California Winery Areas

Occupying the southern two thirds of the us west coast oregon and washington make up the rest the state spans almost ten degrees of latitude and 850 miles 1370km of coastline.

California winery areas. Regions on the verge. The region is most known for its cool climate varietals namely chardonnays and pinot noirs. The main wine regions of california are the north coast the central coast the inland valleys the sierra foothills and southern california. California wine country currently has 139 american viticultural areas or avas.

California is comfortably the united states largest wine region. Chardonnay is the most widely planted white grape and cabernet sauvignon is the most widely planted red grape. The region is famed for its wineries its cuisine michelin star restaurants boutique hotels luxury resorts historic architecture and culture. In some cases it will be the state of california itself a county within the state or a more specific growing region known as an american viticultural area or ava.

Best known for big red wines particularly old vine zinfandels the american viticultural area of lodi wine country is also a leader when it comes to going green. Upwards of 25 000 acres are certified sustainable and this is the birthplace of lodi rules california s first third party certified sustainable wine growing programme. According to the california wine institute the california wine region is responsible for producing 81 of all us wine and is the fourth largest wine producing region after france italy and spain. Wine country is the region of california in the northern bay area known worldwide as a premier wine growing region.

California wine regions run the length of the state and wine grapes are grown in 49 of california s 58 counties. For a wine to carry an ava name on its label at least 85 of the grapes. 5 california wine areas to watch september 07 2012 at san francisco chronicle channeling the rhône in california september 05 2012 at wine spectator the wines of paso robles by mike potashnick don winkler september 01 2012. California has over 427 000 acres 1 730 km 2 planted under vines mostly located in a stretch of land covering over 700 miles 1 100 km from mendocino county to the southwestern tip of riverside county there are over 107 american viticultural areas avas including the well known napa russian river valley rutherford and sonoma valley avas the central valley is california s largest wine.

Every bottle of california wine on the market lists the geographical origin where the grapes were grown. Each of there regions offers at its scale a diversity of wine regions avas american viticultural areas and vineyards. With mountains valleys plains and plateaux the topography here is as complex as the climate.