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GROWING REGION REQUIREMENTS, SONOMA VALLEY GROWN- I follow Terroir!
SonomaSom.com (at this time) reviews and reports on wines grown in vineyards located within the legal boundaries of the Sonoma Valley AVA (Not to be confused with county please)  regardless of how they are labeled i.e. (western) Carneros AVA, (Southern) Sonoma Coast AVA, (All of) Bennett Valley AVA and (All of) Sonoma Mountain AVA.  The winery or producer may be located anywhere so long as the vineyard source(s) is(are) within Sonoma Valley.

WHERE TO SEND WINE SAMPLES- I live near the vineyards I review wine from!
If you are located outside of the Town of Sonoma I am now accepting wines via mail.  Please email me at pressrelease@SonomaSom.com for the address.  Please note during extremely hot or cold weather an alternative address will be used.  Within the town limits of Sonoma I am happy to arrange a flexible pick up time.  Please Email me.

HOW MANY BOTTLES SHOULD YOU SEND- I am extremely thorough.
3 bottles of each is the minimum to be considered for the following

Wines scoring 70 to 100 points will appear annually in the “Pocket Guide to Sonoma Valley grown Wines.

Wines scoring 90 to 100pts will appear in my elite list of free online reviews (90pts to 100pts) in an extended and lengthy review format.  The review will e mailed to thousands of my readers.

Wines scoring 90 to 100 points will be considered for the top 10 Varietal list i.e. “top 10 Cabernet list 2012”, etc

Additional bottles

May be requested of wines scoring over 90pts to appear in special articles and videos.

HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW PROCESS TAKE- I am VERY detailed.

The pocket guide to Sonoma Valley Grown Wines will be published once per year as a new edition.  

Wines that score 90 and above will appear in an extended length review generally in 4 to 16 weeks depending on the current work load.

Special reports and videos may include higher scoring wines.

WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO DO OR SUBMIT-  

TECH NOTES- Please submit a direct number or cell# for the winemaker and please let them know I will contact them.

PICTURES- For all 90+ extended review wines I take pictures of the wine bottle in the Vineyard(s) where the wine is grown.  I will request the grower contact info after wines score 90+ and handle arrangements myself.

HOW DO I BASE MY RATINGS-
1) A wines ability to capture and express the vineyard source it was grown in.  By doing this it exceeds simply being a commodity beverage.
2) The balance between texture, acid and tannin.
3) Total expression not to be confused with weight.
4) Ability to capture the classic Varietal characteristics of the grape type.
5) All wines are reviewed against the classics.  Two examples would be Medoc for Cabernet or Burgundy for Pinot Noir.
6) Supportive rather than overwhelming winemaking.  Adapting and changing winemaking techniques to express the best of each single block’s personality.
7) Length of finish.
8) A wines ageability, food pairing ability and crowd pleasing ability may increase the score.


95-100pts- Classic wines do all of the above.
90-94- Exceptional Wines do all of the above though may have slightly less length of finish and or classic age worthiness
85-89- Great Wines , often falling into a few categories.  Some examples are 1) great crowd pleasing and expressive wine and well balanced but lacking Terroir, length of finish, etc or 2) terroir driven wines lacking balance of “texture, acid and tannin” perhaps due to winemaking techniques, equipment type or poor cultivar(s) and vineyard combination.
80-84- Wines made without  major flaws with some Varietal characteristics but planted in improper locations, made by the wrong processes or often water-backed.
79 and 70- Physically drinkable wines destroyed by over processing, additives, water, mega production techniques or slightly flawed wines.
69 and below- undrinkable, flawed, massive additives, etc.

SUBMITTING WINES FOR REVIEW
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS