Neither the peculiar location nor the minute size of this region prevented the BATF from granting AVA status to Seiad Valley in 1994. Its one producer at the time, Seiad Valley Vineyards, who filed the petition, has closed its doors and to this date another one has not reopened. The most northerly of California’s winegrowing regions, the valley lays just a few miles from the Oregon border in Siskiyou County. Here, bordering the Klamath River at 1,700 feet, one finds about three acres planted to Riesling. The vineyard’s high elevation is greatly exceeded by mountains rising as high as 3,900 feet above the little valley in all directions. Snowmelt, runoff and erosion contribute to a fertile alluvial soil, with good water access on the valley floor. Geologically, the most interesting feature is the deep piles of rounded rocks on the valley floor....actually, just ‘tailings’ from years of gold mining. These rock piles absorb and store heat during the day, offering protection from the erratic spring and fall frosts that are common in the area. The Seiad Valley AVA exists today only on paper with the TBB.