Petaluma Gap AVA

The federal government organization known as the TTB, part of the Treasury Dept., regulates wine. One thing they decide on is the appellations, or American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), you see on the label. Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, for instance, were proposed to and approved by the gov't regulators.

The 18th AVA in Sonoma County, the Petaluma Gap, was recently approved. The Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance has been at this for awhile and now it's official.

Click on map to enlarge
image from winesandvines.com

The Petaluma Gap is a largely a sub-appellation of the Sonoma Coast appellation, but also includes some of Marin County. So wines previously labeled Sonoma Coast or Marin County may now be labeled Petaluma Gap (if they're grown within this new AVA). "Petaluma" comes from the river and town of that name in southern Sonoma County. The "Gap" comes from a several mile wide opening in the coastal hills allowing cool, foggy air to blow through the area during the summer. Average summer temps just break 8o degrees for a short time in the afternoon before the wind off the ocean picks up. Late afternoons can best be described as chilly and blustery. This is an ideal place to grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The terrain is a lot of rolling hills. The soils can be anything from hard adobe clay to loam to rocks.

There are over 50 wineries producing wine grown in this region. Some of the bigger ones are Bedrock, Cline, Deloach, Dutton-Goldfield, Hartford, Landmark, Moshin, Rodney Strong, Sojourn, and Twomey.