The terrain and climate of the wine areas of Northern California remind the visitor of nothing so much as rural France. But the scale is vastly smaller - Napa Valley is only 35 miles long and 5 miles wide, while Sonoma County covers 1,600 square miles along 60 miles of coastline - with only a few hundred wineries sited there. Farthest north is Mendocino County with 30 wineries of its own, whose 3,500 square miles of cool climate helps create Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Those wineries have had a hard struggle over the last two hundred years. Since Russian colonists planted vines in 1812, through the founding of the wine industry by Spanish Franciscans in 1823, up through Prohibition to today, vintners have made heroic efforts to produce wines that rival the best of France and Italy.

In the 1920s there were 256 wineries, but Prohibition reduced that to under 50. Fortunately, the region has recovered over the decades and is now thriving. In Sonoma County, roughly 150,000 tons of grapes are produced by 200 wineries, over half fewer than 20 years old, on a mere 49,000 acres.

The temperate climate, with moderate winters and warm to hot summers is perfect for growing a wide variety of native and imported wine grape species. The most common varieties are Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, with a healthy sprinkling of Merlot and Zinfandel.

From those grapes California wineries produced over 500 million gallons of wine in 2004 at a retail value of $15 billion, with the majority of that coming from Northern California. The total US production was 668 million gallons. The overall impact of the California wine industry on the state's economy has been estimated as high as $45 billion.

Second only to Disneyland as a tourist attraction the Northern California wineries form part of a trade that attracts almost 15 million visitors per year.

No wonder when the area hosts the majority of California's 96,500 acres of Chardonnay and almost 75 thousand acres of Cabernet Sauvignon to regularly produce award winning wines.

Whether one's taste runs to the lower tannin, dark red Merlot with characteristics of black currant, or the spicy Syrah with characteristics of sweet blackberry and plum or the cherry and violet Pinot Noir, a lover of red will find something to suit from among California's many offerings.

So if you're looking for a European experience in a California setting, the Northern California wineries await your visit.

Acetic: vinegar-like taste or smell from exposure to air. Vinegar is acetic acid.

Acidity: wines contain acids, which vary in concentration.

Appellation: French system regulating authenticity; applies to region where the grapes were grown.

Astringent: high tannin content produces dry, puckering effect.

Balance: relative degree of fruity quality, acidity, tannins, alcohol and other characteristics.

Bouquet: complex of aromas, usually from aging.

Cooked: prunish flavor, usually from excessive heat.

Cooper: a maker of casks or barrels.

Corked: a kind of spoilage, smelling of cork, usually from cracked or seeping cork allowing introduction of air or fungi.

Dry: opposite of sweet.

Fruity: aroma or flavor of apples, grapes, currants, pears, etc.

Green: wine made from unripe grapes, producing tart flavor.

Honeyed: smell or taste reminiscent of honey, characteristic of wines affected by 'noble rot' (Botrytis cinerea).

Length: a lingering aftertaste.

Madeirized: oxidized with a brownish color and stale odor. After the island of Madeira where wine is intentionally produced in open air vats.

Noble: a classification of grapes that produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Riesling

Nose: aroma. 'Off-nose' refers to odors indicating defect.

Nutty: nutlike aroma, such as found in sherry or aged whites.

Oakey: aroma from aging in oaken casks.

Oxidized: spoiled from over-exposure to air.

Sommelier: a specialist in selecting and serving wine.

Sparkling: wine containing carbonation, such as champagne.

Sulphur: an anti-oxidant introduced in some wines in small amounts. Fermentation creates minute amounts naturally.

Sweet: having residual sugar from fermentation, from grape sugar incompletely converted to alcohol.

Vintner: a winemaker.

Viticulture: the art and science of growing wine grapes.

Vitis vinifera: plant species encompassing most traditional European wine grapes.

Woody: having the aroma or taste of aging barrels.

Yeasty: smelling similar to bread. Yeasts are introduced to carry out fermentation and can be incompletely removed.

Ten Major Grape Varieties -

(1) Cabernet Sauvignon: grows in a variety of climates, but most closely associated with Bordeaux, France. Produces wines usually high in tannin.

(2) Chardonnay: from Burgundy, France. Classic and popular.

(3) Chenin Blanc: from France's Loire valley. A white grape, grow in climates too