So many times the history of wine country comes in multiple versions and a perfect example is that there are two or three translations for the name Sonoma. Two are very similar, Valley of the Moon and Valley of the Seven Moons. The third one is less entertaining, namely ‘Nose’’, but I think that’s just a snide commentary about the bizarre amount of pollen that descends on downtown Sonoma.
Before we get away that particular canard let me explain that the town of Sonoma sits in a bowl at the bottom of a very fertile and beautiful valley. Your ability to live there has to do with your ability to live with pollen, it turns the cars golden overnight.
It was Jack London, the author of Call of the Wild and White Fang, whose home was on Sonoma Mountain, who claimed the name Sonoma meant The Valley of the Seven Moons. That had come to him from a local Indian Chief. He was probably part of the Patwin tribe which was known for their story telling and tall tales. They were an especially mystical group, bordered by their sophisticated neighbors, the Miwok, to the west and the handsome Wappo to the east.
The Valley is shaped like a crescent moon, it’s narrow and shaded and enriched by Sonoma Creek. In comparison to the wider, sunnier Napa Valley over the mountains the east, it is very feminine and lunar. Sonoma and Napa have a very yin yang relationship.
Why is it the Valley of the Seven Moons? One of the stories is that there are seven places where you can see the Moon rise. My opinion of that story is that people drink too much here. The more likely explanation is that the name is a combination of concepts, incorrectly translated. When you add them up the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are the seven visible astronomical bodies that change positions regularly.
That brings us back to the mystical Patwin who were clearly star gazers. They lived in a dark valley shaped like the crescent Moon, where the sharp, narrow hills make it easy to measure the motions of the Sun, Moon and planets. When you live in a land without electricity in the houses, street lights and cars you become very aware or the travelers in the night sky. When that Patwin Chief, a tribe known for their shaman, tried to explain his valley’s name, the difference in language, cultures and mystical understanding was sure to lead to an incomplete understanding. Fortunately Jack London was a gifted author and knew how to turn a phrase and capture the heart of place.
How did that become the Valley of the Moon? Well, it’s simpler, it is easier to say and thus market, and it just fits. When you travel up the valley it encloses you in a very feminine way, green, fertile and complex. Every place you look it’s curved in the most enticing ways. Every turn in the winding road brings a surprise. And when the valley stretches out it is that much more appealing, you have to be there to fully appreciate her beauty.
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