Spotlight on Petaluma Gap Wines

Petaluma Gap is the newest AVA (American Viticultural Area) in California, and since we've been getting so many requests for wines from there we put together a list of our favorites!

In case you haven't heard, Petaluma Gap covers parts of both Marin and Sonoma Counties and is known for its distinctive wind and fog elements, making it an ideal place to grow varietals like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. The gap is an actual opening between the costal mountains which allows wind from the ocean to blow through.

Enjoy and if your favorite didn't make the list, let us know in the comments!

1. 2017 Dutton-Goldfield Chileno Valley Vineyard Riesling

Retail Price: $30.00
Our Price: $23.99

Wine Enthusiast, 93 Points

"From a vineyard farmed by Mark Pasternak on the Marin side of the new Petaluma Gap AVA, this is a perennially beautiful, bone-dry white. Floral, stony and crisp, it offers white peach and apple aromas and flavors, while the acidity is refreshing and integrated."

2. 2014 McEvoy Ranch "The Evening Standard" Pinot Noir

Retail Price: $65.00
Our Price: $38.99

The winery writes, "This Petaluma Gap location expresses itself fully in Pinot Noir. The cool climate and morning breezes keep this finicky grape content and that's a good thing. The 2014 The Evening Standard is a bit "shy" upon approach but then evolves to be more forthcoming, as though entrancing you into a dialogue with your senses.

The bouquet opens with cherry cola, sweet violets, licorice, and a hint of sandalwood. The rich mouthfeel has expressive flavors of chocolate covered cherries, sugar plum spice, anise, and shiitake mushrooms. The finish does not disappoint with a creamy vanilla texture intermingled with earthiness. Aged 20 months in Francois Frères French oak puncheons."

3. 2015 Lutum Gap's Crown Vineyard Chardonnay

Retail Price: $68.00
Our Price: $44.99

Wine Enthusiast, 94 Points

"The 2015 Chardonnay Gap's Crown Vineyard is bold and authoritative in style, with serious depth and phenolic intensity. Broad and ample on the palate, the Gap's Crown has an almost Pinot-like sense of structure and breadth. Ripe orchard fruit, butter, smoke and apricot pit infuse this super-expressive, virile Chardonnay from Lutum. This is a fabulous wine by any measure."

4. 2015 Black Kite Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir

Retail Price: $60.00
Our Price: $50.99

Wine Enthusiast, 94 Points

"This wine presents as weighty and broad on entry, a successful exploration of juicy black cherry, toasted oak and cardamom that is both succulent and complex. It develops nuance and balance in the glass, with an exotic floral quality that's hard to resist."

5. 2017 Arnot-Roberts Clary Ranch Syrah

Retail Price: $79.99
Our Price: $51.99

Vinous, 96 Points

"The 2017 Syrah Clary Ranch is striking. Deep and resonant on the palate, the 2017 has so much to say. Some of the angular edges and intense savoriness the Clary Ranch can show have been soften by the intense heat of the year. Silky, fine tannins wrap around a core of dark cherry, plum, lavender, spice and pepper. A Syrah of power and structural intensity, the Clary Ranch is incredibly distinctive, and that is in a lineup in which many of the wines are exceptional. Two thousand-seventeen is a superb vintage for the Clary Ranch Syrah." - Antonio Galloni

6. 2013 Lutum Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir

Retail Price: $68.00
Our Price: $52.99

Wine Advocate, 94 Points

"A cool site in the Sonoma Coast AVA in northern California, the 2013 Pinot Noir Gap's Crown Vineyard (16 months in one-third new French oak) has a Burgundian feel in its rose petal, sappy underbrush, currant and black raspberry-scented bouquet. Medium-bodied, seamless and exceedingly pretty and elegant, it should show better this time next year and have 7-8 years of longevity."

7. 2017 Three Sticks Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir

Retail Price: $70.00
Our Price: $53.99

The winery writes, "Directly in the path of the Petaluma Wind Gap, the Gap’s Crown Vineyard is one of our coldest vineyards, resulting in fruit packed with flavor and tannins. The 2017 Estate Gap’s Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir wows with its concentration and structure. Blueberry blossoms, black cherry, and gingerbread meld together to give this wine heavenly aromatics. On the palate, you’ll find lush, savory notes and blue fruits. This wine is built to last and is always an excellent candidate for cellaring."

8. 2014 Ramey Rodgers Creek Vineyard Syrah

Retail Price: $65.00
Our Price: $53.99

Jeb Dunnick, 96 Points

"A step up, the 2014 Syrah Rodgers Creek Vineyard is a blockbuster effort that reminds me of a good vintage of the Côte Rôtie La Mouline from Guigal. Awesome notes of incense, lavender, bacon fat, and spring flowers gives way to a full-bodied, voluptuous Syrah that has a sexy, seamless texture, sweet tannin, and a big finish. This cuvée saw 10% Viognier and is an exotic, intense, superstar of a Syrah readers should snatch up. 587 cases." 

9. 2013 Trombetta Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir

Retail Price: $65.00
Our Price: $55.99

Wine Enthusiast, 94 Points

"A fuller, more concentrated version of the variety from a highly sought-after vineyard, this youthful wine offers a grippy tightness, savory in tea, tobacco and a touch of tomato leaf. Along the way, juicy blueberry and blackberry enter the picture, finished in black peppery spice. Cellar through 2023."

10. 2016 Dutton-Goldfield Devil's Gulch Vineyard Pinot Noir

Retail Price: $72.00
Our Price: $65.99

Wine Enthusiast, 95 Points

"This grand, lavish and concentrated wine is medium to full in weight, with rich, ripe fruit flavors. A spice rack full of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg fill the aroma, while flavors of mulled black cherry and spiced plum fill out the palate. Best through 2025."