Originally Posted by
lhgreengrd1
Pretty sure you mean the Carneros region, not the Cisneros region. The Carneros region is the low-lying area that connects the southern part of the Napa valley with the Southern part of the Sonoma valley. Because it gets a lot of fog from the SF Bay, the main grapes are cool climate grapes such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and aside from those varietals, Sparkling wines made predominantly with those two grapes. I would agree, it's surprisingly less touristy than the main part of the Napa valley - surprising because it's the closest part of the wine country to San Francisco and Oakland.
I would also agree that, by and large, Sonoma offers a more diverse, less pricey and less snobby tasting experience than Napa. My favorite parts of Sonoma are the Dry Creek region for Zinfandels, the Russian River region for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and the Alexander Valley for Cabs, Merlots, Zinfandels and Rhone varietals.
I agree with all of this, and when I was typing Cisneros I knew it was wrong but couldn't remember Carneros, and we were there just two weeks ago! It's funny because it seems like people just drive on through Carneros on their way to the more famous Sonoma or Napa, but Carneros has a half dozen or so good wineries that are worth trying. We joined the club at Cline/Jacuzzi because we like their wines, and we also enjoy the fact that they offer many choices of the less common varietals (many are Italian).
I think we've been to almost every winery in the Dry Creek area-we like Zins. We like Mazzocco and Wilson the most but the variety of styles available in the area is fun to explore. In Alexander Valley we prefer reds from DeLormier, Soda Rock, and some others, but there are so many it could take a month or more of daily tastings to try them all.
I will say that while Russian River is known for Pinots and Chards, they are not our favorite varietals from the area. We prefer pinots and chards from other areas, like the Santa Lucia Highlands south of Salinas, Sonoma, and others. Hahn is one of our favorites in SLH. The fun of pinots and chards in California is the wide range of styles on offer, from Mendocino County, Sonoma, Napa, Carneros, Santa Lucia, Paso Robles, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Clara Valley, Livermore, etc... Each are unique and worth trying for yourself.