaking Sonoma Coast wine region

The Sonoma Coast American Viticulture Area (known as an AVA or appellation) may be Sonoma County’s most enigmatic wine region. From the wild, wind-swept northern coast to the gently rolling hills of the southern dairy land, it spans the county.

The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau officially designates AVAs, each with unique characteristics, to help winemakers clearly describe the origin of their wines and make it easier for consumers to identify the AVA wine they buy. Sonoma Coast AVA status was awarded in 1987.

Much of Sonoma County’s most celebrated Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are grown here, yet few wines are made in the Sonoma Coast AVA, and several of its most distinctive sub-regions are not officially recognized AVAs.

But there’s little mystery about this: Some of California’s highest-scoring and most coveted cool-climate style wines are grown in the Sonoma Coast AVA. It includes about 2,000 vineyard acres and fewer than 10 wineries (not counting wineries that belong to overlapping appellations such as the Russian River Valley).

Top Grapes

Merlot Winegrapes ready to be picked in the Munselle Vineyard in Sonoma County — Merlot grapes in Jordan Vineyard & Winery’s Munselle Vineyard

Burgundian varietals Pinot Noir and Chardonnay star in this cool-climate appellation. Syrah is an exciting runner-up. Varietals grown within the crossover appellations are rarely labeled as Sonoma Coast.

The Lay of the Land

With apologies to the Dungeness crab for which the local fishing region is famed, the Sonoma Coast AVA is shaped somewhat like a lobster, tilted at 45 degrees, and headed northwest. This lobster’s ‘head’ and ‘tail’ overlap the Russian River Valley and Carneros appellations, respectively. It’s the body and claw that make the meat of the Sonoma Coast AVA.

A vineyard in the Sonoma Coast AVA gets blanketed by fog in Sonoma County — Cline Family Cellars’ vineyard in the Sonoma Coast AVA

Direct, daily influence from the Pacific Ocean defines the appellation. In the northern reach, vineyards are planted high on ridges just a few miles inland. Many lie above the fog that moves into blanket lower elevations in the afternoon.

The heart of the AVA includes the Freestone area, a sheltered, pastoral valley where hillside vineyards bask in the sun when it breaks through the fog. In the south, vines in adobe soils grow to the edge of salt marshes bordering San Pablo Bay. And within the Sonoma Coast AVA lies the wind- and fog-influenced Petaluma Gap area, named after a coastal mountain opening that allows winds from the Pacific to breeze through the town of Petaluma and then roar south to San Pablo Bay. Wineries here are represented by the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance, and the Petaluma Gap got its own AVA designation in December 2017.

The West Sonoma Coast Vintners Association represents more than two dozen wineries and growers who are passionate about farming along the mountainous coastline of western Sonoma County. Arguing that they create wines that evoke the complexity of the region — wines expressive of their unique community — they are working to establish an official West Sonoma Coast AVA destination.

Notable Wineries

Keller Estate Winery

Keller Estate Winery (see photo) offers expansive views of the Petaluma Gap area — the gateway to Sonoma County wines. Keller produces elegant and expressive wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes grown on their property; they are known as an estate “from vine to bottle.”

Cline Family Cellars

Sonoma Valley’s Cline Family Cellars is located in the Sonoma Coast AVA. As one of the original Rhone Rangers, owner Fred Cline began planting varietals that included a number of vineyards dedicated to Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne. Since those first plantings, Fred and his wife Nancy have continued to plant vineyards throughout Sonoma County, expanding to include more classic varieties like Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Chardonnay.

Martinelli Winery & Vineyard

Martinelli has important vineyards on the Sonoma Coast and is open for tasting daily. Their unique tasting room and gift shop are situated in a historic turn-of-the-century hop barn. Specializing in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Zinfandel, you can taste their estate-grown and produced wines in the scenic Russian River Valley.

Hirsch Vineyard

While Hirsch Vineyards is located on the coast, its tasting room is in Healdsburg. Hirsch Vineyards is one of the oldest and finest vineyards on the West Sonoma Coast. Planted by David Hirsch in 1980, it produces Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays of elegance, complexity, and site-specificity.

Backroad Bodegas

Bee hives sit next to the vineyard at Littorai Wines, Sonoma County — Littorai Wines in Sebastopol, California

Annapolis Winery

Family-owned since 1978, Annapolis Winery bottles a rarity: Sonoma Coast Cabernet Sauvignon. Annapolis produces small amounts of locally grown, hand-crafted, ultra-premium wines. Nestled on a sunny hilltop and surrounded by redwood forests, the views at this small winery are as beautiful as they are breathtaking.

Enriquez Estate Winery

Enriquez Estate Wines in Forestville specializes in limited production of Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and Tempranillo. Offering private outdoor seated tastings, as well as an intimate and exclusive experience with an ATV ride and picnic lunch option, where you can learn about this estate’s history, winemaking techniques, and farming practices.

Littorai Wines

In Sebastopol, Littorai Wines offers a unique investigation (by appointment only) into biodynamic ‘wine farming.’ This boutique winery overlooks 30 stunning acres of rolling hills within the western region of the Sonoma Coast AVA, in what some would call the true north coast of California.

Restaurants and Lodging on the Sonoma Coast

An aerial view of the dramatic Timber Cove Resort perched along the coast in Sonoma County — Timber Cove Resort, Timber Cove

Where to Eat

Take in views of the dramatic coastline at Timber Cove Resort, Jenner Inn, River’s End Restaurant & Inn, and the Inn at the Tides, and the Bodega Bay Lodge. At the same time, Petaluma’s Sheraton Sonoma Wine Country and Santa Rosa’s Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country are centrally located.

Where to Stay

While in the charming town of Bodega Bay, you can enjoy a coastal view at the Tides Wharf Restaurant. ‘Surf’ local wines at wine shop Gourmet au Bay near the harbor or you can also dine family-style at Volpi’s Ristorante & Bar in Petaluma. If you are looking for a quaint one-stop-shop, look no further than local favorite Rocker Oysterfeller’s which offers fresh southern-inspired cuisine in the classic Valley Ford Hotel in the small town of Valley Ford.

Written by Sonoma Insider James Knight.