About Sonoma Valley: The Birth Place of California's famed Wine Industry.

Wine Country doesn't get more real than Sonoma Valley, whose rich soils mark the birthplace of California's wine industry. It's also the closest wine region to San Francisco, just 45 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Cradled between the Mayacamas and the Sonoma Mountain ranges, Sonoma Valley encompasses a rolling patchwork of vineyards, quaint farms and 13,000 acres of scenic parkland. In the center of town, the eight-acre Sonoma Plaza is a National Historic Landmark, strewn with sprawling shade trees and bordered by carefully preserved adobe buildings. Up the road in Glen Ellen, author and bohemian adventurer Jack London lived and wrote at his pristine Beauty Ranch, now an 800-acre state historic park. For more historical information, visit the Sonoma League for Historical Preservation or the Sonoma Valley Historical Society website. You can also email archivist@sonomavalleyhistoricalsociety.org.