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North America · Follow the place
Redwood Valley
An inland Mendocino valley connects heritage vineyards, Italian family histories and a broad red-grape conversation, with coastal air still playing a part.
The wine-coloured dot marks a general location, not legal vineyard boundaries.
A wider view to put the region in context. Both maps face north.
First, find your bearings
Where are we?
Redwood Valley lies north of Ukiah in inland Mendocino County. Calpella and the surrounding vineyard landscape help locate the southern approach; Willits lies farther north. The valley’s AVA has a defined boundary, while town names and historical vineyard districts provide other kinds of geographical information.
From the place to the glass
Start with these conversations.
Zinfandel and Petite Sirah
These are useful red-wine connections, alongside Cabernet Sauvignon. Read composition and vineyard origin for each cuvée; a regional introduction does not require every grower to plant the same grapes.
Barbera and Italian connections
Barbera gives another route into Redwood Valley. The Graziano family’s history and its wider Mendocino vineyards extend this conversation into other Italian varieties and experimental plantings.
Carignane and heritage vines
The broader inland Mendocino story includes older Carignane vineyards. A historical vineyard name or a family connection should still be distinguished from a claim that every parcel lies inside a particular AVA.
Look a little closer
A region has places within it.
North of Ukiah
Use the Ukiah–Redwood Valley route to orient the landscape. The town and the AVA are related names, but a postal address is not a substitute for the legal origin recorded on a wine.
Calpella and family vineyard history
The Graziano family’s Vincenzo vineyard account focuses on Calpella. It connects generations of grape growing with later replanting and trials. Follow the producer’s sourcing statement before assigning an AVA to an individual wine.
A county connection, not a duplicate
Redwood Valley and Anderson Valley are distinct Mendocino AVAs. Keeping their guides beneath the county introduction makes it easier to compare vineyards and people without mixing neighbouring discoveries together.
A name with a story
What the label can tell you.
Redwood Valley is a recognised AVA within the Mendocino and North Coast AVAs. The appellation identifies a delimited origin, not a grape recipe or a guarantee of old vines. Vineyard age, variety, farming, vintage and cellar treatment are additional facts that a producer can supply.
A small Cork Dork discovery
Let the map join the tasting.
Find a wine explicitly labelled Redwood Valley and another labelled Mendocino. Record the exact origin and grape composition, then read any supplied vineyard history. What extra information does the smaller name provide, and what questions remain unanswered?
Small pours, your own words, and no marks for impressive vocabulary.
Where shall we wander next?
Follow a grape, wine or place.
Behind this introduction
Editorial sources checked 25 October 2026. Maps use public-domain Natural Earth data. Regional markers are approximate; no legal appellation boundary is implied.