Sonoma Valley may be the birthplace of California winemaking (Buena Vista Winery, founded in 1857) but it is also where the American craft-beer renaissance started, when Jack McAuliffe, Suzy Stern and Jane Zimmerman opened New Albion Brewing Company in 1976 on the outskirts of the City of Sonoma. New Albion influenced Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Mendocino Brewing Company and the rest, as they say, is history. (Delicious, quaffable history.)
Today there is a small historical marker at the site of the former brewery on Denmark St at 8th Street East in Sonoma.
Sonoma Valley now includes craft breweries like Sonoma Springs Brewing Company in the City of Sonoma and Palooza Brewery and Gastropub, which is the center of the social scene in the quiet village of Kenwood. Distilleries include Prohibition Spirits just off the Sonoma Plaza (limoncello, gin, brandy, whiskey and rum) and Hanson of Sonoma, offering their take on vodkas derived from grapes at their tasting lounge set among the vines.
Click the image below to download the Sonoma County Beer & Spirits Map
