Exploring Sonoma’s Moon Mountain District

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Nestled in the Mayacamas Mountains just east of the town of Sonoma, the Moon Mountain District is one of the most exciting emerging appellations in California. These hillside vineyards offer an intriguing mix of the old and the new, a melting pot of historic vineyards, established players and a generation of younger winemakers who are bringing their energy and enthusiasm to these sites.

I have long been fascinated by the wines from this stretch of land. The first Moon Mountain wine I remember tasting was a Cabernet Sauvignon from Ed Sbragia about 15 years ago. It was so distinctive and so incredibly different from the Napa Valley Cabernets I tasted on that trip. Sbragia spoke about a vineyard called Monte Rosso that was on the other side of Mt. Veeder. I had a vague notion of where that was but not a clear idea. That was my first real introduction to Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon. I was immediately hooked.

Later, I had the opportunity to taste many Martini wines from the 1950s and 1960s that told the story of a remarkable place. First planted in 1882, Monte Rosso is one of the most iconic vineyards in the United States. Nearby Moon Mountain Vineyard, established around the same time, is another example of the rich legacy that lies within these rugged hills. Eventually that interest led to a map of the AVA that we created with Alessandro Masnaghetti as part of a full set of Sonoma Valley maps we published in 2021. Portions of this text are taken from that map.

Covering Moon Mountain presents some logistical challenges. This article covers estates that are physically in Moon Mountain. Many other estates in Napa and Sonoma source fruit from sites in the appellation. Additionally, many producers use the broader Sonoma Valley and/or Sonoma County AVAs for wines made from Moon Mountain fruit. This makes it difficult for consumers, sommeliers and the wine trade to understand the true breadth of Moon Mountain wines and could also be perceived by the market as a lack of confidence in the AVA. Examples include some pretty big names, such as Bedrock, Kistler, Turley and, most surprisingly of all, Louis M. Martini, part of the Gallo family’s holdings that also include Monte Rosso.

That’s a shame, because the whole idea of site-driven wines is specificity. Sonoma Valley is a vast AVA that also includes Bennett Valley, Sonoma Mountain, the Central Corridor and a part of Carneros, none of which have anything in common with Moon Mountain, with the sole exception of sites along Highway 12 that form the Central Corridor. The parallel would be making a wine from Vosne-Romanée fruit and opting to label that wine Côte de Nuits or even Côte-d’Or. In my view, this is a missed opportunity to elevate the visibility of one of California’s great terroirs.