Yolo County

Yolo County runs the Sacramento Valley’s west edge. Dunnigan Hills and Capay Valley hold vineyards on rolling grassland — cabernet, syrah, and an unusual verdelho-and-tempranillo streak. Summer days run hot; the Delta breeze arrives late and drops the nights. Tasting rooms pour from ranch buildings along Highway 16 and County Road 89, many with shaded patios and water bowls on the porch. Cache Creek Regional Park opens leashed creek-side walks; the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area runs leashed levee paths. Pair a Capay Valley syrah with an afternoon on Cache Creek. Yolo pours wine the freeway drivers almost always miss.