“Wind to Wine,” the saying in these parts as the crucial piece of terroir that makes the Petaluma Gap what it is, is as simple as wind to wine. Winds from Alaska blow down the Pacific looking for a chance to leave the waters and escape across the land, they find their opportunity via Bodega Bay and Tomales Bay, two small chinks in the armor that is the Pacific Coast. Here these cool Alaskan winds rip across Sonoma County, cooling vines and land and keeping thin-skinned grapes like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir happy. This wind gap in the coastal Pacific mountains acts like a funnel and pushes cooling winds and fog all the way from the ocean to the San Pablo Bay. It’s because of this confluence of wind to wine that Burgundian grapes can survive the intense sunshine of California and ripen slowly, allowing for more flavors to develop. This is also one of the main reasons you don’t see Pinot Noir on the other side of the Mayacamas in the Napa Valley - not enough wind to wine.