Tony Coturri | California Wine and the Sonoma Valley

Tony Coturri has been making low intervention, "natural" wines, whatever you want to call them, for decades, long before the natty movement took off in the US. 

I spoke to Tony in February, a year into the pandemic, and later came back to help with some bottling (by hand, of course). I was struck by his candor and generosity during this conversation. I can think of few better stewards of the history of winemaking in the Sonoma Valley. Plus, he's a great storyteller to boot. 

We covered a lot of ground here, including:

• Learning to make wine from his grandfather in a basement in the Marina
• His perspective on a changing Sonoma, from the days of the Italian-Swiss Colony to bonafide winemaking region
• How he approaches the craft of winemaking, from the vineyard to the cellar 
• What on earth is a qvevri and how do you pronounce that exactly 
• What is a true California wine? And why is it Zinfandel?
• His legacy ahead of his final harvest this year

You can find Tony's wines in the Bay Area at bottle shops like Ordinaire and Ruby or reach out to him through his website to order directly.