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Russian River Valley

United States: map with a pin on Russian River ValleyRussian River Valley and its surroundings: map with a pin
Russian River Valley · United StatesMap: Maison Apéro, based on Natural Earth (public domain)

Paul Hobbs Chardonnay Russian River Valley 2020 is a way into a region whose official definition rests on fog.

The background that matters

The Russian River Valley AVA, established in 1983, is a cool coastal growing area: fog moves up the Russian River and its tributaries in the early morning, keeping growing temperatures normally in Region I or cooler on the heat-summation scale, unlike warmer neighbours such as Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley. The boundary, now set out in 27 CFR 9.66, has since been expanded, including in 2005 and 2011, so a recent label covers a larger area than the original map.

Read it alongside this wine

Paul Hobbs made this 2020 from six vineyard sites with various exposures, many on soils derived from weathered sandstone, including the Goldridge series. The label therefore speaks for a blend of sites, not for one vineyard. This guide does not link any taste to fog or soil.

Try it with the review

As you read the review, separate statements about fruit and acidity from those about oak, lees or other cellar choices. Which group can a description of the growing area help explain, and which can only the producer’s technical sheet answer?

These are learning prompts, not guaranteed tasting results. Separate the published facts from your own observations.

Paul Hobbs Chardonnay Russian River Valley 2020

Sources

Soil and climate diagrams

Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley: ridges, sandstone and fog: Pacific Ocean, Sonoma Coast, Goldridge soils, Russian River Valley, Wilson Grove Formation, Non-marine deposits, Russian River Valley: a cool coastal growing area

Schematic block diagram, not to scale: the top shows the relief and the front face a cross-section, coloured by soil and rock type.

  • The Russian River Valley was defined as a cool coastal growing area into which early-morning fog intrudes; later work found that much of the summer fog is blown in through the Petaluma Gap, north towards Santa Rosa and north-west towards Sebastopol.
  • In the coastal ranges of western Sonoma, high sites stand above the fog layer, while ridgelines shelter lower slopes from the heaviest marine fog.
  • Goldridge soils are deep, moderately well-drained fine sandy loams formed from weakly consolidated sandstone on rolling uplands; the marine sandstone of the Wilson Grove Formation crops out west of the Santa Rosa Plain and dips beneath it, under younger river, lake and alluvial deposits.

Sources

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