It could well be a sign of things to come for the Solano County wine region. The Wagners are already buyers of Solano County fruit, and they’re looking to plant up to 50 acres of Zinfandel and red Rhône grape varieties in the area. Production will mainly be for the Meiomi, Mer Soleil, Conundrum and Belle Glos labels, all owned by Caymus’ Wagner family. Being built mainly to reduce the production load in their Napa Valley facility, the first phase will be over 100,000 square feet, and future phases over the next few years will double the size and increase the capacity to 32,000 tons of fruit and 5 million gallons of wine. But in addition to these wineries, we’ve been seeing more producers from elsewhere source fruit from these Solano appellations and proudly label their origins, including wines from Broc Cellars, Rock Wall, Rosenblum, and Rock Wren, slowly raising the prominence of these growing regions.Īnd a major Napa player soon will be moving into the area – Caymus recently gained approval for a large winery near Fairfield and they plan to begin construction in 2014. Suisun Valley has a small Vintners & Growers Association, while Solano County Green Valley still lacks such an organization. It’s only recently that local wineries have been making any impact, and there are still only a relative handful of them (barely 20 in the entire county). Even today, many growers in the two appellations sell most or all of their fruit to wineries outside of the region, mainly to those in Napa and Sonoma – nearly always that fruit has been used in larger blends so that few know of the Solano County connection. Winegrape production has been slow to recover. Viticulture in the region dates back to the 19th century, though as in so many areas, Prohibition meant the end for most grape-growers. The area’s fertile soils and mild climate led to plenty of agricultural uses over the years, and fruits, grains, and legumes have been grown there. Soils are similar to those in parts of Napa Valley as well. Still, the southern portions of both AVAs do feel the Bay influence (Suisun is said to be an Indian name meaning “west wind”) while things warm up noticeably the farther north you go – sort of miniature Napa Valleys in that respect. These areas are roughly as far south as the Napa Carneros region, but being farther from San Pablo Bay, they don’t get quite as cool as that area. Just to the east is larger Suisun (pronounced soo-soon) Valley, which runs from relatively flat countryside near the city of Fairfield on the south to warmer and hillier land extending into the Vaca Mountains. Green Valley is the westernmost of the two Solano County growing areas, just across the mountains from southern Napa Valley – it’s actually less than 10 miles from downtown Napa. Things worked out this time – a good thing since Elyse was preparing to move away very shortly afterwards. I had hoped to visit Elyse Egan Perry of Egan Cellars and Matthew Rorick of Forlorn Hope earlier in the year, but we weren’t able to coordinate our schedules at that time. I also visited a couple of vintners there who source much of their fruit from other areas although they do buy some local grapes as well – Egan Cellars and Forlorn Hope Wines. I had time for a day-trip after the 2013 crush season was over, and took the opportunity to explore the wines of Solano County Green Valley and Suisun Valley. Along with its neighbor, Suisun Valley – also recognized in 1982 – these two growing regions in Solano County are little-known, yet they both actually border the Napa Valley AVA and share much in common with that famed region. ![]() Established one year earlier in 1982, Solano County Green Valley was the original Green Valley AVA in California. ![]() There’s the well-known Green Valley of Russian River Valley AVA, but that’s not the oldest Green Valley appellation in the state. Most people familiar with California wine know about the wines of Green Valley…or do they? What many don’t realize is that there are not one but two Green Valley wine regions in California. Vezér Family Vineyard / Wasted Grape / Stuessy Cellars Since 2001, and is the assistant winemakerįor both Eno Wines in Berkeley and Harrington Wine in San Francisco. Ken's interest in wine is more than passive, and he'sīeen working at several urban East Bay wineries Has been touring and tasting wines for nearly 20 years, and has come to love not only the wines, but also the A few wine courses through UC Extension in the early '90s, Bay Area architect Ken Zinns developed a serious interest wine.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |