Dry Creek Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

, located northwest of the town of

Healdsburg Healdsburg is a city located in Sonoma County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 11,340. Healdsburg is centered on a 19th-century plaza. History Early inhabitants of the local area included the Pomo ...

. It was established on August 3, 1983 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted on behalf of the Dry Creek Valley Association, Inc., a local grape/wine industry member group, proposing a viticultural area to be known as "Dry Creek Valley." The inverted "U"-shaped valley extends southeasterly just east of the Warm Springs Creek/ Dry Creek confluence, a tributary of the Russian River south of Healdsburg and is approximately long by wide. The

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

benefits from the proximity of the

Lake Sonoma Lake Sonoma is a reservoir west of Cloverdale, California, Cloverdale in northern Sonoma County, California, created by the construction of Warm Springs Dam. The lake provides water for countywide growth and development, and for recreation. At f ...

reservoir for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

in this relatively dry area.

History

At the turn of the 20th century, Dry Creek Valley was one of California's most prominent producers of

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 Kašt ...

. During

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, much of the valley was converted to plum, pear, and prune trees, and much of the fruit was processed by

Sunsweet Growers Sunsweet Growers Incorporated is an American agricultural marketing cooperative founded in 1917 as the California Prune and Apricot Growers Association. Sunsweet is headquartered in Yuba City, California, USA. The company operates the largest dr ...

in Healdsburg. Since the resurgence of wine grape production in the 1970s,

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 Lebano ...

and Zinfandel have become the most planted varieties, and Dry Creek Valley AVA has become one of the state's top Zinfandel producers.

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

has become the most important white grape varietal produced in the valley.

Wineries

Over 50 wineries are resident in Dry Creek Valley AVA, and over 160 wineries produce wines that bear a Dry Creek Valley AVA designation. Dry Creek Valley AVA is home to the majority of the Sonoma vineyards of

E & J Gallo Winery Gallo is an American wine producer and distributor headquartered in Modesto, California. Previously called E & J Gallo Winery, it was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo of the Gallo family, and is the largest exporter of Califor ...

, who established winery facilities in the valley in the early 1990s.

References

External links

Dry Creek Valley (WDCV)

TTB AVA Map
American Viticultural Areas of Sonoma County, California 1983 establishments in California {{wine-region-stub

History

Wineries

See also

References

External links