The Wine County of Marin County
Geography and topography have settled Marin County in a position where temperatures are lower than those in Sonoma and Napa Counties although they are mere minutes away. Furthermore, Marin County’s terrain and weather patterns are must more similar to those of the southern French wine country of Burgundy than of those in its on State of California. For that reason, viticulture in Marin County and its production of wines can easily compete with the world class wines of Burgundy.
The cooler temperatures of Marin County allow grapes to remain hanging longer on their vines, thus making the grape-growing season in the County longer and this generates more superior grapes. Viticulture in Marin County produces wines that are more balanced with exceptional natural tartness and with alcohol levels that are below fourteen percent in most of their varieties. Viticulturists in the area all agree that Marin County’s combinations of soil have the fertility and the nutrients to support vineyards superbly and the County’s topographic environment and its climate conditions afford the wine industry in Marin County with the potential to make many different kinds of wines but most specifically those varieties that thrive in cool climates such as the elegant Merlots, the Pinot Noirs and the Riesligs.
Marin County’s viticulture began when the vitis vinifera grapes were introduced at the same time as San Rafael Mission opened its door. Wisely, the residents of Marin County immediately recognized the value of their natural assets and their potentials. Seemingly overnight and regardless of their size, just about every family in Marin County began to cultivate small vineyards on their own plots
The vineyards that were established by the San Rafael Mission and worked by the local Native Americans were soon snatched by General Mariano Vallejo who first banished religion and than had the vineyards pull up and moved to his own lands in Sonoma County.
Viticulture in Marin County was further slowed during the Prohibition of the 1920s and then it was even further slowed down in 1937 when the Golden Gate Bridge was opened to the public and all eyes turned to Marin County’s lands and housing, and viticulture was virtually forgotten.
Marin County’s wine industry was further thwarted by the Prohibition era of the 1920s and the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937 turned Marin County’s economic focus away from wine and to real estate and the housing market.
Today, Martin County’s wine industry is growing slowly but it still remains relatively small and keeps a low profile as it is continually being overshadowed by its next door neighbors, Napa and Sonoma Counties which are so well known throughout the world as masters over California’s wine country. Currently, a handful of Marin County winemakers, twenty five in all, are discreetly laboring to produce premium wines and to preserve that part of the Marin County’s rich history and culture. The Marin County Grape Growers Association has even been established and its members meet bi-monthly to discuss issues and t brainstorm about possible innovations and improvements in grape growing, in wine producing and in Marin County’s wine industry in general.
The fact is that Marin County has only 200 acres of vineyards and merely twenty-five wineries while Sonoma County has better than 40,000 acres and nearly 300 wineries and Napa County has 45,275 acres and 316 wineries. Those are facts indeed. But there is still one more fact that I would like to share with you and that fact is that Marin County had the extended growing season and produced the first-class cold-climate wines that Sonoma and Napa Counties could only dream about.
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