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California
Wine Regions In the wine and agriculture
industries, grape growing regions are most often
referred to as Appellations. The United States
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF)
officially designates some grape growing regions
(Appellations) as American Viticultural Areas
(AVAs), however all Appellations are not designated
as AVAs. Each AVA is recognized as having has
unique growing conditions such as climate (i.e.
temperature, humidity), soil (i.e. drainage,
acidity) or altitude or that results in certain
characteristics in the finished wine. There are
currently 165 AVAs in the United States, of which
California has 93. AVAs can themselves
contain unique smaller regions called sub-AVAs. For
example, the Napa Valley is an AVA that contains
the Saint Helena and Oakville AVAs, among
others. When an AVA is designated on
a wine label, 85% of the grapes used to make that
wine must have come from that AVA. If a non-AVA
Appellation or region is designated on a wine
label, at least 75% of the grapes must come from
that area. It should be noted that the designation
of an AVA does not infer the quality of the wine,
but may sometimes infer a general characteristic of
the wine. In very general terms,
California wine grape growing regions are divided
into the following: North
Coast Sonoma Valley, Napa Valley, Alexander
Valley, Guenoc Valley, Dry Creek Valley,
Los Carneros Central
Valley Anderson Valley, Lodi, Clarksburg Sierra
Foothills CA Shenandoah Valley, El Dorado,
Fiddletown Central
Coast Livermore Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains,
Monterey, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa
Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley South
Coast Temecula, San Pasqual Valley Below is a list of California AVAs by county.
Since AVAs are not confined to county boundaries,
you may notice that a particular AVA may be listed
under several counties. Alameda Central Coast 4000000 Alameda Livermore Valley 96000 Amador California Shenandoah Valley 10000 Amador Fiddletown 11500 Amador Sierra Foothills 2600000 Calaveras Sierra Foothills 2600000 Contra Costa Central Coast 4000000 El Dorado California Shenandoah Valley 10000 El Dorado El Dorado 416 El Dorado Fair Play 21120 El Dorado Sierra Foothills 2600000 Fresno Madera 230000 Humboldt Willow Creek 6000 Lake Benmore Valley 1440 Lake Clear Lake 168960 Lake Guenoc Valley 4396 Lake High Valley 14000 Lake North Coast 3008000 Lake Red Hills Lake County 0 Los Angeles Malibu-Newton Canyon 850 Madera Madera 230000 Marin North Coast 3008000 Mariposa Sierra Foothills 2600000 Mendocino Anderson Valley 600 Mendocino Cole Ranch 150 Mendocino McDowell Valley 540 Mendocino Mendocino Ridge 87466 Mendocino North Coast 3008000 Mendocino Potter Valley 27500 Mendocino Redwood Valley 22400 Mendocino Yorkville Highlands 40000 Monterey Arroyo Seco 18240 Monterey Carmel Valley 19200 Monterey Central Coast 4000000 Monterey Chalone 8540 Monterey Hames Valley 10240 Monterey Monterey 35758 Monterey San Bernabe 24796 Monterey San Lucas 33920 Monterey Santa Lucia Highlands 22000 Napa Atlas Peak 11400 Napa Chiles Valley 6000 Napa Diamond Mountain 5000 Napa Howell Mountain 14080 Napa Los Carneros 0 Napa Mount Veeder 15000 Napa Napa Valley 225280 Napa North Coast 3008000 Napa Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley 8300 Napa Oakville 5760 Napa Rutherford 6650 Napa Saint Helena 9060 Napa Spring Mountain District 8600 Napa Stags Leap District 2700 Napa Wild Horse Valley 3300 Napa Yountville 8260 Nevada Sierra Foothills 2600000 Placer Sierra Foothills 2600000 Riverside Cucamonga Valley 109400 Riverside South Coast 115200 Riverside Temecula 33000 Sacramento Clarksburg 64640 Sacramento Lodi 458000 San Benito Central Coast 4000000 San Benito Chalone 8540 San Benito Cienega Valley 0 San Benito Lime Kiln Valley 2300 San Benito Mount Harlan 7440 San Benito Pacheco Pass 3200 San Benito Paicines 4500 San Benito San Francisco Bay 1566713 San Bernardino Cucamonga Valley 109400 San Diego San Pasqual Valley 9000 San Diego South Coast 115200 San Francisco Central Coast 4000000 San Francisco San Francisco Bay 1566713 San Joaquin Lodi 458000 San Joaquin River Junction 1300 San Luis Obispo Arroyo Grande Valley 42880 San Luis Obispo Central Coast 4000000 San Luis Obispo Edna Valley 22400 San Luis Obispo Paso Robles 666618 San Luis Obispo Santa Maria Valley 80000 San Luis Obispo York Mountain 9360 San Mateo Central Coast 4000000 San Mateo San Francisco Bay 1566713 San Mateo Santa Cruz Mountains 0 Santa Barbara Central Coast 4000000 Santa Barbara Santa Maria Valley 80000 Santa Barbara Santa Rita Hills 30720 Santa Barbara Santa Ynez Valley 76800 Santa Clara Central Coast 4000000 Santa Clara San Francisco Bay 1566713 Santa Clara San Ysidro District 2340 Santa Clara Santa Clara Valley 332800 Santa Clara Santa Cruz Mountains 0 Santa Cruz Ben Lomond 38400 Santa Cruz Central Coast 4000000 Santa Cruz San Francisco Bay 1566713 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Mountains 0 Siskiyou Seiad Valley 2160 Solano Clarksburg 64640 Solano North Coast 3008000 Solano Solano County Green Valley 2560 Solano Suisun Valley 15360 Solano Wild Horse Valley 3300 Sonoma Alexander Valley 32536 Sonoma Bennett Valley 8140 Sonoma Chalk Hill 22400 Sonoma Dry Creek Valley 80000 Sonoma Knights Valley 36240 Sonoma Los Carneros 0 Sonoma North Coast 3008000 Sonoma Northern Sonoma 348000 Sonoma Rockpile 15400 Sonoma Russian River Valley 126600 Sonoma Sonoma Coast 480000 Sonoma Sonoma County Green Valley 32000 Sonoma Sonoma Mountain 5000 Sonoma Sonoma Valley 4000 Stanislaus Diablo Grande 30000 Stanislaus Salado Creek 2940 Trinity Trinity Lakes 96000 Trinity Willow Creek 6000 Tuolumne Sierra Foothills 2600000 Yolo Clarksburg 64640 Yolo Dunnigan Hills 89000 Yolo Merritt Island 5000 Yuba North Yuba 22400 Yuba Sierra Foothills 2600000 |