Sonoma Coast AVA
A large 480,000-acre AVA designed to identify specific Sonoma County, cooler-climate areas, which can be classified as Region I or region II (see Climate Regions of California). This appellation is thus an odd-shaped area that runs from near the Mendocino County line in the north to the Marin County border in the south. It includes part of other AVAs like Chalk Hill, green valley-sonoma, Los Carneros, Sonoma Valley, and russian river, while excluding warmer areas like the Alexander Valley AVA and the dry creek AVA. This region was originally created at the bequest of Sonoma-Cutrer winery so that it could maintain estate-bottled labeling for its Les Pierres vineyard. There are now several firms who have started wineries and vineyards very close to the coast and can truly be considered “Sonoma Coast.”
The New Wine Lovers Companion, 2nd Edition, by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst. Copyright © (1) 2003, 1995 by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst. Reprinted by arrangement with Barron's Educational Series, Inc.