The River Road Wine Trail is a

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley is one of the major valleys and most productive Agriculture, agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley. The Salinas River (Califo ...

roadway

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

for wine-tasting following the River Road along the western banks of the

Salinas River (California) The Salinas River ( Rumsen: ''ua kot taiauačorx'') is the longest river of the Central Coast region of California, running and draining . It flows north-northwest and drains the Salinas Valley that slices through the central California Coast Ra ...

. It is not to be confused with the

Great River Road The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miss ...

Wine Trail that follows along the banks of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. It is notably referenced in numerous books and magazines.

History

The River Road (

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Monte ...

G-17) follows along the banks of the Salinas River and predates the wineries by many decades. It runs along the length of the

Santa Lucia Highlands AVA The Santa Lucia Highlands AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Monterey County, California. It is part of the larger Monterey AVA, and located in the Santa Lucia Mountains above the Salinas Valley. Over of vineyards are planted in th ...

. The earliest

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

plantings, however, were in the 1790s, with the arrival of the

Spanish missions in California The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests o ...

. The arrival of commercial wineries (and wine-tasting), began in the early 1970s, with initial plantings by Smith at Paraiso, by McFarland at Sleepy Hollow, by Johnson at La Estancia, and by Hahn at Smith & Hook. The hot days of the Salinas Valley make for good

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

s, and the cool foggy nights are ideal for

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

Pinot Noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

and other cool-climate varieties. Currently there are at least 24 wineries in the Salinas Valley with at least 13 tasting rooms lining River Road, going from

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...

south to

Greenfield, California Greenfield (formerly Clarke Colony) is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. It lies in the Salinas Valley, southeast of Salinas, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,937, up from 16,330 in the 2 ...

. They are perched on the Santa Lucia Highlands, and present great views of the rich farmlands below. The Salinas River Wine Trail was named by

Wine Enthusiast Magazine ''Wine Enthusiast'' magazine is an American wine magazine published by Wine Enthusiast Companies in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1979 by Adam and Sybil Strum, Wine Enthusiast Companies engages in the wine accessories, storage, information, educat ...

in the top ten wine travel destinations in the world, with only two other locations (New York and Oregon) from North America.

Distance to wine-tasting facilities

The Wine-Tasting Facilities are usually encountered driving south from Highway 68 where it crosses the Salinas River. Using that as a starting point, the Wine-Tasting distances are tabulated below: 1. Odonata Wines South • 645 River Road, Salinas – 7 mi. 2. Rustique Wines • 1010 River Road, Salinas – 10 mi. 3. Pessagno Winery • 1645 River Rd, Salinas – 16 mi. 4. Manzoni Vineyards • 30981 River Road, Soledad – 17 mi. 5. Puma Road Winery • 32720 River Road, Soledad – 23 mi. 6. Wrath Wines • 35801 Foothill Road, Soledad – 24 mi. 7. Hahn Family • 37700 Foothill Road, Soledad – 26 mi. 8. Smith Family Wines • 38060 Paraiso Springs Road, Soledad – 31 mi. 9. Ventana Vineyards • 38740 Los Coches Road, Soledad – 35 mi.

Nearby wine trail

At the end of the River Road Wine Trail is the start of another wine trail. At Greenfield, if one takes the Arroyo Seco Road westward, it branches into the Carmel Valley Road from which one can then take the Carmel Valley Wine Trail northwards, passing

Carmel Valley Village, California Carmel Valley Village is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, California, United States. In 1946, Byington Ford and Tirey L. Ford Jr. developed the Carmel Valley Village, which included an airpark, s ...

and ending up in

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

References

External links

River Road Wine Trail Odonata Wines Rustique Wines Manzoni Wines Scheid Vineyards Smith Family Wines Hahn Wines Pessagno Wines Wrath Wines Talbott Vineyards Boekenoogen Wines McIntyre Vineyards Map of Wineries
{{Monterey County tourist attractions, state=collapsed Tourist attractions in Monterey County, California Roads in Monterey County, California Salinas, California Trails