Russian River Valley
The great wine making history of the Russian River Valley all started with immigrants in the 19th century planting “home gardens” to produce wine for personal consumption. The valley has certainly come a long way since then. Today the region accounts for about 15% of all Sonoma Country acreage. Russian River Valley is a subregion of the Sonoma Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area). It sits on the current and former valley floor of the Russian River (the river changed course at some point, for unknown reasons) close to the Napa Valley. Russian River was granted it’s own AVA in 1983
The Russian River as it lies today spills into the Pacific Ocean after taking a hard dogleg west at around the area of the Russian River AVA. The rivers direct access to the sea brings in a daily deluge of cool night air and morning fog that blanket the vineyards of the Russian River Valley. This cool air acts as a conditioning to the warm daytime temperatures to ensure that the grapes don’t get too hot—which can result in “baked” flavors in the wines. The cool ocean air also means there exists a large diurnal temperature fluctuation in the vineyards. This large fluctuation of temperatures from day to night is thought to give grapes and wines made from them more acid and structure.
Russian River is known for two grapes: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It shouldn’t be too surprising that these grapes were chosen for the area—the cool climate is much like the grapes homeland of Burgundy. Chardonnay accounts for almost half of the acreage in Russian River and Pinot Noir more than a quarter of the acreage. Chardonnay made in the region tends to be lean, high in acid and more balanced than the oaky, buttery style of Chardonnay from other areas of California. The Pinot Noir from Russian River is also noted for its bright acidity, also for its strong berry and cherry flavors. Some producers emphasize a restrained structure in an old world style while others favor bigger sugar and alcohol levels and more significant oak aging.
Russian River appellation has two sub areas within its boundaries, the Chalk Hill AVA and the Green Valley of Russian River AVA. The Chalk Hill region is located in the northeast of Russian River and gets its name from the chalky soils of the area. Chalk Hill is relatively warmer than the rest of Russian River and has success with warmer-climate grapes Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Green Valley AVA is in the southwest corner of Russian River and is even cooler than the rest of Russian River. This decidedly cool climate AVA grows Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well as some Gewürztraminer.
There are many excellent wineries in the Russian River producing exceptional bottles. In the Russian River AVA look for Williams Selyem, Rochioli, Foppiano, and Gary Farrell. In the Green Valley Kistler and Dutton Ranch make excellent Chardonnay. Mega producer Kendall Jackson has a stake in Russian River with its La Crema label as does E&J Gallo with their Laguna Ranch vineyard.
