Weed Country is Wine Country
Terroir, flavor profiles, aroma, bouquet, nose, yield, appellation – those are terms you probably know, used by aficionados of two of California’s most beloved boutique crops. Which crops? Those terms are used by both growers of wine and of cannabis.
Although cannabis and wine may seem miles apart, they are so much closer than you might think – not only in similarity, but in proximity as well. The same terroir that grapes love, cannabis loves, too, and the proof is in the plants. The unique combination of volcanic soil and Mediterranean climate in Northern California has spawned two legendary agricultural industries with award winning crops that are both the envy of all the world.
This week the big June double issue of Wine Spectator came out with a special report about cannabis in wine country. It said that some wine growers are threatened by the idea of cannabis farms in their region. Others embrace the idea, and are switching some of their land over to that purpose, as cannabis is on the rise as wine is hitting a plateau, causing some farmers to move to the more lucrative crop.
As they mentioned in the article, being in tourism, we see no conflict on our side of things. We ran tours of the wineries of Sonoma County, Napa County, and the Carneros region for years, and we still take people wine tasting, but now we take them to award winning estate wineries in Mendocino County, which borders Sonoma County to the north. The plants don’t recognize county lines, and the terroir is the same on either side of that line.
Many people who have been visiting wine country for years now finally have new options when visiting San Francisco. Besides visiting the usual San Francisco attractions, Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, Union Square, Pier 49, Coit Tower, Golden Gate Park, The Mission District, Lands End and the Golden Gate Bridge, visitors can now visit cannabis dispensaries and lounges in San Francisco.
Similarly, those staying a few days, and looking for day trips into the country now have trips to the cannabis farms and wineries of Mendocino County as an exciting new option. Often on our tours we will host couples where one partner wants to go wine tasting and the other wants to visit cannabis farms, and on our tours they can do both!
So if you find yourself in San Francisco, and you want to try something new, while not abandoning the tried and true, book a tour with us today to go on a brand new adventure enjoying both of the agricultural treasures that make Northern California famous on a unique Emerald Triangle excursion that you will never forget!