Sonoma County
CALIFONRIA
Native people have lived in the region now known as Sonoma County for thousands of years. Since 1542, several different nations have claimed the region as their own, including Spain, England, Russia, Mexico and the United States. Under the Mexican Republic, the Mission San Francisco Solano was founded in 1823, as the last and northernmost of the 21 California missions, located in the present-day City of Sonoma. In 1836, Comandante General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo established El Presidio de Sonoma, or Sonoma Barracks to keep tabs on Russian traders, secularize the mission, maintain good relations with Native Americans, and dole out land. Sonoma was one of the original counties formed when California became a state in 1850.
Today, Sonoma County consists of over 1,500 square miles of diverse visitor destinations, spectacular natural resources, and a world-class wine region with hundreds of wineries. As a popular vacation spot, the region offers miles of hiking and cycling through nature parks and towering redwoods, water sports and stunning vistas along miles of Pacific coastline, and world-class wine and cuisine with organic farms, orchards, breweries, cheese producers, and of course, hundreds of wine tasting rooms. Just north of San Francisco, the region is the viticulture jewel of Northern California, named in one of Wine Enthusiast’s 10 Best Wine Travel Destinations for 2014.
