Capay Valley
AVA · Yolo County · District 9, 17
27 CFR 9.176 · established 2002-12-20
Heat class V · 1991-2020 normals
Climate normals in three numbers
, Apr 1 – Oct 31
42 GridMET cells cover this region
season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31
28 mm of it in the , Sep 1 – Oct 31
Warm and cool vintages since 1980
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Rain across the season, and at harvest
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The boundary
Hovering a shaded region names it; a click opens its page.
Measured vineyard area
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Drought categories, year by year
Yolo County — not Capay Valley
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What's in the ground
6.7
pH, 1:1 water
14.3cm
, whole profile
88cm
to
Well drained
, dominant condition
Distribution across 78 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar
Dominant
- 27.2%
- 18.5%
- 16.1%
- 7.1%
- 6.1%
78 map units · soil described over 75.2% of the region’s area · 22.2% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 82% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.
Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation
Clay loam
30% sand · 43% silt · 27% clay
Sandier than 5% of California appellations and clayier than 83%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.
Plus 9% rock fragments by volume, which the triangle does not describe — the three fractions are of the fine-earth material only.
Elevation, slope and aspect
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Bearing acreage by variety
Yolo County · District 9, 17
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Price per ton
Yolo County · District 9, 17
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The appellation in federal law
The boundary, in the government’s own words (263 words)
(c) Boundaries. The Capay Valley viticultural area is located in Yolo County, California. The beginning point is the junction of the Yolo, Napa, and Lake County lines. (1) From the beginning point, proceed north then east along the Yolo-Lake County line; (2) At the junction of the Yolo, Lake, and Colusa County lines, continue east along the Yolo-Colusa County line to its junction with the boundary between ranges R4W and R3W; (3) Then south along the R4W and R3W boundary to its junction with the 250 meter contour line; (4) Proceed generally southeast along the meandering 250 meter contour line to its junction with the T10N-T11N section line; (5) Continue east along the T10N-T11N section line to the unnamed north-south secondary highway known locally as County Road 85; (6) Then south along County Road 85, crossing Cache Creek, to its intersection with State Highway 16; (7) Proceed east on Highway 16 to its junction with the unnamed north-south light duty road known locally as County Road 85B; (8) Then south on County Road 85B to its junction with the unnamed east-west light duty road known locally as County Road 23; (9) Proceed west on County Road 23 for approximately 500 feet to an unnamed light duty road known locally as County Road 85; (10) Proceed south on County Road 85 until the road ends and continue south in a straight line to the T9N-T10N section line; (11) Then west on the T9N-T10N section line to the Napa-Yolo County line; (12) Continue northwest following the Napa-Yolo county line and return to the starting point.