The Santa Maria Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) which straddles the boundary of Santa Barbara and

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

counties in California's multi-county

Central Coast AVA The Central Coast AVA is a large American Viticultural Area in the U.S. state of California that spans from Santa Barbara County in the south to the San Francisco Bay Area in the north. The boundaries of the Central Coast include portions of six ...

. It was established on August 5, 1981, by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) as California's second oldest AVA. A portion of the AVA crosses the

Cuyama River The Cuyama River (Chumash: ''Kuyam'', meaning "Clam") is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 15, 2011 river in southern San Luis Obispo County, northern Santa Barbara ...

into the southernmost corner of San Luis Obispo County. The east–west orientation of the with a wide, open valley and rolling hills means cool winds and fog flow in freely from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, settling most noticeably in lower-lying areas. The result is a mild

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

that lengthens the growing season and contributes to the eventual sugar/acid balance in the grapes from Santa Maria Valley's cultivated vineyards. On January 28, 2011, the AVA was granted an expansion to its southern boundary.

History

Santa Maria Valley has a rich viticulture history in California. Grape-growing in the region dates back to the Mexican Colonial period of the 1830s. Modern viticulture in the Santa Maria Valley dates back to the 1964, when more than 100 acres of vineyards were planted in the Santa Maria Valley. The new growers believed the area could grow wine grapes to rival the

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

. By the mid-1970s, established vineyards increased cultivation to over .

Geography

The Santa Maria Valley is a natural funnel-shaped valley opening west to the Pacific Ocean. The elevation of the area ranges from approximately at the intersection of

Highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drums) ...

and the Santa Maria River to approximately at Tepusquet Peak. The grapes that are grown within the area are on the valley floor at an approximate elevation of and on the slopes and rolling hillsides up to an elevation of .

Climate

The Santa Maria Valley geography channels dense banks of morning fog from the Pacific Ocean that takes many hours to burn off, only to be replaced by chilly afternoon breezes. This “maritime fringe” climate lengthens the growing season and contributes to the eventual sugar/acid balance in the grapes from the region. Summer in the Santa Maria Valley is goose-bump season, with an average summer temperature of only . This is a growing environment that is a Region I on the

Winkler Scale The Winkler Index, sometimes known as the Winkler Scale or Winkler Regions, is a technique for classifying the climate of wine growing regions based on heat summation or growing degree-days. In the system, geographical areas are divided into five c ...

. As with most of Santa Barbara County, annual rainfall is very low in the Santa Maria Valley. The AVA averages less than in non-drought years. Vines typically require of water per year for dry-farming, therefore, irrigation is essential.

Soil

The soils range in texture from a sandy loam to clay loam and are free from adverse salts. Soil variation can broadly be cut into four types. Three types are within the original Santa Maria Valley AVA: the Valley floor, the Solomon Hills, and the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains, northeast of the Santa Maria River. The fourth is the southern expansion area. Along the northern portion of the Santa Maria-Sisquoc River colluvial soils cover slope sides giving rocky freshness to grapes grown throughout. Towards the river side, soils become unconsolidated as mixed alluvial soils appear. The soils are mainly sand, sandy loam, and loam on the valley floor, but are mixed sandy, clay, shaly and silt loams on mountain slopes. However, the soils in the expansion area are the same type as in the original Santa Maria Valley area. In the expansion area and on hills in the original viticultural area, the soils are sand, sandy, clay, and shaly loams.

Varieties Grown

Due to the cooler mesoclimates, the valley is renowned for producing some of California's finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. These are the appellation's two flagship varieties.

Expansion

On January 28, 2011, the TTB granted a petition to expand the southern border of the Santa Maria Valley AVA to align with the physical watershed boundary of the Santa Maria River. The revised boundary approximately follows the ridge line dividing the Santa Maria Valley from the Los Alamos Valley. It lies in northern Santa Barbara County, according to the boundary description and

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

maps, and is entirely within the Central Coast viticultural area. The expansion added , nine vineyards, of commercial viticulture, and under viticultural development to the area increasing its total size to .

References

External links

Santa Maria Valley
Santa Barbara Vintners Association
TTB AVA Map
{{coord, 34.85413 , -120.26163, format=dms , display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-CA American Viticultural Areas of California American Viticultural Areas of Southern California Geography of San Luis Obispo County, California Geography of Santa Barbara County, California Valleys of San Luis Obispo County, California Valleys of Santa Barbara County, California American Viticultural Areas 1981 establishments in California