Monterey AVA
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Monterey is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in eastern Monterey County,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. It was recognized on July 16, 1984 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF),
Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...
after reviewing the petition submitted by the Monterey Winegrowers Council to establish the "Monterey" viticultural area. The designated area within the multi-county Central Coast AVA expands almost the entire length of the county from the Monterey Bay southern shoreline to the Salinas river valley framed by the Santa Lucia,
Sierra de Salinas Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" or "mountain chain" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieve ...
and Gabilan Ranges stretching north-south for about from
Watsonville Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 at the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self-designated sanctua ...
to its southern point, abutting the town of Paso Robles in
San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra fou ...
. Monterey AVA expands approximately with about of cultivated vineyards. The AVA includes parts of the Carmel and the Salinas valleys containing five smaller American viticultural areas: Arroyo Seco, Hames Valley, San Bernabe, San Lucas and Santa Lucia Highlands. The northern portion is a cool growing region with a very long growing season. Daytime temperatures rarely exceed in most parts of the region, although the southern segments of the AVA can measure at times. The soil is sandy
loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...
and most regions require
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
from the Salinas River. As the largest AVA in Monterey County, the region is home to considerable variations in microclimates and soil types with the dominant soil being loam based. In areas closer to the cold Pacific currents, Pinot Noir, Riesling and are the predominant varieties, while in the warmer inland valleys further south, Bordeaux varietals are most often grown. Approximately 50 percent of the vines in production are Chardonnay.


History

"Monterey" is the name of a peninsula, a city, a bay, and a county. The name "Monterey" originated in the days of the Spanish rule of Mexico. In 1602, explorer Sebastian Vizcaino named the bay in honor of the Conde de Monterrey, Spanish viceroy of
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. In 1770, the Spanish established Presidio of Monterey and
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...
Junípero Serra Saint Junípero Serra Ferrer (; ; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784), popularly known simply as Junipero Serra, was a Spanish Roman Catholic, Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Francis ...
founded missions at Jolon, Soledad and Monterey, which are cities in present day Monterey County. Named the capital of
Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
in 1775, Monterey was fortified and became a port of entry and center of
Spanish culture The culture of Spain is influenced by its Western world, Western origin, its interaction with other cultures in Europe, its historically Catholic Church in Spain, Catholic religious tradition, and the varied national and regional identity in Sp ...
in the "
New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
." Grapes were planted by the Franciscan friars at the mission in Monterey in 1770 and in subsequent years at the missions in Jolon and Soledad. In May 1771, Serra relocated the Monterey mission to land near the mouth of the Carmel River because it was better suited for farming. After the first commercial plantings of grapes in the early 1960s, the modern era of winegrowing took root and "Monterey" had become recognizable prime viticultural land. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the quality of some California wines was outstanding but few took notice as the market favored French brands. At the legendary Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 on May 24th, Chalone Vineyard's 1974 Chardonnay ranked 3rd in the
white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...
category scored by renown French oenophiles. The identical vintage ranked 1st in a repeat event at the San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978. During the 1982 Monterey AVA petition, there were approximately devoted to viticulture, 14 registered wineries, a 15th under construction, and three proposed viticultural areas, namely, Arroyo Seco, Carmel Valley and Chalone. In addition to the petition for the "Monterey" viticultural area, ATF received petitions for the establishment of viticultural areas named "King City" and "San Lucas." Within the boundary of the approved viticultural area encompasses about of which , approximately 5.5 percent, are devoted to grape growing. The Monterey appellation now boasts over of vinifera wine grapes under cultivation.


Terroir

The Monterey viticultural area is distinguished from surrounding areas by the composition of its soils, elevation, topography, and the marine influences from the Pacific Ocean, specifically, wind, rainfall, fog and climatic variances. Its valley floors are flat and several miles wide with elevated slopes creating an ideal topography for viticulture. It expands from the southern shores of Monterey Bay to the long valley between the Gabilan and Sierra de Salinas mountains forming a natural funnel, drawing cool air inland from the coast. Fog and cool breezes are a vital part of the Monterey terroir, just as they are further north in Napa and Sonoma valleys. The Salinas is the largest river in the central coast of California and is vital to the success of viticulture in the area as the source for various methods of irrigation by the grape growers in the area. It stretches for , draining a land area of . On its route between the Los Padres National Forest and the Pacific, it passes through Paso Robles and San Lucas before it even reaches the Monterey County line. Once it crosses and flows north of the county border, the river runs through the heart of the Hames Valley, San Bernabe and Arroyo Seco viticultural areas into Monterey AVA. The weather within Monterey AVA differs from surrounding areas primarily by the sparse rainfall and the marine influences of the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
and Monterey Bay. Compared to surrounding areas, it is relatively dry throughout the growing season with average annual rainfall in the valleys is which is lower than in surrounding areas necessitating irrigation. The watersheds of the Santa Lucia, Gabilan, and Diablo ranges provide adequate water through underground aquifers to enable irrigation as well as to satisfy other agricultural requirements.


Wine Industry

The Monterey Winegrowers Council, the petitioner for the viticultural area, summarized the views of its membership and endorsed the alternative boundary proposed by ATF on the basis that geographical features and not existing planting distributions should determine the proposed boundaries. They reported that since the submission of the original petition in May 1982, the acreage planted to wine grapes in Monterey County had increased from . They agreed with ATF’s proposal to exclude the approved Chalone viticultural area on the basis that its elevation locates it in a different climate zone. With the exception of Carmel Valley, ATF concured with the petitioner. ATF found that the Carmel Valley viticultural area has features which are more similar to the Chalone viticultural area than to those distinguishing grapes grown in the generally lowland Monterey area. These comments were best summarized in the statement of one commenter that “when comparing grape growing areas within the proposed Monterey viticultural area, several areas possess micro-climatological and mino-geological characteristics that offer subtle influences on grape growing practices.” ATF agreed it was consistent with established agency policy pertaining to the establishment of boundaries for viticultural areas to include subareas having minor differences in climate and geology. Chardonnay is the predominate varietal throughout this region, accounting for more than 50 percent of the vines currently in production.. In its cooler northern area, Riesling and Pinot Noir are popular, while in the warmer southern inland valleys, Bordeaux varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Rhone-styles like Syrah and Petite Sirah, and even some Zinfandel are mostly grown.


See also

*
California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. ...


References


External links


Monterey County Vintners and Growers AssociationMonterey Wine Trail

TTB AVA Map
{{coord , 36.34631, -121.29791, format=dms, type:adm2nd_region:US-CA_dim:27000 , display=title American Viticultural Areas American Viticultural Areas of California Geography of Monterey County, California Salinas River (California) Salinas Valley 1984 establishments in California