Monterey AVA

Monterey, Central Coast

Monterey County, located on the Central Coast of California, runs from just north of Monterey Bay, to the south, just above Paso Robles, California. Monterey County is considered by many wine experts, to be one of the premier grape growing and wine producing regions in the state. The region that was largely unplanted with grapes until the mid-1970s, today has 40,000 acres under vine. Monterey County has seven AVAs within it including: Chalone, Arroyo Seco, Santa Lucia Highlands, San Lucas, Hames Valley, Carmel Valley and the large Monterey AVA.

The northern part of the region is considered a cool growing region where Riesling and Pinot Noir are very popular and in the south, Bordeaux varietals are predominant. Monterey County not only has a wide variety of quality wineries and tasting rooms, but also has luxurious spas, world class golf courses and fine dining. For those looking for a wine tasting route in center of the region there is the River Road Wine Trail that goes through Soledad, Salinas and other Central Valley locations.