Sonoma can grow just about any wine grape — And does. With its incomparable range of wine types and styles, There’s no reason to look elsewhere for a great bottle. Here are our favorites from 2015, each one Sonoma-grown.
by Linda Murphy with Virginie Boone
Wine tasting is no different than movie watching. Neither is based on science, but rather on individual taste, perception and emotion.
She enjoys romance flicks, he prefers action films. She likes Pinot Noirs with firm structure and earthiness, he goes for ripe, juicy, richly flavored Pinots. There’s no right or wrong, just personal preference.
Roger Ebert could love the same film that Gene Siskel trashed. It works that way with wine, too. So by default, our selections for the Top 100 Wines of 2015 are subjective and experiential, yet also well informed. We worked very hard to come up with 100 bottles that we stand behind for quality, price range and availability that will please most palates. Sure,
tasting wine is fun and convivial, but evaluating wine to be recommended to Sonoma magazine readers is serious stuff.
Don’t see your favorite wine on the list? Then look for it on on our coverage of world-class wines that have very limited — or no — availability. Which winemakers might you not know about, but should?
They’re here. Looking for a great vintage? Check. Science might one day be able to tell consumers precisely what wine they will love before they taste it. Until then, we have humans with distinctly individual senses of smell, taste and vision, to do the work for us. One of wine’s finest qualities is that it stimulates conversation. Our Top 100 Wines of 2015
list will likely do that. Let us know what you think.
Note:
Initials after each wine description are for reviewers Virginie Boone (VB)
and Linda Murphy (LM). Wines produced in Sonoma County, from Sonoma County grapes, are legally required to include “Sonoma
County” on their labels. For brevity, “Sonoma County” has been omitted
from the wine names.