Dry Creek Valley Tours

Best known for its Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley is home to more than 9,000 acres of vineyards, and boasts a grape growing history that goes back 140 years. Vines were planted not long after the California Gold Rush, but Prohibition slowed grapes from taking root.

It was the 1970s when the area started to explode. Dry Creek Valley was one of the first California wine regions to be recognized as an official American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1983. More than 70 wineries, many family-owned, call Dry Creek Valley home. Though at just 16 miles long by two miles wide it’s one of the smallest AVAs size wise, it has one of the densest concentrations of Old Vine Zinfandel in the world.

Dry Creek Valley is located 70 miles north of San Francisco and 20 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. The geographic combination makes for long, warm days and cool nights thanks to coastal cold air and fog. Or in other words, great grape-growing conditions.