Rockpile AVA

Rockpile AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Sonoma County, California, northwest of the town of Healdsburg, on the hills above the west shore of Lake Sonoma in the southern Mendocino Range. Established on February 28, 2002, Rockpile AVA was Sonoma County's twelfth designated wine appellation. The wine region consists of approximately 15400 acre in northwestern Sonoma County. All of the AVA has an elevation in excess of 800 ft above sea level. Eleven vineyards are currently located within the AVA and there are approximately 160 acre of planted wine grapes.

S. P. Hallinger planted grapes in the Rockpile area in 1894, but most of his 4000-acre ranch was destroyed and submerged from the 1960s to the 1980s in the creation of Lake Sonoma. The area was replanted with grapes in 1994, by Jack Florence Jr. and Ulises Valdez Sr., using cuttings from 100-year-old zinfandel vines at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Cloverdale.