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

[Bill Cooper]

SCM is also specifically exempted from the San Francisco Bay AVA.

Bill

-----Original Message-----
From: vascm-bounces at kkn.net [mailto:vascm-bounces at kkn.net] On Behalf Of Mary Lindsay, Muns Vineyard
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2011 9:37 AM
To: VASCM at kkn.net
Subject: VASCM: The Santa Cruz Mts. AVA is NOT in the Central Coast

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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