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California Wine Atlas

Knights Valley

Sub-AVA · Sonoma County · District 3

27 CFR 9.76 · established 1983-10-21

Heat class III · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

3,334°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

16 GridMET cells cover this region

III

177mm

season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31

56 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 Knights Valley

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What's in the ground

6.1

pH, 1:1 water

11.2cm

, whole profile

88cm

to

Well drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 106 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

6.1
2.8%
24.9%
available water
11.2cm
depth to restriction
88cm

Dominant

  • 19.2%
  • 8.5%
  • 7.5%
  • 6.4%
  • 6.0%

106 map units · soil described over 93.6% of the region’s area · 6.0% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 90% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Loam

39% sand · 36% silt · 25% clay

Sandier than 37% of California appellations and clayier than 73%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.

Plus 20% 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

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 (360 words)

(c) Boundary. The Knights Valley viticultural area is located in northeastern Sonoma County, California. From the beginning point lying at the intersection of the Sonoma/Lake County line and the north line of Section 11, Township 10 North (T. 10 N.), Range 8 West (R. 8 W.) on the “Mount St. Helena Quadrangle” map, the boundary runs— (1) Westerly along the north line of Sections 11, 10, and 9, T. 10 N., R. 8 W. to the northwest corner of Section 9 on the “Jimtown Quadrangle” map; (2) Then southerly along the west line of Sections 9, 16, 21, 28, and 33, T. 10 N., R. 8 W., continuing along the west line of Section 4, T. 9 N., R. 8 W. to the southwest corner thereof; (3) Then easterly along the south line of Section 4 to the southeast corner thereof on the “Mount St. Helena Quadrangle” map; (4) Then southerly along the west line of Sections 10, 15, and 22, T. 9 N., R. 8 W. to the point of intersection with Franz Creek in Section 22 on the “Mark West Springs Quadrangle” map; (5) Then easterly along Franz Creek approximately 14,000 feet to the centerline of Franz Valley Road; (6) Then southerly along the centerline of Franz Valley Road to the point of intersection with the west line of Section 6, T. 8 N., R. 7 W.; (7) Then southerly along the west line of Section 6 to the southwest corner thereof; (8) Then easterly along the south line of Sections 6, 5, and 4, T. 8 N., R. 7 W. to the southeast corner of Section 4; (9) Then northerly along the east line of Section 4 to the point of intersection with the Sonoma/Napa County line; (10) Then northerly along the meanders of the Sonoma/Napa County line on the “Mark West Springs Quadrangle,” “Detert Reservoir Quadrangle,” and “Mount St. Helena Quadrangle” maps to the point of intersection with the Lake County line on the “Mount St. Helena Quadrangle” map; (11) Then northerly along the meanders of the Sonoma/Lake County line on the “Mount St. Helena Quadrangle” and “Detert Reservoir Quadrangle” maps to the point of beginning.