These collisions caused volcanic eruptions that covered the ground with layers upon layers of volcanic ash. The Russian River Valley was formed millions of years ago when the North American and Pacific tectonic plates repeatedly collided. Well, to understand, we need a bit of geography lesson. It has more soil types blanketing the ground than the whole country of France, which has 74 million acres, for those who may be wondering. Within the mere 165,000 acres of the Russian River Valley AVA, there is a huge range of soil compositions throughout the area. The Russian River Valley is to soil as the Amazon Rainforest is to animals. Why is the Russian River Valley so famous for Pinot Noir?

One of the reasons for the success of Pinot Noir in this region was that winemakers struck gold with the soil. Each glass (and vineyard) tells its own story, and the visionary winemakers of the Russian River Valley have crafted Pinot Noirs like no other. While one would normally think of Pinot Noir vs Cabernet Sauvignon vs Syrah and label the former as a lighter, more subtle wine, that may not be the case with the Pinots here.īut make no mistake – you cannot characterize all of Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs as a whole. These Russian River Pinot Noirs became heavier, fuller-bodied, and almost “Syrah-like” – even though they didn’t contain Syrah. This new trellising system enhanced not only the color-producing phenols but also increased the sugar content of the Pinot Noir grapes (and in turn the alcohol content). Some tried blending in a bit of darker grapes like Alicante Bouschet or Syrah, while others created new trellising systems which exposed the grapes to more sunlight. So winemakers set out to enhance the color. This led to some lower scores from wine critics, despite the phenomenal Pinot Noir tasting notes. One thing Russian River Pinot Noirs didn’t have was a bold color. Pinot Noir is a ruby red color made from a red wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera.

Russian river