The Napa Valley has unique growing conditions, a quality the wine industry refers to as 'terroir.'

California's Napa Valley and Sonoma County both produce world-class wines, but they have key differences.

Food & Wine magazine's guide to the Napa Valley (and its next-door neighbor, Sonoma Valley) walks through the environmental and geological conditions that differentiate these two first-class wine regions from the rest of the world and from each other. It also includes in-depth explanations of what to look for in their wines, including common grapes, stylistic choices, and tasting notes.

California's Napa Valley, one of the wine world's most famous regions, is home to some of the most valuable agricultural land in the US.

Napa Valley is an internationally known wine destination, but it only produces only 4% of California's wine.

The 19th-century Gold Rush and its sudden influx of European residents helped turn California's Napa Valley into wine country.

Napa Valley became a player on the international stage in the mid 1970s, when judges in a blind taste test deemed its wine superior to France's.

Napa Valley was the second officially sanctioned wine-growing region in the US.

Wildfires and rising temperatures have seriously impacted Napa's winemaking in the 2020s.

Experts say 2023 was a welcome year for Napa's wine

Many vintners say Napa’s 2023 vintage was a landmark year due to plentiful rain and a lack of extreme weather events, particularly extreme heat, which can stunt grapevine photosynthesis. The graph below illustrates the town of Calistoga's relatively cooler temperatures in 2023.

Explore the wineries of the Napa Valley with an interactive map of its hundreds of wineries, vineyards, and tasting rooms.

The Napa Valley was originally inhabited by the Indigenous Wappo people, who built homes and villages throughout the region.

Santa Barbara County features seven designated wine regions

Grapes are notoriously fickle about where they grow and cannot be cultivated just anywhere. That’s what makes the county’s seven American Viticultural Areas so unique and cool—from the Santa Ynez valley to the Los Olivos District.

A root lice infestation, transported from the East Coast, once destroyed over 80% of Napa's vines.

One expert said Napa's 2023 vintage was one of its best

Karen MacNeil, author of "The Wine Bible," called it “as perfect as any Napa vintage in living memory,” and suggests the wines will only become more impressive with age.

Wine is divided between Old World and New World

The distinction stems from both geography and winemaking technique and tradition. This video breaks down how different viticultural regions fit into each category and the common traits of both Old World and New World wines. It also provides helpful tips for reading Old World wine labels.

Mexican Americans have become a part of Napa's tradition

While the Napa wine world was largely homogenous for many decades, things are beginning to change. This short video highlights Mexican American winemakers in Napa, focusing on the story of Elias Fernandez of Shafer Vineyards. Fernandez began his wine journey as a migrant grape-picker and has been making wine for over 40 years. In 2008, his vintage won Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year.

The Charles Krug Winery, established in 1861, is the oldest winery in the Napa Valley.

View a detail list of the Napa Valley wines, dating all the way back to the 1991 vintage.

A blind taste test in 1976 determined that California produced better wine than France in a decision known as 'the Judgment of Paris' that realigned the wine world.

Visualizing California's wine production

While Europe has France, Italy, and Spain, the US has California. The bulk of US wine production takes place in the Golden State, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the United States’ nearly 800 million gallons produced each year. This chart compares California and United States wine production from 1995 through 2022. Production in both has been trending down for several years, partially due to extreme weather events.

A 1980s soap opera helped popularize Napa Valley, broadcasting the idyllic wine country to millions of American viewers every week.

Red wine, 101

How does a bottle of red wine get to the table? In this podcast episode from VinePair, tastings director Keith Beavers covers this wide-ranging wine category. Learn about the entire process of red wine production, from grape to glass. The episode provides a great starting line for general wine knowledge and a jumping-off point into individual varieties or regions.