Silicon Valley
Sipping by SUSAN HATHAWAY
You might think semiconductors and software don’t have much in common with wine unless you’re here in Silicon Valley. While Napa and Sonoma might get the most tourist attention, the rural regions just south and west of high tech’s epicenter are prime wine country, home to green mountaintops and rolling, oak-studded foothills whose wine estates deliver spectacular views along with premium quality bottlings. ong before Intel co-founder Robert Noyce invented the integrated circuit, wine and agriculture already defined the region. Starting with European vines planted by Franciscan monks at Mission Santa Clara in 1802, the fertile Santa Clara Valley has had a long history of winemaking. Fortunately for wine lovers, grape growing and winemaking persisted through challenges that included parasite infestations wiping out the vines, the San Francisco earthquake destroying 20 million gallons of local wine stored there, the devastating economic effects of Prohibition, and finally, farmers selling their increasingly valuable land to developers. Housing, office buildings, and malls have pushed wineries out of the urbanized heart of Silicon Valley, but viticulture still thrives in southern Santa Clara County as well as the redwoodforested Santa Cruz Mountains that separate the valley from the Pacific Ocean. Some notable wineries even exist in pockets along the coast itself. One recent trend has been the rise of urban winery clusters where passionate winemakers follow their bliss in warehouses or other repurposed buildings located in some of the region’s bedroom communities. All this enological activity presents abundant wine-tasting opportunities without having to endure the long drive north to the more famous wine country. Also, the local wine regions aren’t likely to be choked with tour buses, and the more downhome atmosphere often lets visitors chat with the friendly winemakers themselves.
CHRIS SCHMAUCH
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