Ways to celebrate National Wine Day in Sonoma County

National Wine Day is Thursday, a celebration of the grape, that bossy diva who’s running the show in Wine Country.

While unofficial, the national holiday is a celebration of all things wine and undoubtedly the most fun time to be patriotic. If you’re not uncorking a bottle of wine on this day, you should be … if you love your country, that is.

Cradled in grapes, Sonoma County offers a wellspring of ideas for how to celebrate the holiday with the verve of Dionysus. The Greek god of wine and pleasure understands fermented juice is sublime, and with that mindset, here are five ways to partake in the revelry.

1) Uncork an older wine from your cellar. Older wines have a complexity their younger counterparts can’t begin to offer. The best retain tangy fruit while providing a range of flavors including toffee, toast, tobacco, cedar and caramel.

2) Explore Healdsburg, the hub of three notable American Viticultural Areas (or AVAs) — Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley and Dry Creek Valley. The downtown plaza, practically lined with tasting rooms, is a great place to explore bottlings from these AVAs. Chardonnay and pinot noir lovers fancy Russian River Valley, while cabernet sauvignon enthusiasts target Alexander Valley and zin fanatics are crazy about Dry Creek Valley.

3) Stop in a tasting room and belly up to the bar. Pamper your palate with a flight of wines. With more than 425 wineries in Sonoma County, there are plenty of tasting rooms to choose from.

4) Plan a picnic. All you need is a corkscrew, a baguette, some cheeses, prosciutto and a bottle of chilled dry rosé. A great spot for a picnic is the Sonoma Plaza where ducks roam near the pond and rose garden. Etiquette alert: If you decide to picnic on the grounds of a winery, you’re expected to buy a bottle in the tasting room to drink on the premises.

5) Uncork a wine you’re unfamiliar with. That’s right, shake things up. Don’t worry. You won’t go into palate shock. You’ll just have more varietals in your repertoire like gruner veltliner, trousseau and albariño. The upside is it could inspire you to be more European, uncorking wine every day.

A final word advice for how to celebrate this auspicious day: Keep your glass more than half full.

You can reach wine writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pegmelnik.