Dry Creek
In Europe, the wine makers have had a good thousand years or so to figure out which grapes grow best in which locations. In America, we’re still figuring that out. There’s been some noteworthy progress on this front, especially given our relatively late start. There’s Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa, there’s Pinot Noir in Willamette, and, there’s Zinfandel in Dry Creek.
Zinfandel is grown all over the state of California, however, it seems the best Zin comes from the Dry Creek Valley. Dry Creek Valley is an American Viticulture Area (AVA), located just west of the northern end of Napa Valley, in Sonoma County, California.
What makes this valley the chosen site for Zinfandel? The short answer is climate and geography.
All the vines in the AVA are clustered around the creek and the hillside slopes that slope down to the creek. The gentle slopes help to maximize the sunlight to the vines. The soil allows rapid drainage—the soil even has a name: Dry Creek Conglomerate—because it’s composed of loose gravel.
When the Italian immigrants moved here in the 1870’s they selected the valley’s hillsides for the Zinfandel grape. The grapes tight bunches and thin skins lend to rot if the moisture it too high. That was great for Dry Creek because the area received little rain and the rain that did come moved through the loose soils quickly. Zinfandel is a very vigorous vine and will produce excess fruit and foliage if there is significant rainfall. Dry Creek was a great fit for this because of its low rainfall.
Finally, Zinfandel ripens relatively early than other grapes. This is key in Dry Creek because the fall storms come from the Pacific every year. Zin ripens early enough that the grapes have time to be picked before the storms come through.
It seems Dry Creek was made for the Zinfandel grape. And the proof is in the bottle. Dry Creek Zinfandels from producers like Rafanelli, Lytton Springs and Dry Creek Vineyard are complex, lean, powerful and rich on the nose and palette. A well-made Dry Creek Zin will banish any thoughts and conceptions you may have about the grapes capacity to produce quality wine.
