Sonoma County Pinot Noir: A Deep Dive into a Classic California Varietal

Of more than 62,000 acres of wine grapes planted in Sonoma County, about 13,000 (over 21%) is Pinot Noir. Only Chardonnay accounts for more planted acres here, and only just (about 15,000). 

And Pinot Noir isn’t just common here in Sonoma. It’s really, really good. While we can’t expect any region with climate and terroir as varied as Sonoma to have just one standout varietal, Pinot Noir is the signature product of three cool-climate Sonoma AVAs and many local growers’ stock-in-trade. It’s certainly an important part of what we do at Roche Winery, though we’re proud to produce excellent Chardonnays, Merlots, and Zinfandels, too.

Sonoma’s Pinot Noir producers owe a debt of gratitude to Joe Richioli and Joseph Swan, two pioneering winemakers whose love for Pinot Noir led to a risky and consequential move. They converted significant portions of their cash-cow Chardonnay acreage to Pinot, betting on clones that thrived in the similarly cool, foggy microclimates of Burgundy. 

Richioli and Swan’s bet paid off beyond all expectations, producing exceptionally bright, nuanced wines that surpassed their French equivalents in blind taste tests. In the 1980s and 1990s, a new generation of winemakers — our founders Joseph and Genevieve Roche among them — planted thousands of new Pinot Noir acres, solidifying Sonoma’s reputation for the varietal.

Climate and Weather Factors: Mild Nights and Foggy Breezes

With all due respect to Richioli and Swan, Sonoma was probably always going to host a thriving Pinot Noir industry. Had they decided to stick with Chardonnay, someone else would have made the same bet sooner or later.

Why? Because, as those two pioneers understood, the cooler, wetter parts of Sonoma are just about perfect for Pinot Noir. Pinot grows well in cool microclimates (but not too cool) and absolutely thrives where frequent marine or river mists moderate overnight temperatures later in the growing season. This adds “hang time” (a cute way of saying “extends the growing season”) and produces the bright, acidic, wonderfully complex Pinot flavors Sonoma is known for. Cool breezes also take the edge off summer’s daytime heat without dimming the bright sun that powers the grapes’ growth.

Principal Pinot Noir AVAs in Sonoma County

Due to these historical and climatic factors, Pinot Noir flourishes in three Sonoma County AVAs: Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, and our own Carneros.

Carneros AVA

Straddling the lower Sonoma and Napa Valleys north of the San Pablo Bay estuary, the Carneros AVA (sometimes referred to as “Los Carneros”) is Roche Winery’s beloved home — and Sonoma’s third Pinot Noir growing region of note.

Like the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley, Carneros is a cool-climate AVA with heavy maritime influence. Unlike its Pinot-growing cousins, Carneros is influenced less by the Pacific Ocean itself — whose cold, foggy breezes can’t quite lift over the Sonoma Coast crest — than by the nearly-as-chilly waters of San Pablo Bay. 

In a bit of climatic topsy-turvyness, Carneros is cooled by southerly breezes coming off the water. It’s warmed by northerly breezes rushing down the Mayacamas slope, or northwesterly breezes coming down the main trunk of Sonoma Valley. Fortunately for the area’s Pinot vineyards, including our own, those southerly breezes tend to kick in when the weather in the interior grows warm. This keeps the heat-sensitive, cold-tolerant Pinot vines in their comfort zone even as warmth-loving varietals farther north — Zinfandels and Cabernet Sauvignon especially — bathe in dry heat.

Sonoma Coast AVA

It’s no surprise that Pinot Noir thrives in the coolest and wettest of Sonoma’s 18 AVAs. The vines are especially fond of what’s known locally as the “true” Sonoma Coast and more officially as the West Sonoma Coast AVA, a narrow stretch of rugged Pacific Coast between Cazadero and Fort Ross that’s particularly prone to drizzle and fog. 

Even three or four miles from the coast, the climate is markedly drier and less Pinot-friendly, though locally higher elevation somewhat counteracts the drier interior’s influence. Pinots from the “true” Sonoma Coast are complex and playful, with notes of savory protein and warm spices.

Russian River Valley AVA

This sprawling AVA extends down the meandering Russian River from Healdsburg in the north to Sebastopol in the south. It covers a significant portion of the Sonoma Valley floor on either side of Santa Rosa, extending several miles from the river itself.

What knits the Russian River Valley AVA’s distinct growing “neighborhoods” together is persistent fog and mist drawn up the river valley from the Pacific Ocean. When the fog reaches the main Sonoma Valley, it spills east and south into the broad lowlands, bathing tens of thousands of acres of planted vineyards. 

Due to its broad extent, general fertility of its valley-floor soils, and excellent growing conditions for Pinot Noir, the Russian River AVA alone accounts for about 20% of all Pinot produced in California. Pinots grown here are often fruity and intense.