Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | MAY 17, 2019

Readers will find a breathtaking array of wines from Sonoma, Anderson Valley and beyond in this report. The 2017s have turned out to be a big surprise given the challenges of a growing season punctuated by three significant heat events. Pinot Noirs and Syrahs are the most consistent varieties, but there are peaks of brilliance in Zinfandel-based reds and Chardonnay as well. As always, the sheer diversity of Sonoma County and its neighboring appellations is truly remarkable.

Old-vine Zinfandel at Monte Rosso, one of Sonoma Valley’s most historic sites

The 2017 Growing Season and Wines

It is always hard to distill a vintage in Sonoma into a few paragraphs given the vastness of the region and the diversity of sites, microclimates and varieties that make up Sonoma’s complex viticultural mosaic. Generally, 2017 is a very strong vintage for Pinot Noir, much of which came off before the Labor Day heat spike. The 2017 Pinots have an extra kick of richness, but the best wines retain a good bit of both freshness and structure. Syrah is another bright spot in 2017. The combination of cooler sites and heat at the end of the growing season yielded a host of exceptionally vivid, memorable wines in Sonoma's later-ripening vineyards. Zinfandel is a bit more complicated owing to the diversity of both sites and the varietal composition of what are in most cases Zinfandel-based field blends. Some vineyards were affected by the late June heat event, which occurred during berry sizing and resulted in smaller berries and lower yields. Chardonnay is uneven. Some wines are positively brilliant, while others appear more marked by heat. The October fires that were so dramatic in Napa Valley exacted a significant human toll on several communities in Sonoma, but the effects on the wines turned out to be pretty minimal, with some exceptions, one of them being the total loss of Joe Donelan’s Obsidian Vineyard in Knights Valley, which burned to the ground.

Tasting through the entire range of 2017s from barrel and 2016s from bottle, plus a few library wines, at Littorai