Fountaingrove District is an AVA located within Sonoma County in the Mayacamas mountains. The region, which was granted official appellation status in February 2015, has a long history of winemaking and viticulture, and currently boasts about 500 acres of vines. Classic Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are key in the region, although other classic Californian varieties like Zinfandel and Syrah also thrive.
The officially delimited Fountaingrove District area covers a gap in Sonoma's AVA coverage just north of Santa Rosa. It is bounded by several key regions – Sonoma Valley is just south, while the Russian River Valley is to the north. Napa AVAs Diamond Mountain District and Calistoga are to the east, just over the county line.
Most of the vineyards within Fountaingrove District lie among the foothills of the Mayacama mountains, reaching altitudes up to 2000ft (700m) above sea level. Here, they have a sunny southwesterly aspect while still benefitting from cooling winds, which means that the vineyards here have a cooler climate than those on lower land to the south. This gives a longer growing season and some diurnal temperature variation, ensuring the grapes can reach full maturity in a measured way. The iron-rich volcanic soils promote vine health, providing good drainage and plenty of nutrients for the vine.
Fountaingrove District has the unusual honor of being named for a "utopian community" that was set up there in the late 19th Century. Thomas Lake Harris brought the "Brotherhood of the New Life" to the area from New York, establishing a winery in 1875 that operated until the 1940s. The winemaker, Kanaye Nagasawa, was known as the "Grape King", and was one of the very first Japanese settlers in the USA. Now, there are about 35 different vineyards within the AVA's boundaries, making mostly small-volume wines.
