Sonoma Valley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sonoma Valley is the birthplace of the California wine industry. Sonoma Valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards and wineries in the state, some of which survived the phylloxera epidemic of the 1870s and the impact of Prohibition. Its wineries are generally well prepared for receiving tourists. Today, this small valley's wines are protected by the US federal government's Sonoma Valley and Carneros appellations (or American Viticultural Areas).
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[edit] History
Once a valley of the coastal Miwok, Pomo and Wintun peoples, called the Valley of the Moon in their legends, the valley was selected by the Franciscan order of Spain as the site to build the Mission San Francisco Solano, the northernmost mission in their chain of twenty-one missions built in Alta California. Established in 1823 and named to honor St. Francisco Solano, Mission Solano was the sole California mission established under the rule of a newly-independent Mexico. Within two generations of the Spaniards' arrival, however, the indigenous societies of the region were dispossessed of their land and decimated by diseases to which Europeans were resistant. Soon after the Sonoma mission was built, it was secularized by the Mexican government, and, under the orders of Lieutenant, later General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, el Pueblo de Sonoma (the town of Sonoma) was laid out in the standard form of a Mexican town, centered around the historic plaza, which is still the town's focal point. The raising of the first California Bear Flag and Vallejo's arrest in 1846 by a band of Americans claiming to act on the orders of Col. John C. Fremont was the initial act that founded the Bear Flag Republic. Vallejo later transferred his allegiance with US statehood (1850), and with his amassed land holdings guided the development of the town and dispensed large ranches throughout the valley.
The other communities in the valley, such as Kenwood, Glen Ellen and Boyes Hot Springs, were founded later in the 19th century, some as resorts centered on the geothermic hot springs that still well up from deep within the earth. Boyes Hot Springs and Agua Caliente were popular health retreats for tourists from San Francisco and points beyond until the middle of the 20th century. Today the Sonoma Mission Inn remains as a the main destination resort, and wineries are the main tourist attraction.
[edit] Geology
The Sonoma Valley is part of the Franciscan Complex, which includes crumpled, uplifted terranes that have resulted from the subduction of the former oceanic Farallon Plate under the North American continent. The area is attended by volcanism (Sonoma Volcanics) and sediments, deposited in the lagoons behind its island arcs (Petaluma Formation, 10 my), which resulted from geological events dating from 140 to 42 million years BP. The valley is drained by Sonoma Creek, whose headwaters rise in Sugarloaf Mountain State Park and discharge is into the San Pablo Bay.
[edit] Points of interest
- Quarryhill Botanic Garden
- Mission San Francisco Solano
- Jack London State Historic Park
- Sonoma State Historic Park
[edit] See also
- Sonoma, City of
- Wine Country
- The Valley of the Moon
- Category:Sonoma County Wineries
- List of wineries in Santa Rosa, California
- Infineon Raceway
[edit] External links
- Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau
- Sonoma Coast & Valley Visitors Guide
- Overview of Sonoma County geology
- LocalWineEvents.com A calendar of Food and Wine Tasting Events in Sonoma
