The Sta. Rita Hills AVA is an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

located in

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. From its creation in 2001 through 2006, the

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

was officially named Santa Rita Hills AVA. The formal name change was the result of a protest by and subsequent negotiations with

Vina Santa Rita Vina may refer to: People * Émilie Vina (born 1982), French cross-country skier * Ionuț Vînă (born 1995), Romanian footballer * Vina Bovy (1900–1983), Belgian operatic soprano * Vina Mazumdar (1927–2013), Indian academic and feminist ...

, a very large

Chilean wine Chilean wine has a long history for a New World wine region, as it was the 16th century when the Spanish conquistadors brought ''Vitis vinifera'' vines with them as they colonized the region. In the mid-19th century, French wine varieties su ...

producer that was concerned about the AVA name diluting its international

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

value. The name change took effect on January 5, 2006, with a yearlong period for producers in the AVA to change their

wine label Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...

Geography

Sta. Rita Hills is part of the larger

Santa Ynez Valley AVA The Santa Ynez Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Santa Barbara County, California and was established on May 16, 1983 by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). It is part of the larger Central Coast AVA, and co ...

, located between the towns of

Lompoc Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called ...

and

Buellton Buellton is a small city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley, west of Solvang. The population was 5,161 at the 2020 census, up from 4,828 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction of U. ...

with the

Purisima Hills The Purisima Hills are a northwest-to-southeast trending low mountain range of the Outer Southern California Coast Ranges, located in Santa Barbara County, California. They divide the Santa Ynez Valley on the south from the Los Alamos Valley on t ...

on the north and the Santa Rosa Hills on the south. The wine region is exposed to

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

and coastal breezes from the nearby

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 ...

. The hills run east to west, which allows cool ocean breezes from the nearby Pacific Ocean to enter the valley created by the hills and create a cool

mesoclimate In viticulture, there are several levels of regional climates that are used to describe the ''terroir'' or immutable characteristics of an area. These levels can be as broad as a macroclimate which includes entire wine regions or as small as a mic ...

. When combined with the rocky nature of the area, the Santa Rita Hills area is well-suited for the growing of

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

grapes, which tend to do well in cool climates with rocky soil. The region is best known for

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

, Pinot noir, and

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

varietal wines.

Wine industry

Several wineries are located in and around the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Wineries and locations in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA were featured in the 2004 U.S. film ''

Sideways ''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama road film directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymo ...

''. Sideways Fest is an annual three-day event hosted by the Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance celebrating the anniversary of the movie's filming in the Santa Ynez Valley.

References

External links

Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance

Santa Ynez Wine Country Association

TTB AVA map
{{coord , 34.63406, -120.28818 , format=dms, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-CA_dim:27000
American Viticultural Areas of California American Viticultural Areas of Southern California Santa Ynez Valley Geography of Santa Barbara County, California American Viticultural Areas 2001 establishments in California

Geography

Wine industry

See also

References

External links