Chiles Valley

Although small, Chiles Valley is one of the premier wine regions in the state of California. More than 6,000 acres comprise Chiles Valley; however, only a little more than 1,000 acres are planted vineyards. While Cabernet Sauvignon thrives in other regions, Zinfandel is king in Chiles Valley.

When touring Chiles Valley, you will find a small group of small wineries. The well drained soil and warm climate in this region have made it capable of producing outstanding Zinfandel wines in addition to excellent Cabernet Sauvignon.

During the evenings and at night, the cooling winds blow through this region, creating a situation where the growing season in Chiles Valley is able to begin and end later than most adjacent regions.

You will find that the terrain in Chiles Valley is much different from that in the surrounding area. The valley itself is quite narrow and runs from the southwest to the northwest. The ridges that surround the valley are quite steep so it is not possible to grow the grapes in Chiles valley anywhere but on the floor of the valley.

The climate in Chiles Valley is decidedly cooler than St. Helena and Rutherford, both of which are on the floor of Napa Valley. As a result, it is not uncommon for the temperature to drop twenty degrees overnight during the winter. Along the ridges, where the elevation is higher, snowfall is also common. When spring first arrives in Chiles Valley, the temperatures remain quite cool; especially when compared to other regions in Napa Valley. The breaking of buds tends to occur some three weeks later in Chiles Valley than other regions; however, vintners in this region still must be concerned with spring frost due to the lateness of the cool temperatures.

As summer arrives, Chiles Valley experiences warm and sunny days with afternoons that are cooler as the fog begins to roll in from the Pacific Ocean and San Pablo Bay. While other regions are not affected by the fog as a result of their elevation, this is not the case with Chiles Valley. Due to the fact that the fog must travel some thirty miles before it even reaches Chiles Valley, the region only occasionally experiences truly foggy days.

While spring and winter are usually much cooler in Chiles Valley than surrounding areas, surprisingly, temperatures remain moderate well into fall. This is fortunate for the vintners because it provides them with a few extra weeks for the fruit to develop before they must harvest it. This is one of the reasons that Zinfandel does so well in Chiles Valley.

Colonel Joseph Ballinger Chiles received a Mexican land grant in 1844. This would be the last Mexican land grant in the region. What made Chiles’ arrival to the region unique was the manner in which he arrived. He traveled to the region as one of the first wagon trains to cross the Sierra Nevada. Before this time, all of the immigrants to the region had arrived via Mexico or the sea.

Twenty-five years later the first vineyards were planted in Chiles Valley. During the 1870s, Lomita’s Winery was also established. Later it would become part of the modern day Volker Eisele Family Estate.

During these early days, the isolation of Chiles Valley was both an advantage as well as a disadvantage. Even though much of the rest of the region was booming during the late 19th century, Chiles Valley was so isolated it made it difficult to thrive.

Yet, while other wine regions in California were largely decimated by phylloxera, Chiles Valley was fortunately spared much of the destruction due to its isolation. As a result, a number of the Zinfandel vines in Chiles Valley are actually quite old. Even after Prohibition was repealed; the isolation of Chiles Valley meant that it was unable to compete with the mass produced jug wines that became popular in post-Prohibition years. It was not until the 1970s that any major production was begun on any scale in Chiles Valley. The Meyer family purchased a large plot of acreage in 1972 and began planning a wide variety of different grapes. Three years later, the Eisele Family planted their first Cabernet Sauvignons. Today, barely more than 1,000 acres are planted in vines in Chiles Valley; however, the wineries that are established here are known to be quite noteworthy.

Washington Wine Tour

Everyone has heard of California wines but not many people realize that Washington is an up-an-coming wine region that is starting to become known in the professional wine world. There is a multitude of small wineries in Washington, especially in the Yakima Valley and Columbia Gorge regions. The area does not produce wine on the scale of California in quantity but the quality of many wines is rivaling the best of the Californian vintages.

Most people don’t think of Washington as a good growing area. Popular culture out of Hollywood has Seattle’s rainy climate spread to the whole state. Nothing could be further from the truth. The eastern part of the state gets over 300 nice days per year because of the Cascade Mountains which block a lot of the moisture from the west. The nice weather and easy access to water makes this region an ideal one for growing wine grape varieties.

Within the nine recognized viticultural areas, a great assortment of grape varietals can be grown. Red wine grapes grown in Washington include Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Merlot varietels. White wine grapes that do particularly well in the region include Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Semillon and Chardonnay. Each region has different micro-climates that are suited to specific varietals.

Whether for yourself or as a gift, a wine tour in Washington would be a wonderful way to experience the premium quality wines of this region. Most wineries are small and family-owned so you will usually get a much more personal and intimate look at the wine making process. The smaller wineries also tend to have a greater consistency within specific vintages of wine.

Smaller wineries will often allow the wine lover access to the owners and even the wine makers for conversation and education. Sometimes wine tastings are done right in the wine maker’s home! Try to find that in California amongst the thousands of other tourists.

The wineries in Washington make wine tours a bit more difficult than in California. The Napa Valley in California is a very small region so wineries are quite close together. There is a much larger portion of Washington with wineries so to tour multiple wineries will often involve some traveling around.

The advantages of giving a gift of a Washington wine tour is that it is much less expensive than a California tour. This is partially due to the relative newness of the Washington wine industry and partially because there are less tourists there. Also, it is much more unlikely to get the up close and personal feeling in California as there are so many people taking tours. While the Washington wine tours are still unknown, you can get a bargain on wine tours for gifts.

The Washington wine industry is exploding upon the wine world in recent years. Even though wine making is relatively new there, the region has become the second largest wine producer in the United States. The amount of land devoted to growing grapes for wine has tripled in the last ten years and is showing no signs of slowing down. Give a wine gift that will surely go up in price over the next few years.