What? Never heard of the place? Well it's right up there with Napa County (#1) and Sonoma County (#3) according to a recently released compilation. San Joaquin and Yolo counties round out the top five. Lodi is in San Joaquin County, so I can understand a fairly high ranking in that case. However, Yolo County, just west of Sacramento, has only a handful of wineries. Stanislaus County's claim to wine fame is Modesto, which you may recognize as home to corporate wineries like Gallo and Bronco. Modesto should be thought of as lettuce country, not wine country.
The counties were weighted based on different metrics, and having a large city within the borders actually punished them. The compilers say that's why you don’t see San Diego County until #16 and Santa Barbara County until #18.
Now, when you are traveling around the huge expanse of Santa Barbara County, most of it is so rural you may not even realize there is a big city nearby. The wines produced there rival anything Napa and Sonoma have to offer. And, in my humble opinion, they are even better than the wines of Stanislaus County. Plus, the countryside is gorgeous. #18? C'mon.
When I was writing news for the radio, I was inundated daily with "top ten" lists generated by a personal finance website. No matter that personal finance has little to do with the Top Ten Beaches In America, the lists were intended solely to attract clicks on the site. This California Wine County list seems to work the same way. It was published by Lawn Starter, a website which aims to help people get their grass cut. The connection to wine country is just as feeble as those of the personal finance website.
In case you are interested, here are LawnStarter's Top Ten Wine Counties in California:
1. Napa County
2. Stanislaus County
3. Sonoma County
4. San Joaquin County
5. Yolo County
6. Solano County
7. San Luis Obispo County
8. Alameda County
9. Sacramento County
10. Marin County
Happy travels this summer. Wherever your love of wine takes you, I hope you enjoy it to the fullest. Even if it's Stanislaus County.
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