California’s wine industry is defined by American Viticultural Areas or AVAs for short. AVAs are “official” grape growing regions that have been designated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). When an AVA is designated on the wine bottle’s label, 85% of the wine in that bottle must have been grown in that AVA.
AVAs are geographic locations that have the same climate, soil, and elevation and similar properties that give the wine a certain characteristic. Just because a wine comes from a specific AVA does not tell you anything about the quality of a particular brand or type of wine from that region. It’s up to the grape grower and winemaker to bring out the best from the grapes grown in any AVA.
There can be sub-AVAs which means there can be several AVA’s designated within a larger AVA area. As an example, the Napa Valley is an AVA, but there are several smaller areas located within the Napa Valley that have their own AVA designation. Each of these sub-AVAs have a unique characteristic that distinguishes them from the larger geographic region.
Since an AVA is based on geographic regions, about all you can tell is what varietals are suited for growing in a particular AVA. California has many, many AVAs so it’s important to read, study, and taste wines to have a better understanding and appreciation for the diversity of wines available from California. Don’t rely solely on the fact that a wine comes from a certain AVA. Rely on your knowledge and tasting experience. Listed below are several of California's Wine Regions and their sub-AVAs.
The Central Coast AVA
The Central Coast AVA stretches roughly 250 miles from San Francisco to Santa Barbara. It is home to approximately 360 wineries and covers more than 5 million acres. Listed below are the names of the AVAs within this larger growing region. The Paso Robles AVA is the largest within this region at over 600,000 acres.
Arroyo Grande Valley • Arroyo Seco • Carmel Valley • Chalone • Cienega Valley • Edna Valley • Hames Valley • Lime Kiln Valley • Livermore Valley • Monterey • Mt. Harlan • Pacheco Pass • Paicines • Paso Robles • San Antonio Valley • San Benito • San Bernabe • San Francisco Bay • San Lucas • San Ysidro District • Santa Clara Valley • Santa Lucia Highlands • Santa Maria Valley • Sta. Rita Hills • Santa Ynez Valley • York Mountain
The Central Valley Wine Growing Region
There is no single regional AVA designation that includes the entire Central Valley wine growing region. So within the Central Valley Wine Region are the following AVAs. The Lodi AVA is the largest producing more winegrapes than Napa and Sonoma combined.
• Alta Mesa • Borden Ranch • Capay Valley • Clarksburg • Clements Hills • Cosumnes River • Diablo Grande • Dunnigan Hills • Jahant • Lodi • Madera • Merritt Island • Mokelumne River • River Junction • Salado Creek • Sloughhouse • Tracy Hills
The Klamath Mountain Region
These AVAs are located in the southern Klamath Mountains Region of far northwestern California.
• Seiad Valley • Trinity Lakes • Willow Creek
The North Coast AVA
All of these AVAs are included within the geographic boundaries of the six-county North Coast AVA. This is where you'll find the Napa Valley and all of it's well-known smaller AVAs as well as the Sonoma Coast AVA which is the largest in this growing region covering over 500,000 acres.
• Alexander Valley • Anderson Valley • Atlas Peak • Bennett Valley • Benmore Valley • Chalk Hill • Chiles Valley • Clear Lake • Cole Ranch • Covelo • Diamond Mountain District • Dos Rios • Dry Creek Valley • Green Valley of Russian River Valley • Guenoc Valley • High Valley • Howell Mountain • Knights Valley • Los Carneros • McDowell Valley • Mendocino • Mendocino Ridge • Mt. Veeder • Napa Valley • North Coast • Northern Sonoma • Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley
• Oakville • Potter Valley • Red Hills Lake County • Redwood Valley • Rockpile • Russian River Valley • Rutherford • Solano County Green Valley • Sonoma Coast • Sonoma Mountain • Sonoma Valley • Spring Mountain District • St. Helena • Stags Leap District • Suisun Valley • Wild Horse Valley • Yorkville Highlands • Yountville
The Sierra Foothills AVA
All of these AVAs are contained entirely within the geographic boundaries of the Sierra Foothills AVA. The El Dorado AVA, with over 400,000 acres, is significantly larger than any of the others.
• California Shenandoah Valley • El Dorado • Fair Play • Fiddletown • North Yuba • Sierra Foothills
The South Coast AVA
The South Coast AVA includes all grape growing regions in Southern California, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties. There are not a lot of grapes grown in this region, and the largest and most well known grape growing region within South Coast is Temecula Valley. This large appellation also includes a number of smaller sub-appellations.
• Cucamonga Valley • Leona Valley • Malibu-Newton Canyon • Ramona Valley • Saddle Rock-Malibu • San Pasqual Valley • South Coast
Since new AVA's are added from time-to-time, please visit the California Wine Institute website for the most accurate list.