California Wine Regions

The California wine country is divided into 15 wine growing counties. Inside each county there may be several wine growing regions or areas.

South Coast

The South Coast region of California is beautiful. Its climate is warmer, its beaches are gorgeous, and it’s loaded with fun tourist destinations.

The South Coast region encompasses the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego. The only notable wine area in the South Coast region is the Temecula Valley.

Central Coast

The central coast area includes 3 counties.

The first is Santa Barbara County which contains the cities of Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, Solvang, Buelton, and Santa Maria.

This is the area that the movie Sideways was filmed in. And yes, the region did suffer shortages of Pinot Noir in the years following the release of the film.

These Santa Barbara County areas have flourished in recent years and you will find them a delight. There are dozens of smaller wineries to choose from where you may well speak with the winemaker him or herself. You’ll find reasonable or free wine tastings and beautiful countryside.

Be sure to visit the town of Los Olivos with its charming town square area. You can taste plenty of wines right there if you’d rather not drive.

The second county is San Luis Obispo which contains the cities of San Luis Opisbo and Paso Robles.

Paso Robles wine growth and reputation has grown steadily over that past years and is gaining more prominence all the time. Much like Santa Barbara County, you’ll find a humbleness about this area that is very inviting.

The third county in the Central Coast region is Monterey County. Monterey County has significantly fewer wineries that the two mentioned above (about 45), though they are no less desirable.

Monterey County is unique because of its location between warmer and cooler climates. However, unless this is your destination (they do have a fabulous aquarium and a breathtaking coastline), you may want to save Monterey for a future trip.

Many of the Central Coast wineries charge less for their tastings than the North Coast wineries. You will also find some of their wines to be more reasonably priced.

North Coast

The north coast of California may be the most popular wine tasting area in the state. As shown on the California wine country map, the north coast includes the well-known counties of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Marin and Mendocino.

Sonoma and Napa were among the first wine growing regions in the state.

Here you will find what many consider the “finest” wines in the state, but you will also find the most crowds the the highest prices to go with them. Even so, it’s a premier area and is not to missed.

All 4 counties contain several smaller sub-regions not shown on the Calfornia wine country map, each a bit different from the others.

Sierra Foothills

The Sierra Foothills is one of the oldest wine growing regions in the state, but one of the least traveled. The counties in the Sierra Foothills are Amador, El Dorado and Calaveras. Here you are surrounded by beauty nestled at the base of the Sierra Mountain Range.

Wine has been grown in the Sierra Foothills since the Gold Rush. Many of its Zinfandels come from old vines. Its colder climates and rocky soils make

it perhaps a more daunting wine growing region. Nevertheless, some excellent wines come out of this area.

If you’re staying in Sacramento or are on your way to Lake Tahoe, it’s the perfect stop.

Central Valley

The least traveled wine region in California may be its Central Valley area. Spread out in the valley between the Sierras and the Northern California Coastal area are close to 100 wineries.

Many of the wineries are in and around the city of Lodi, the small green area at the tip of the Central valley on the California wine country map.

Central Valley has also an additional American Viticultural Area, the The Solano County Green Valley AVA located in Solano County, southeast of the Napa Valley AVA, Green Valley is about 1.6 km long and 6.4 km long. The valley is close to San Pablo Bay and thus has a maritime climate. Most of the vineyards are planted on the valley floor and benefit from moist, cooling winds in the summer afternoons.

Source: www.basic-wine-knowledge.com