It was established on August 30, 1985 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Treasury after approving the submitted petition by Karl Werner and James R. Bryant, officers of Renaissance Vineyard and Winery, Inc. in Oregon House.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the primary wine grape grown with Rhône varietals Syrah, Grenache, Semillon, Viognier and Roussanne also flourishing.
After some difficulty, he succeeded to traveling to the junction of the Sacramento and American rivers on August 16, 1839, Satisfied with the conditions and prospects of the region, he picked a location and commenced construction of a house.
[1] In the late 1960s, East Bay schoolteacher, Robert Earl Burton, founded Fellowship of Friends based on a pedagogy similar to the Fourth Way.
"Fellowship" bought a remote property near Oregon House, built a sanctuary named "Apollo" and created Renaissance Winery beginning with 12 acres (5 ha) under vine.
For next four decades, Renaissance grew to make quality vintages, expanding to 365 acres (148 ha) under vine, producing more than 40,000 cases of wine annually, and single-handedly established an American Viticultural Area until it ceased operations in 2015 leasing its vineyards to local wineries.
The land drained by these streams shares similar geological history, topographical features, soils, and climatic conditions.
The area escapes both the early frosts and snow of higher elevations in the Sierra Nevadas and the heat, humidity and fog common to the lowlands in the Sacramento Valley.
It is geologically well defined by the Sierra Nevadas to the north and east, by greenstone rock to the west, and by the Yuba River canyon to the south.
However, the location of the "North Yuba" viticultural area in the middle to upper foothills region approaching the mountainous terrain of the Sierra Nevadas allows a subtle distinction in climatological characteristics from the rest of the county in that the area escapes both the heat and fog common to the lowlands of the Sacramento Valley and the early frosts and snow of the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevadas.
The lands of the Sacramento Valley in Yuba County range from 30 to 250 feet (9–76 m) above sea level and the mean average rainfall is 20 to 25 inches (508–635 mm).
The middle to upper foothills in which the viticultural area lies occupy the lower western slope of the Sierra Nevadas between the valley lands and the mountainous uplands of the county.
The growing season of North Yuba is distinctly cooler than the neighboring Sacramento Valley to the west and warmer than the mountainous area to the east.
Foothill winds are an additional cooling factor in summer, contributing further to the development of proper acidity in the area's grapes.
It is geologically well defined by the Sierra Nevadas to the north and east, by greenstone rock to the west, and by the Yuba River canyon to the south.