Ep 271: The SoNapa Problem with Oded Shakked of Longboard Vineyards and Jim Morris, the Sonoma AND Napa Wine Guy

Napa and Sonoma are the two most famous places for wine in the United States. On a map, they are right next to each other and they seem really interchangeable. But looks can be deceiving. The truth is, that they are an hour drive apart and worlds away in climate, geography, grapes, cost, marketing, and culture.   This week, Oded Shakked, winemaker and owner of Longboard Vineyards and Jim Morris, the Sonoma Wine Guy, who now works for a Napa winery help me parse the differences. This podcast should help make everything a whole lot clearer when people talk about Napa versus Sonoma!   Here are the show notes: Geography: The distance between the areas – 45 mi -1 hr, the difficulty in getting between them Looking at a map – and the geography of the two areas Marketing differences – when and how they diverged: Napa’s 20 year head start and the importance of Robert Mondavi’s marketing efforts to Napa Ease of travel in Napa v Sonoma The money difference/investement -- small farmers v. outside money The competition element – a problem for both Sonoma and Napa What’s not different: SKILL!!! Everyone knows what theya re doing for the most part Provenance, time, is smaller – Napa – elite Experience difference: Napa – an elite or aspirational experience, status, expense, trying to weed out people Sonoma – more affordable, more relaxed Costs differences – and how places used it to weed people out Grapes and climate Diurals/acid differences – Sonoma is cooler in many spots Napa Envy by Sonoma Sonoma’s Identity issue One common problem: cost of living is going up and it’s harder to find people to work there Some travel tips for Northern California wine country and all the other stuff you can do in Sonoma! Thanks to our sponsors this week:  YOU! The podcast supporters on Patreon, who are helping us to make the podcast possible and who we give goodies in return for their help! Check it out today: https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople   Blinkist: Blinkist is the only app that takes the best key takeaways, the need-to-know information from thousands of nonfiction books and condenses them down into just 15 minutes so you can read or listen to. 8 Million people are using Blinkist right now and it has a massive and growing library: from self-help, business, health to history books. Get the main idea of books so you can decide if they are something you want to read more of or if the gist is just enough! Right now, for a limited time Blinkist has a special offer. Go to www.blinkist.com/​WINE​ to start your free 7 day trial.   Get the back catalog on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.