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California Wine Atlas

Dunnigan Hills

AVA · Yolo County · District 9, 17

27 CFR 9.145 · established 1993-05-13

Heat class V · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

4,257°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

29 GridMET cells cover this region

V

81mm

season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31

26 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

This boundaryClick to open

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 Dunnigan Hills

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What's in the ground

7.1

pH, 1:1 water

19.6cm

, whole profile

121cm

to

Well drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 36 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

7.1
1.4%
33.1%
available water
19.6cm
depth to restriction
121cm

Dominant

  • 51.6%
  • 13.5%
  • 8.8%
  • 4.6%
  • 3.7%

36 map units · soil described over 99.0% of the region’s area · 0.9% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 68% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Clay loam

27% sand · 40% silt · 33% clay

Sandier than 3% of California appellations and clayier than 95%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.

Plus 5% 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 (512 words)

(c) Boundary. The Dunnigan Hills viticultural area is located in Yolo County, California. The boundary is as follows: (1) The beginning point is on the Dunnigan, Calif., U.S.G.S. map at the intersection of Buckeye Creek and U.S. Route 99W just south of the Colusa-Yolo county line; (2) From the beginning point, the boundary follows Route 99W in a southeasterly direction until an unnamed westbound light-duty road coincident with a grant boundary (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 17) diverges from Route 99W just north of the town of Yolo, California, on the Woodland, Calif., U.S.G.S. map; (3) The boundary then follows the County Road 17 for approximately 2 miles to an unnamed southbound light duty road (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 95A); (4) The boundary then follows County Road 95A south for approximately 1/2 mile to an unnamed westbound light duty road (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 17A); (5) The boundary then proceeds west along County Road 17A for approximately 3/8 mile to an unnamed southbound light duty road (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 95); (6) The boundary then proceeds south along County Road 95 for approximately 1 mile to an unnamed light duty road which goes in a southwesterly direction (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 19); (7) The boundary then proceeds southwest along County Road 19 for approximately 1/4 mile to an unnamed light duty road which travels south-southwest (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 94B); (8) The boundary then proceeds southwest along County Road 94B approximately 1 1/4 mile until it intersects Cache Creek; (9) The boundary then follows Cache Creek in a westerly direction 5.5 miles until it intersects an unnamed north-south light duty road approximately 1 mile north of the city of Madison, California (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 89); (10) The boundary then follows County Road 89 two miles in a northerly direction back on to the Dunnigan, Calif., U.S.G.S. map where it intersects an unnamed light duty road (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 16); (11) The boundary follows County Road 16 west for approximately 2 miles onto the Guinda, Calif., U.S.G.S. map, where it turns north onto an unnamed light-duty road between sections 31 and 32 of T10N/R1W (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 87); (12) The boundary follows County Road 87 north for 2 miles to an unnamed east-west light duty road (referred to by the petitioner as County Road 14); (13) The boundary follows County Road 14 west for 3 miles, and then leaves the unnamed road and turns north on the dividing line between sections 22 and 23 of T11N/R2W. (14) The boundary continues due north until it intersects Little Buckeye Creek just south of the Yolo-Colusa county line; (15) The boundary then follows Little Buckeye Creek in an easterly direction until it joins Buckeye Creek; (16) The boundary then follows Buckeye Creek in an easterly direction back to the point of beginning on the Dunnigan, Calif., U.S.G.S. map.