The Chiles Valley District is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County, California and a sub-region within

Napa Valley AVA Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area, American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County, California, Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms , Bureau of Alcohol, ...

. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on April 19, 1999 after the ATF received the petition from Mr. Volker Eisele, owner of the Volker Eisele Vineyard and Winery proposing a new viticultural area in Napa County to be known as "Chiles Valley District." The Chiles Valley is nestled in the

Vaca Mountains The Vaca Mountains are a mountain range in Napa and Solano Counties, California that is one of the California Coast Ranges. They represent the easternmost of the Inner Coast Ranges in north−central California, and divide the Suisun Valley o ...

above the northeast side of the Napa Valley. The

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

has a cooler

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologica ...

than the main Napa Valley floor due to elevations of as well as a cooling breeze from the Pacific Ocean. The most planted grapes in Chiles Valley are

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Leban ...

Zinfandel Zinfandel (also known as Primitivo) is a variety of black-skinned wine grape. The variety is grown in over 10 percent of California vineyards. DNA analysis has revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grapes Crljenak Kašte ...

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new ...

, and

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

History

Chiles Valley was named after Joseph Ballinger Chiles, who received the Rancho Catacula Mexican land grant in the 1841. The area was historically a local source for tin, which was mined by residents in the area as of the 1881.

Gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and dr ...

has also been found in the southern end of the valley. In August 2020, Chiles Valley was evacuated due to the Hennessey Fire, which resulted in the burning of over in five counties, including in Chiles Valley.

References

American Viticultural Areas of the San Francisco Bay Area Vaca Mountains Geography of Napa County, California 1999 establishments in California American Viticultural Areas {{wine-region-stub