A diverse landscape, the Willamette Valley is comprised of farmlands, orchards and even Christmas tree farms. Rolling hillsides are capped with vineyards, and historic towns dot the winding country roads.

There’s a renegade spirit to the Anderson Valley. Locals embrace the isolation, a draw for artists, orchardists and the long-time residents who can tell stories about the area’s colorful history. It’s also an ideal location for growing grapes, with cooling maritime influence, dramatic geological contours and rocky soils.

From craggy coastlines to grassy pastures, redwood forests to quiet valleys, the Sonoma Coast is stunningly beautiful, and, perhaps not coincidentally, ideal for winemaking.

A cooling fog blankets vineyards during the evenings and mornings, but afternoons are filled with abundant sunshine, leading to temperature shifts of up to 40 degrees in a single day.

Adjacent to the San Pablo bay, in the foothills of the Mayacamas Range, grapes were first planted here in the 1830s. It was the first of California’s cool regions to be widely recognized for exceptional Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varietal expression.

From the Monterey Bay, this long valley stretches south through farmland and rolling hills, always buffeted by the cold winds that sweep in off the Pacific Ocean.

Gusts of ocean winds straight off the Monterey Bay are funneled between the Santa Lucia and Gabilan Mountains, howling over these vineyards every afternoon.