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American wine:
California
comes from the vineyard lands
of Napa Valley! Most of Napa
Valley’s wineries are small
operations, although a few
large wineries, such as Robert
Mondavi Winery, Beringer,
and Sutter Home, are based in
Napa County.
Many Napa Valley winer-
ies own large vineyards,
which surround their
properties like gor-
geous manicured
lawns. Other wineries
don’t own vineyards
but instead buy
their grapes from
independent grape
growers or buy juice
or bulk wine from
other wine produc-
ers. And some Napa
Valley wine produc-
ers don’t have their
own wineries; they
bring their grapes to
custom-crush wine
facili-
ties, which they rent — all
for the distinction of making “Napa
Valley wine.”
Napa Valley’s climate
Although not a large area, Napa Valley
has an enviable range of soil types and
climatic differences:
Mountains surround Napa Valley on both
sides — the Mayacamas Mountains to the
west and the Vaca Mountains to the east.
The Napa River runs north-south through
the valley. Soils vary according to how
close to the river a vineyard is or how far
into the hills or mountains it is, among
other factors.
The climate in Napa Valley is generally
warm and dry, but a dominant feature
of the region is the combination of cool
winds and fog that sweeps up the valley
from the San Pablo Bay in the south.
Summer weather in the southern part
of the valley, in wine districts such as
Carneros, Yountville, and Oakville, can be
distinctly cooler than that of the Calistoga
area at the north end of the valley.
Napa Valley sits next to Sono-
ma County. The Mayacamas
Mountains separate the two
coun-
ties
from
each
other
for
most of
their
length, but in the
south,
the terrain is open and
flatter,
and driving from one county to the other
is easier. In fact, the two counties share
a wine district, Los Carneros, at their
southern ends.
Napa Valley is considered one of the top
wine growing regions in the world. The
combination of Mediterranean climate,
geography, and geology of the valley are
conducive to growing quality wine grapes.
The Napa Valley is located in Northern
California, about 50 miles northeast of
the San Francisco Bay Area and about
60 miles west of Sacramento. The Napa
Valley is 30 miles long and 5 miles at its
widest point.
In 1968, Napa Valley vintners and others
in the community had the foresight to
preserve open space and prevent future
over-development by enacting the nation’s
first Agriculture Preserve.
The Charles Krug Winery, established in
1861, was Napa Valley’s first commercial
winery. The number of wineries grew rap-
idly until,