News

Just as there are great sporting rivalries - Manchester United v. Liverpool or the Boston Red Sox v. the New York Yankees - such is the duel between Sonoma and Napa in the world of California wines.

What started out as friendly kidding between the two regions just north of San Francisco has turned into somewhat of a marketing brawl, with folks in smaller Napa looking down upon Sonoma's larger producers.

"They just think we're a bunch of snots, that we make wine only for the elite," said Stuart Smith, owner of Napa Valley's Smith-Madrone vineyards.

"I feel for them. I understand their frustration. They look at the pricing here and wonder what they are doing wrong."

Napa wines, generally speaking, are pricier than those produced in Sonoma, and the valley is home to most of California's cult wines such as Screaming Eagle, Araujo Estate and Colgin Cellars.

Part of what makes Napa wines so sought after is that so little is produced, and when they are available, collectors will pay anywhere from $400 (U.S.) to more than $1,000 a bottle.

But for Sonoma winemaker Steve Reeder, it's not the cost of the bottle, but what's in it that matters.

"Wine is for the people. It is not for the elite," the 51-year-old Simi vineyards winemaker said.

"I grow a lot of fruit. My philosophy is drink all the wine you want, I'll make some more."

Mr. Reeder doesn't make wine to be collected; he makes it to be imbibed - preferably with food - and most are in the $15 to $20 range.

Mr. Reeder said his wines "respect the soil where they are grown. They are true to Sonoma."

He hates what he calls the overextracted, overoaked, overdone wines that are no longer driven by the soils.

"We don't all overoak and let our grapes hang out there to shrivel," insisted Beth Novak Milliken of Spottswoode Estate in Napa.

Michaela Rodeno, head of Napa's St. Supéry, a vineyard almost synonymous with sauvignon blanc, had news for Mr. Reeder.

"I don't like overextracted, overoaked, overalcoholic wines either and I don't think you can blame that on Napa. This rivalry has been going on for ages.

"They're No. 2. They're trying really hard. They should just face it. We make better cabernets and they make fine pinot noirs," Ms. Rodeno said.