One of the five wine growing regions in California. It forms a 560-kilometre strip along the coast of the Pacific Ocean from the north south of San Francisco Bay to Los Angeles deep in the south. The region is best known for agriculture and tourism. The Salinas Valley is considered one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the USA. Besides vines, many vegetables and fruits like lettuce, strawberries and artichokes are grown here. A special feature are the climatic differences between the higher situated warmer wine growing areas like Paso Robles and the lower situated colder ones like Santa Maria and Monterey. This can be explained by the fact that the cool layer of air from the Pacific Ocean forms a layer of haze that gets trapped below the higher areas. The vineyards cover 25,000 hectares of vineyards. The red wine varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Zinfandel thrive particularly well here, as well as the dominant white wine variety Chardonnay, which is typical for California.
There are two comprehensive AVA areas, Central Coast and San Francisco Bay, for wines made from grapes from several counties. The counties with their AVA areas are:
- Alameda County: Livermore Valley
- Monterey County Arroyo Seco, Carmel Valley, Chalone, Hames Valley, Monterey, San Bernabe, San Lucas, Santa Lucia Highlands
- San Benito County: Cienega Valley, Lime Kiln Valley, Mount Harlan, Paicines, San Benito
- San Luis Obispo County: Arroyo Grande Valley, Edna Valley, Paso Robles, York Mountain
- Santa Barbara County: Santa Maria Bench, Santa Maria Valley, Santa Rita Hills, Santa Ynez Valley
- Santa Clara County: Pacheco Pass, Santa Clara Valley, San Ysidro District
- Santa Cruz County: Ben Lomond Mountain, Santa Cruz Mountains
Picture: Wine Institute of California
