The Sonoma Coast is a ridiculously vast AVA that stretches from Mendocino almost as far south as Carneros (see map from Fort Ross winery below). A small group of wine producers with some of the most distinctive vineyards in some of the coolest conditions of the northern stretch succeeded earlier this year in gaining some geographical distinction which seems to have been under-reported, on this side of the Atlantic at least.
As a result of a petition begun by David Hirsch of the Hirsch winery as long ago as 2003, a handful of growers can now label their wines Sonoma...