2016 Three Sticks Castenada White

Three Sticks is named for the Roman numeral three, and it is a reference to the name of the founder, Bill Price III. Price had a career in private equity which eventually led him and business partners to invest in California wine estates. Price also started buying prime vineyards in the region and in 2007 left his career in investment to devote himself full time to wine ventures. Three Sticks was launched in 2002. Based in an historic, 19th-century adobe home in downtown Sonoma, Three Sticks owns vineyards in the Sonoma Coast, Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma Valley, Russian River Valley and Carneros appellations. Bob Cabral became Three Sticks winemaker in 2015 after a celebrated career making wines at numerous Sonoma County estates, including William Selyem. In 2011 Wine Enthusiast named him Winemaker of the Year after being awarded the journal’s first 100 pt North American Pinot Noir. Three Sticks produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Sonoma Valley AVA is Sonoma County’s original winegrowing district. Designated as an AVA in 1981, it includes 14,000 vineyard acres in a long, narrow valley that runs north-south. Rather romantically, the valley is also called The Valley of the Moon. The oldest winery in the AVA, and one of the oldest in California, is Buena Vista Winery, founded in 1857 by a Hungarian count who planted vineyards in Wisconsin before moving to California. Today there are nearly 60 wineries in the AVA producing a variety of wines, from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to Cabernet Sauvignon and Gewurztraminer. The appellation is bordered by mountain ranges on the east and west, which partly account for Sonoma Valley’s unique terroir. The mountains protect it from the cooling weather of the Pacific Ocean and fruit ripens well.