Petaluma Gap

Sonoma County's newest American Viticultural Area (AVA) is called Petaluma Gap. Actually, it's Sonoma's and Marin's newest AVA as it is one of the few that cross county lines. It expends from the Bodega Bay area along the coast and through a low-lying area inland area including the town of Petaluma and almost to the town of Sonoma.

It's named for a gap in the coastal hills that allows the cool winds and chilly fog through to the Petaluma area. A typical day during the growing season is the morning cool and damp marine layer giving way to sun and rapidly warming temps from late morning to mid-afternoon. Then the wind picks up and there's a blast of A/C straight off the ocean followed by that marine layer of fog moving in during the evening. It never gets too hot and the daily warmth only lasts a few hours.

Largely a dairy farming region before (wait for it) Pinot Noir came along and this is essentially why the Petaluma Gap AVA is here--to distinguish its Pinot from others. What are those characteristics? I have little experience with these wines though I'm sure I've had some that were labeled either Russian River Valley or Sonoma Coast that were from land in this new AVA. I expect crisper (higher acid) wines that are a bit less fruit-forward compared to the more familiar Russian River Valley.

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