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California Wine Atlas

Green Valley of Russian River Valley

Sub-AVA · Sonoma County · District 3

27 CFR 9.57 · established 1983-11-21 · last amended 2007-03-23

Heat class II · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

2,819°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

11 GridMET cells cover this region

II

175mm

season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31

58 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

Sonoma County — not Green Valley of Russian River Valley

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What's in the ground

5.8

pH, 1:1 water

22.0cm

, whole profile

165cm

to

Moderately well drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 44 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

5.8
2.7%
18.2%
available water
22.0cm
depth to restriction
165cm

Dominant

  • 58.8%
  • 17.7%
  • 8.3%
  • 6.6%
  • Pajaro1.8%

44 map units · soil described over 99.9% of the region’s area · 0.1% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 40% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Sandy loam

59% sand · 23% silt · 18% clay

Sandier than 86% of California appellations and clayier than 24%. 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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Producers

A curated roster, not a census — only source-verified entries appear, 2772 published across the atlas.

Bearing acreage by variety

Sonoma County · District 3

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Price per ton

Sonoma County · District 3

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The appellation in federal law

The boundary, in the government’s own words (425 words)

(c) Boundary. The Green Valley of Russian River Valley viticultural area is located in Sonoma County, California. The beginning point is located in the northeastern portion of the “Camp Meeker Quadrangle” map where the line separating Section 31 from Section 32, in Township 8 North (T.8N.), Range 9 West (R.9W.) intersects River Road. (1) From the beginning point, the boundary runs south along the line separating Section 31 from Section 32, continuing south along Covey Road (shown on the map as an unnamed, light-duty road) to the town of Forestville where Covey Road intersects with State Highway 116 (Gravenstein Highway). (2) Thence east along State Highway 116 until it turns in a southeasterly direction and then proceeding along State Highway 116 in a southeasterly direction until the point at which State Highway 116 intersects State Highway 12 in the town of Sebastopol (located on the “Sebastopol Quadrangle” map); (3) Thence in a southwesterly direction on State Highway 12 through the town of Sebastopol; (4) Thence in a westerly direction on State Highway 12, which becomes Bodega Road, until Bodega Road intersects with Pleasant Hill Road; (5) Thence in a southerly direction on Pleasant Hill Road until it intersects with Water Trough Road; (6) Thence westerly and then northwesterly on Water Trough Road until it intersects with Gold Ridge Road; (7) Thence in a southwesterly, northwesterly, and then a northeasterly direction along Gold Ridge Road until it intersects with Bodega Road; (8) Thence in a southwesterly direction along Bodega Road until Bodega Road intersects with Jonive Road in Township 6 North (T.6N.), Range 9 West (R.9W.) located in the southeast portion of U.S.G.S. map “Camp Meeker Quadrangle”; (9) Thence proceeding in a northwesterly direction on Jonive Road until it intersects Occidental Road; (10) Thence proceeding on Occidental Road in a northwesterly direction until Occidental Road intersects the west border of Section 35; (11) Thence proceeding due north along the west borders of Sections 35, 26, 23, and 14 to the northwest corner of Section 14; (12) Thence in an easterly direction along the north border of Section 14 to the northeast corner of Section 14; (13) Thence north along the west borders of Sections 12, 1, and 36 to the northwest corner of Section 36 located in the extreme southern portion of the “Guerneville Quadrangle” map; (14) Thence in an easterly direction along the north border of Section 36 until it intersects with River Road; (15) Thence in a southeasterly direction along River Road to the point of beginning located on the “Camp Meeker Quadrangle” map.