Sonoma vintners trade group to map every Sonoma Valley vineyard

Hundreds of vineyards - some teeny, some massive - dot the Sonoma Valley landscape, and up until now there was no single source for locating them all. Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance is changing that and will debut at the third annual Signature Sonoma Valley next week, the first of four maps that will identify every single vineyard in the Valley.

“Being the birthplace of California wine, our region deserves a map like this to showcase all of our vineyards in one map, one place,” said Maureen Cottingham, executive director of Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance (SVVGA).

The splashy reveal will come at Signature Sonoma Valley’s opening event on May 16, the “Large Format Bottle Party” that will be held at Buena Vista Winery. The events run through the weekend ending on May 19.

“We’re going to project the full map onto the wall of the champagne cellars,” at Buena Vista, Cottingham said.

Throughout the entire Signature weekend the vineyard maps will be “intertwined” with each event, Cottingham said. Whatever is being tasted or discussed, the vineyard where the wine came from “will have a zoom-in and special vineyard map,” she said. For example at the “Immersion: Vineyard Exploration and Tasting” on Friday, May 17, guests will be tasting wines from the Monte Rosso Vineyard, where the event is being held, and where they will get to see a specific map of the Moon Mountain District AVA where it is located as well as a map of the vineyard itself.

The maps are being created by Vinous – author and renowned wine critic Antonio Galloni and cartographer Alessandro Masnaghetti -- the same team that created similar maps for the Napa Valley wine region.

“The Sonoma Valley Vinous Vineyard Maps will help cement our region’s reputation alongside other top-tier regions in the world that have a long history of providing detailed vineyard maps and information, such as Burgundy, Bordeaux, Barolo, and Napa Valley,” said Kenneth Juhasz, proprietor of Auteur Wines and president of SVVGA. “Our greatest hope with the development and publication of these maps is that wine enthusiasts and collectors, as well as key members of the trade and media will have a deeper connection to our vineyards and an appreciation for the caliber of wines coming out of Sonoma Valley.”

Masnaghetti, who lives in Italy, documented all the regions that Juhasz mentioned, and more. He and Galloni spent 10 days in Sonoma Valley traveling the region, meeting with vintners and growers, local historian Arthur Dawson, and walking vineyards, Cottingham said.

More than 400 vineyards, some as small as a quarter-acre, others up to 700 acres, have been submitted to SVVGA and Cottingham expects to have identified about 600 vineyards by the time the entire project is complete, which should be in about 18 months.

Working across the globe – Masnaghetti in Italy, Galloni in New York and the SVVGA team in Sonoma – they used a Google doc for keeping track of the data and Slack to communicate. Paul Brown, operations and events assistant at SVVGA, has been driving the entire valley literally knocking on doors and introducing himself and the project, Cottingham said, to further complete the project.

Each sub-AVA (American Viticulture Area) – Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Mountain, Los Carneros, Bennett Valley, and Moon Mountain District -- will have its own vineyard map with the first segment, Sonoma Valley corridor and Moon Mountain District, being released during Signature.

Forms were sent to all known vineyards asking for such information as how many acres are planted and to what varietals, year planted, and certifications (such as biodynamic, organic, sustainable, and historic vineyard society). They also asked for the vineyard management company, where the fruit is sold, if the vineyard is open to the public, and if the current owner has any historical information on the vineyard or property.

The Vinous Vineyard Maps – which are different than existing winery maps - will help bring attention to distinctive, well-known vineyards such as Durrell, Bedrock Sangiacomo, Gap’s Crown and others, Cottingham said.

“This project allows us to focus on these incredible heritage vineyards we have in Sonoma Valley, the vineyards that are really highlighted in the vineyard designate programs throughout Sonoma Valley. And it tells the story of Sonoma Valley as a wine region,” she said.

“We never had a tool like this before,” Cottingham said.

It will be a comprehensive look at what this region is made of with property boundaries on one side and on the back will be 3D images of vineyard sites and an “outline of what the region is, why it’s so special,” she said.

While the written portion of the region will not be able to tell the stories of each vineyard it will give an idea of what wines the AVA produces, “the geology, the climate, the micro climate, the soils, all of those things that are so interesting in viticulture,” Cottingham said.

Cottingham declined to reveal the cost of the project saying “It cost a pretty penny,” and explained that it is an “investment” for “an educational tool” they can use across all segments of the industry.

While traveling the country for SVVGA, Cottingham said consumers are always interested in looking at the maps of where the wineries are located and ask questions about vineyards, too.

“People just want to learn. This will take it to the next level,” she said. “Once you have the knowledge (you’re) able to understand the region and understand what you’re drinking and understand why it’s so good.”

One day it may be used to test would-be sommeliers knowledge of the region, too. A map with the vineyards identified, but not named could be set in front of the tester for them to complete, she said.

The AVA segmented maps will be poster size about 24 inches by 33 inches, and the full Sonoma Valley map will be much larger and framed like a piece of art.

Most of Signature Sonoma Valley events are sold out, but there still are tickets to some events available through the SVVGA website at sonomavalleywine.com/signature-sonoma-valley.