By Virginie Boone

As we head into warmer weather and start thinking about summer, it’s a good time to start planning out the white wines you want to drink, wines that are often light and bright in style that are grown and made in Sonoma County. And while this region excels at Chardonnay, Sonoma County’s diversity shines through in its wide array of white wines, many of them made in small quantities. Here are a handful to try.

Bucher 2023 Bucher Vineyard Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc
From the longtime grapegrowers’ own estate, this white positively shines in Meyer lemon and grapefruit flavors, showing plenty of lift through the midpalate as it develops more rounded richness and heft. It finishes clean, crisp and refreshing.

Cep 2023 Hopkins Ranch Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc
Made by Peay Vineyards, this refreshing white is mineral-driven and sizzling in citrus flavor, with indelible notes of dried herb, the grapes grown in the appellation’s Middle Reach.

Copain 2023 Daybreak Sonoma White Blend
Winemaker Ryan Zepaltas shows off his blending skills with a mattering selection of Sonoma County’s finest white grapes in this fun, chillable sipper, made from Malvasia Bianca, Picpoul Blanc and more.

Dutton-Goldfield 2023 Shop Block Green Valley of Russian River Valley Pinot Blanc
Always a favorite, this comes from Dutton Ranch’s original Graton Road ranch, first purchased by Warren Dutton in 1964. Goldridge soils and a cool climate combine to produce a lovely peach-tinged white that’s fresh and fruity in equal measure.

Ernest Henry David Vineyard Bennett Valley Aligoté
Made in tiny amounts, this lovely white is made from the other great white grape of Burgundy that isn’t Chardonnay, which tends to do well in colder regions. Josh Jensen of Calera was one of the first to plant it in California; there are now small pockets of it in Sonoma County, mostly in Bennett Valley – this vineyard has less than one acre.

Inman Family 2022 Russian River Valley Pinot Gris
A quintessential summer wine, this is from Inman’s OGV Estate in the heart of the appellation, and tastes of white flowers, stonefruit and sea spray. It’s flinty, mineral-driven and full of racy acidity.

J Vineyards 2022 Estate Russian River Valley Pinot Gris
J’s classic Pinot Gris is brilliantly flavored in stonefruit and green apple, with inviting floral aromatics that never quit. Layered in acidity, it finishes in a mineral-laden hint of wet stone.

Kokomo 2023 Timber Crest Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc
Made from Musqué-clone grapes, and 100% barrel-fermented, this is a textured white with nicely layered flavors of grapefruit, stone fruit and herb.

Lasseter 2021 Sonoma Valley Voilà
A blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillon, the latter grown on the producer’s estate Justi Creek Vineyards from Monte Rosso Vineyard cuttings, this is a rich, rounded wine with a lush mouthfeel of fig, baked pineapple and oak-influenced vanilla.

MacRostie 2023 Clockwise Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc
The winery sources from two vineyards for this white, Savona Vineyard, which actually belongs to a wine club member, and Hopkins River Ranch. Fresh and fruity in key lime and Gravenstein apple, it offers crisp complexity and impressive texture.

Orsi Family 2022 Sonoma County Biancolella d’Ischia
The Dry Creek Valley-based producer devoted to Italian varieties makes this stunning white wine from a grape variety that originates in the island of Ischia, where some of founder Bernie Orsi’s family is from. In Corsica it’s known as Petite Blanche. Medium-bodied in weight, with a waxy texture, it tastes of the sea.

Trione 2022 River Road Ranch Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc
From one of the Trione family’s first vineyard sites, this is a complete, varietally correct white with cooler-climate bonafides, juicy in peach and melon.

Taste some of Sonoma County’s best wines alongside many other wines from around the world at the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience Vintners Plaza Grand Tasting, this Saturday, May 18 from 12:30 pm to 5 pm. Bites from chefs like Matt Horn, Crista Luedtke and Sushi by Scratch will be on hand to go with the wines.