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The Healdsburg area of northern Sonoma County has a rather interesting story. The Pomo Indians lived in the area for thousands of years, hunting and gathering all the way out to the coast . From the 1500s to the 1800s they had infrequent contact with European sailing vessels (the British- Sir Francis Drake in 1579, James Cook’s voyage in 1778 and various Spanish ships). Neither country could find decent landfall along this section of coast so the first real settlement was established by the Russians.

In 1812, on the coast near a river, Fort Ross became their southernmost settlement in North America. The Russian River owes its name to these early settlers. Since the Russians were not interested in conquering the area, they just wanted access to valuable sea otter and seal furs, their impact was less disruptive than that of the Spanish.

Surprisingly, even the Spanish had limited impact on the Healdsburg area, the first permanent inland settlement started with the Mexican government. In 1841 Mexico deeded 48,000 acres, encompassing the Sonoma area, to Captain H. D. Fitch. In 1846, Cyrus Alexander, manager of Fitch’s “Rancho Sotoyome” planted the first vineyard in the area now know as Alexander Valley. Alexander realized that the fertile valleys were a gold mine.

Soon though a new flag was flying. In February of 1848 the US and Mexico signed the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceding California (and other lands) to the US. Talk about timing, in March of 1848 gold was found at Sutter’s Mill and by the end of the year prospectors were streaming in. The 49ers searched every valley and canyon for the yellow, shiny stuff. When they entered the Sonoma area they found different kinds of gold. They found huge stands of redwoods to log and rolling, fertile hills to farm.

These luckless miners began settling on Fitch’s Rancho Sotoyome, much to his disapproval. The lawlessness of the age meant that land rights weren’t guaranteed. By 1857 the “Westside Road Wars” broke out as squatters fought amongst themselves for land. An Ohio businessman by the name of Harmon Heald won and he promptly laid out a town site and setup a post office. In 1867 Heald’s small town, with its Spanish style plaza, was incorporated.

Healdsburg was, and still is, an agricultural town. In the 1860s there were three main crops: prunes, hops and grapes. For over 60 years the dominant economic crop was not grapes, it was prunes! Many of the grape vines succumbed to the ravages of Phylloxera (an aphid-like pest that feeds on the roots of vines, ultimately killing the vine) by the 1900s. Some wineries struggled through until the 1920s when all but two went under. Interestingly, the bottom also fell out of the hops market around that time. The culprit? Prohibition. The two wineries that survived Prohibition did so by making sacramental and “medicinal” wines.

Hops never recovered in the area so prunes dominated the economy until the 1970s when consumption declined. Growers blame it on an image problem as prunes had become associated with the elderly and intestinal disorders. Clearly not a sexy dried fruit! It was around this time that people began replanting vineyards, many of them on former prune orchard land.

Today the vineyards of Sonoma county are mostly small, family-run affairs. Something they point out as the main difference between Sonoma and the corporate vineyards that dominate Napa Valley. The main varietals are Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay although many other varietals are cultivated in lesser amounts.

These days Healdsburg is all about the vino. At a glance you would insist that the entire town is dedicated to Bacchus; numerous tasting rooms ring the plaza, wineries dot the surrounding hillsides and wine lists are extensive. In fact, I’m not sure that Healdsburg has an identity other than wine anymore. It has been remaking itself into the tourist version of what a wine town should be for years. Is that a bad thing? Maybe not. After all, Healdsburg’s second cash crop is tourists. But, as in the past, the vines may not always be there. There is growing concern that the sustained warmer temperatures of the recent summers are signs of a dismal wine future. If the global warming trend continues it will be too hot in the area to produce good wine. This is sobering news for one of the world’s finest wine regions. Healdsburg may be putting all of its grapes in one basket.

Where there is wine, there is money and where there is money, there is always controversy. Consider the rivalry between European and American wines. Europe likes to proclaim that they have the oldest and, of course, best wine grapes in the world. The truth is that Europe wouldn’t have any wine grapes if it wasn’t for American grape root stock. They hate admitting that! The roots of European wine grapes (Vitis vinifera) are very susceptible to Phylloxera (an aphid like pest that feeds on the roots of grapevines) while American root stock (Vitis labrusca) is resistant. It was very time consuming and expensive to graft the remaining vines but it was the only way to save the famous European wine regions. Can you imagine France without wine?

Why not just grow the resistant American species? Because the American grapes don’t make good wine. Even American vineyards are planted with European vines (that are now grafted to American root stock). Ready for another twist in the saga? The devastating European Phylloxera outbreak was caused by American root stock in the first place!

In the 1860s a well-meaning American sent some American wine grapes that happened to be infested to Europe. Since Phylloxera is a pest native to the eastern US the American vines were resistant. There are those who doubt the innocence of this deed but would anyone knowingly try to destroy an entire industry? Nah, never! By the 1900s Phylloxera had destroyed over two-thirds of European vines!

And the story isn’t over yet. Phylloxera has adapted to some previously resistant American root stock and has migrated to the west coast; California, Oregon and Washington are now infested. After all the years of hard work to establish a place for American wines at the International level, the outcome may lie in the jaws a tiny little insect!

The future of wine in the Healdsburg area (and Europe) might also be dramatically affected by global warming. Arguing about who or what is causing the change doesn’t matter, the fact is it’s getting warmer and vines can only take so much heat. So, anyone want to buy a vineyard in Anchorage?