Wine Country is the region of California, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, known worldwide as a premier wine-growing region. The region is famed for its wineries, its cuisine, Michelin star restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury resorts, historic architecture, and culture. Viticulture and wine-making have been practiced in the region since the Spanish missionaries from Mission San Francisco Solano established the first vineyards in 1812.
E & J Gallo Winery is a winery and distributor headquartered in Modesto, California. It was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo of the Gallo family, and is the largest exporter of California wines. It is the largest wine producer in the world, producing over 3% of the world's entire annual supply of 35 billion bottles with an annual revenue of $5.3 billion it is also the largest family-owned winery in the United States.
The Alexander Valley is a Californian American Viticultural Area (AVA) just north of Healdsburg in Sonoma County. It is home to many wineries and vineyards, as well as the city of Cloverdale. It is the largest and most fully planted wine region in Sonoma. Highway 101 runs through the valley, and the Russian River flows down the valley, surrounded by vineyards on both sides. From the higher elevations of the valley rim, there is a view as far south as Taylor Mountain and Sonoma Mountain. The region was named for Cyrus Alexander, owner of a part of the Rancho Sotoyome Mexican land grant, in 1847. Granted AVA status in 1984, the boundaries of the appellation are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27, Section 9.53.
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state. California would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world if it were an independent nation.
Mayacamas Vineyards is a California wine producer located in the Mt. Veeder AVA in the Mayacamas Mountains within the Napa Valley AVA, bordering the Sonoma Valley AVA. The estate is known for producing wine of a more traditional style than the Napa trends of recent years that emphasizes power, weight, high levels of alcohol and extravagance.
Pernod Ricard Winemakers is the wholly owned wine subsidiary of French wine and spirits producer Pernod Ricard, which is one of the largest alcoholic beverage companies in the world. It arose from the Australian and New Zealand companies formerly known as Premium Wine Brands and Pernod Ricard Pacific, and was then extended to become Pernod Ricard's umbrella organisation for its wine operations in other countries. Amongst its large portfolio, its major wineries are Jacob's Creek from Australia, Campo Viejo from Spain, Kenwood Vineyards from the United States, and Brancott Estate from New Zealand.
Charles O'Rear is an American photographer. His image Bliss is the default desktop wallpaper of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system. O'Rear started his career with the daily newspapers Emporia Gazette, The Kansas City Star, and Los Angeles Times; worked for National Geographic magazine; and was part of the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA project. He began photographing winemaking in 1978.
The Duckhorn Portfolio Inc. is an American wine company producing varietal labelled and blended red, white, rosé, and sparkling wines from California and Washington State. The main winery, Duckhorn Vineyards, is outside St. Helena, California.
The Mendocino County wine is an appellation that designates wine made from grapes grown mostly in Mendocino County, California. The region is part of the larger North Coast AVA and one of California's largest and most climatically diverse wine growing regions. Mendocino County is one of the northernmost commercial wine grape regions in the state with two distinct climate zones separated by the Mendocino Range. Ten American Viticultural Areas have been designated within Mendocino County. Mendocino is one of the leading wine growing regions for organically produced wine grapes. Nearly 25% of the acreage in Mendocino County is grown organically. In 2004, the residents of the county voted to become the first GMO-free county in the United States in an initiative that was supported by many of the county's largest wineries. The county's widespread focus on organic viticulture has inspired journalists to describe it as "California's organic wine Mecca".
Sonoma County wine is wine made in Sonoma County, California, in the United States.
Los Carneros AVA is an American Viticultural Area which includes parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties in California, U.S.A. It is located north of San Pablo Bay. The proximity to the cool fog and breezes from the bay makes the climate in Los Carneros cooler and more moderate than the wine regions farther north in Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley. The cooler climate has made Los Carneros attractive for the cultivation of cooler climate varietals like Pinot noir and Chardonnay. Many of the grapes grown in Los Carneros are used for sparkling wine production. Receiving its AVA status in 1983, the Carneros area was the first wine region in California to be defined by its climate characteristics rather than political boundaries.
California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted Vitis vinifera vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. In the 1770s, Spanish missionaries continued the practice under the direction of the Father Junípero Serra who planted California's first vineyard at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Sean Haley Thackrey was an American winemaker based in the town of Bolinas in Marin County, California. Prior to winemaking, he was a director of an art gallery. Thackrey has been described as having been an unconventional winemaker who did pioneering work in promoting California Syrah.
Gary Farrell is a California winemaker, specializing in the production of Pinot noir and Chardonnay from Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley. Until 2013 he was producing his luxury line of wines under the Alysian (ah-liss-ee-uhn) brand, which he co-founded in 2007 with investment banker Bill Hambrecht and Denise Sanders.
Burgess Cellars is a historic California wine producer in Napa Valley on the hillsides of Howell Mountain. It was founded in 1972 by Tom Burgess on a hillside vineyard and winery, and has been continuously family owned and operated. It is run by the second generation of the Burgess family and includes 65 acres across its two estate vineyards, which are at elevations of 800 to 1,000 feet.
Justin Meyer was an American vintner, enologist, and monk of the Christian Brothers. He was the founder along with Raymond Twomey Duncan of Silver Oak Cellars in 1972, a successful winery based in the Napa Valley and Alexander Valley. Today Duncan's sons David Duncan and Tim Duncan run Silver Oak Cellars, as well as Twomey Cellars, established in 1999. Meyer sold his share of the company to Duncan in 2001. One of California's top wine experts, he was president of the American Vineyard Foundation in the 1990s and also held numerous other positions in the wine industry. The San Francisco Chronicle cites Meyer as "one of the legends of the Napa Valley".
Jean-Charles Boisset is a French vintner and the proprietor of the Boisset Collection, which operates 28 wineries in California, France, and Canada.
Sebastiani Vineyards is owned by Foley Wine Group of Los Olivos, California, which also owns Firestone Vineyards in Santa Barbara County, Merus in Napa, and Three Rivers Winery in Washington. Sebastiani produces 280,000 cases a year.
Jackson Family Wines is a wine company headquartered in Santa Rosa, California. At 6 million cases sold per year, it is the ninth-largest wine producer in the United States. Jackson Family Wines includes 40 brands, sourced from vineyards and wineries in California, Oregon, the Bordeaux region in France, Tuscany in Italy, Australia, Chile and South Africa. It controls 50,000 acres (20,000 ha) in the United States and is the largest owner of coastal vineyards in California and Oregon. The family-owned company is known for the brand Kendall-Jackson.
