Sonoma

Sonoma may be a giant in the artisan bread game, but the bakers have maintained a high level of quality in their product. Sonoma’s first sourdough starter was smuggled back from Northern California, where co-founder Andrew Connole learnt how to bake, in the ’90s. The signature miche loaf is a good deal darker than the other sourdoughs on this list – you can tell it has spent time in a wood-fired oven from the deep coloured crust and its intoxicating, slightly smoky aroma.