The Green Valley of Russian River Valley AVA (formerly Sonoma County Green Valley AVA) is an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

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 ...

, United States. Located at the southwestern corner of the

Russian River Valley AVA Russian River Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Sonoma County, California. Centered on the Russian River, the Russian River Valley AVA accounts for about one-sixth of the total planted vineyard acreage in Sonoma County. The appel ...

, its close proximity to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

makes it one of the coolest

appellations 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, ...

within

Sonoma County 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 ...

. The climate in the Green Valley is even cooler than other parts of the Russian River Valley, and favors the cultivation of cool climate

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

s like

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

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 a ...

and

Gewürztraminer Gewürztraminer () is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and which performs best in cooler climates. In English, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz ( ; although this is never the case in German, because mean ...

History

Green Valley was first designated as a wine region with the name Sonoma County Green Valley AVA on November 21, 1983, a name that was similar in structure to the

Solano County Green Valley AVA The Solano County Green Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Solano County, California. Located southeast of the Napa Valley AVA, Green Valley is about wide and long. The valley is close to San Pablo Bay and thus has a marit ...

created in 1982. Many wines that could have been labelled with the Sonoma County Green Valley AVA designation were instead labelled with the broader appellation designation of the

, due to the greater market awareness of Russian River Valley wines. A group of wine producers from the region petitioned the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, statutorily named the Tax and Trade Bureau and frequently shortened to TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, which regulates and collects taxes on trade and imports of alc ...

for a name change to associate the Green Valley with the more popular Russian River Valley. The name of the appellation was changed with an amendment to the federal law designating American Viticultural Areas, effective April 23, 2007, to be the Green Valley of Russian River Valley AVA.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 38.42, N, 122.9, W, type:landmark_region:US-CA, display=title American Viticultural Areas of Sonoma County, California 1983 establishments in California

History

See also

References

External links