About the Region
The Russian River Valley, located in the heart of Sonoma County, is renowned for its ideal climate and soils, for growing world-class Pinot Noir. With a winemaking history dating back over 150 years, the valley has been an American Viticultural Area (AVA) since 1983. The combination of cool Pacific fog, ancient soils, and diverse topography creates the perfect environment for Pinot Noir and other exceptional varietals.
The region is organized into six distinct sub-regions, called neighborhoods, each producing wines with unique characteristics. Beyond the vineyards, the valley is a beautiful landscape of rolling hills, redwood groves, and apple orchards, just 55 miles north of San Francisco. Though winemakers make a diverse range of varieties in the Russian River Valley, Pinot Noir is at the heart of this region.
Timeline of The Russian River Valley
10,000 BCE: Native Lands
The Pomo, Miwok, and Wappo peoples were the first human settlers, living along the river and coast and on the valley’s rich hunting and gathering lands. The Pomo people called what we now know as the Russian River “Ashokawna” or “water to the east” and “Bidapte” or “big river.”
1812: Fort Ross Established
Russian fur traders established the fort 11 miles north of Jenner and in 1836 planted the area’s first vineyards near present-day Graton.
1849: California Gold Rush
John Sutter, who had purchased Fort Ross from the Russians in 1841 when they abandoned Sonoma County, discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento, and set off the gold rush of 1849.
1882: Korbel is Established
The Korbel brothers finish their winery, making European-style wines, including using méthode champenoise for “California Champagne”.
1887: Giuseppe & Luisa Martinelli arrive from Italy
The Martinellis continued to plant a vineyard begun by the Banfield family in 1883 to Zinfandel and Muscat Alexandria, on a 60-degree slope – a vineyard still in production today and known as “Jackass Hill,” since only a jackass would farm a hill that steep (It is illegal to plant anything over a 30 degrees today). Viticulture was well established in the Russian River Valley by this time. It is recorded that at that time the region produced more than 500,000 gallons of wine with about 7,000 vineyard acres planted.
1920: Prohibition Enacted
In the early 1900s there were more than 22,000 acres of wine grapes and 250+ wineries in Sonoma County. Prohibition would all but decimate the industry, with only 50 wineries surviving by making sacrament wine and by selling to home winemakers. Much of the Goldridge belt (i.e. the Sebastopol Hills and the Green Valley) near Sebastopol was planted to apples, primarily Gravenstein, and the Middle Reach was planted with prunes and hops.
1933: The 21st Amendment Repeals Prohibition and Post-World War Two
Wineries slowly return. By the late 1930’s grapes were being grown again in the southern portion of the Eastern Hills Neighborhood, where they had originally been planted in the 1870s at Fountaingrove Winery, made famous by winemaker Kanaye Nagasawa.
Post-World War II baby boomers are credited with much of the growth of the domestic wine industry, with the returning soldiers influenced by their time in Europe. As wine consumption grew, so did the interest in varietal wines.
1959: Rochioli Vineyard Planted
Joe Rochioli Jr. plants Sauvignon Blanc vines on Westside Road, some of the oldest still in production. He later added Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
1973: Pinot’s Year
Russian River pioneer Joseph Swan released his first Pinot Noir; Davis Bynum released the first vineyard-designate wine from the Russian River Valley; and Olivet Lane Vineyard was purchased by the Pellegrini family, where they planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
1976: The Judgement of Paris
A blind tasting in Paris shocks the wine world when a Chardonnay from California takes the top score. The wine, a 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, is made in part from Russian River Valley fruit grown by the Bacigalupi family.
1983: Russian River Valley AVA Established
The Russian River AVA is established, covering 96,400 acres; it was later expanded to cover 126,600 acres. The same year, Green Valley earned its AVA designation.
1999: Russian River Valley Winegrowers Established
Passionate local winegrowers, including Saralee Kunde, establish Russian River Valley Winegrowers to promote the AVA as the premier region for growing cool climate winegrapes.
Present Day: A Vibrant Community of Winegrowers
More than 200 wineries and vineyards are in operation in the Russian River Valley AVA, and the number continues to grow!