Phylloxera

A small aphid-like-insect that attacks the roots of vines belonging to the species VITIS VINIFERA. Phylloxera slowly destroys the vine by preventing the roots from absorbing nutrients and water. Native American vines, such as those belonging to the species VITIS LABRUSCA or Vitis riparia, tolerate the insect without adverse consequences. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, a phylloxera epidemic swept through Europe and eventually around the world. By the time a remedy was discovered, millions of acres of vines had been destroyed. That remedy, still the only known solution, was to replant each vineyard, vine by vine, with native American ROOTSTOCKS, then graft VITIS VINIFERA vines on top.

The Sonoma wine region is known as the “Valley of the Sun.”

Answer: False.

Sonoma is also sometimes known as the “Valley of the Moon.” Before the Spanish missionaries arrived in the early nineteenth century, Native Americans had lived in the Sonoma Valley for over 12,000 years. Legend has it that Sonoma derives from an indigenous word meaning “many moons.” Sometime in the 1840s, General Mariano G. Vallejo, who was the Mexican commander in the area, translated the term from a local Native American tribe, believing it to roughly translate to “valley of the moon.” The name stuck.

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The group of AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas) created in Paso Robles just last year. Confused? Let this dashing gentleman explain.

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