VASCM: The Santa Cruz Mts. AVA is NOT in the Central Coast

[Mary Lindsay, Muns Vineyard]

I have heard, and you may have very well also, that the Santa Cruz Mts. 
AVA is NOT included in the Central Coast AVA. But I haven't  seen this 
validated. I have read through our AVA definition but could not find 
this stipulated anywhere in it.  It finally occurred to me to look in 
the definition of the Central Coast AVA. And there it is. I think it 
worth sharing.

The Santa Cruz Mts. is consistently lumped into the 'Central Coast' - by 
the Wine Institute in its marketing materials, by publishers on their 
maps and stories. This is probably out of convenience - and because they 
don't know otherwise. I think it is important that we all are cognizant 
of this distinction. From what I have heard, we can thank our 'founding 
fathers and mothers', who helped define the AVA in the first place, for 
insisting that the Santa Cruz Mts. be maintained as distinct from the
Central Coast when that larger AVA was defined a few years later.

The Wine Institute provides a list of AVA definitions that have been 
approved and published by the GPO on its website at 
http://www.iwineinstitute.com/avabyname.asp. You can find a link to both 
the Santa Cruz Mountains and Central Coast AVA delineations there.

In the Central Coast definition you find this distinction:

(c) Boundary. The Central Coast viticultural area is located in the 
following California counties: Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, 
Alameda, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, San 
Mateo, and Contra Costa. The Santa Cruz Mountains viticultural area is 
excluded. (The boundaries of the Santa Cruz Mountains viticultural area 
are described in 27 CFR Sec. 9.31.)

So, for the record...

Best,
- Mary Lindsay
Muns Vineyard
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