BENNETT VALLEY APPELLATION COMES OUT

Matanzas Creek Winery

California is dotted with valleys and mountains that provide unique growing conditions for wine grapes, some little known outside local circles. One is Bennett Valley in the Sonoma Mountain chain between Santa Rosa and Glen Ellen.

The valley recently received approval as a distinct appellation or American Viticultural Area, and growers and wineries in the valley held a party to celebrate.
There are 36 growers with 700 acres of vines and three small wineries in the 8000-acre appellation, but the area is dominated by Matanzas Creek Winery owned by Jess Jackson and his wife Barbara Banke, who attended the event.

The valley is surprisingly cool because of its altitude, fog and openings to cold Pacific breezes, and cooler-climate grapes such as Merlot and Chardonnay are its most widely planted vines, though naturally Pinot Noir and even Syrah also do well.
Most vineyards are planted at 500 to 600 ft. and, in fact, it’s not really a valley but an alluvial bench rising from Matanzas Creek and surrounded on three sides by mountains. – PF