Santa Ynez Valley (AVA)
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The Santa Ynez Valley 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, 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 contains the greatest concentration of wineries in Santa Barbara County. The valley is formed by 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 ...
and San Rafael Mountains to the north and the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south creating a long, east-west corridor with very cool temperatures on the coast that become progressively warmer inland. The Santa Ynez River flows east to west on the valley floor toward the Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, the Santa Ynez Valley contains four other established viticultural areas: Sta. Rita Hills on its western boundary; Ballard Canyon and Los Olivos District occupying the center region; and Happy Canyon on the eastern border.
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 ...
is the most planted grape variety in the cooler, western portion of the valley while Rhône varieties thrive in the eastern locales.


See also

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Rhône Rangers The Rhone Rangers are a group of American winemakers who promote the use of grape varieties from the Rhône Valley. They are mostly based on the West Coast, particularly California, and have created a not-for-profit organization for the promot ...
*
Jalama Wines Jalama Wines is a California wine estate producing various Rhône style blends and varietal wines. The winery is located in Lompoc, California, 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara and the vineyard, located near Jalama Beach, is the westernmost v ...


References


External links


Santa Ynez Wine Country Association

Santa Ynez Valley
Santa Barbara Vintners Association
TTB AVA Map
American Viticultural Areas of California American Viticultural Areas of Southern California Geography of Santa Barbara County, California Santa Ynez Valley American Viticultural Areas 1983 establishments in California {{wine-region-stub