Two coastal California wine regions finally get their official due

Mention wine country and we tend to think of valleys. Northern California has Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, Alexander and Anderson valleys, the Russian River Valley and the Green Valley of the Russian River Valley, just to name a few. Oregonians go Rogue when they need a change of pace from the more famous Willamette Valley, and Washingtonians can gorge themselves on wine from the Columbia Valley.

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This year, wine country has gone coastal. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, the federal agency that regulates wine commerce and labeling, bestowed official status last month on the West Sonoma Coast as the newest American Viticultural Area. In March, the TTB christened the San Luis Obispo Coast, or SLO Coast, in central California as an AVA. Both regions specialize in pinot noir and chardonnay, varieties that benefit from the Pacific’s cool maritime climate.

AVAs were modeled after European appellations, the regional designations we see on a wine label. The first AVA was approved in Missouri in 1980. Today, the federal government recognizes 261 AVAs, including 144 in California. (Maryland has the Catoctin and Linganore AVAs and shares the Cumberland Valley AVA with Pennsylvania. Virginia has seven of its own, the most recent being the Virginia Peninsula AVA established last August. It shares the Shenandoah Valley AVA with West Virginia and the Appalachian High Country AVA with North Carolina and Tennessee.)

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AVAs “allow vintners and consumers to attribute a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of a wine made from grapes grown in an area to the wine’s geographic origin,” the TTB said in its announcement of the West Sonoma Coast designation. “The establishment of AVAs allows vintners to describe more accurately the origin of their wines to consumers and helps consumers to identify wines they may purchase.”

West Sonoma Coast may sound odd, because Sonoma County doesn’t have an east coast. But it makes sense as a carve-out from the Sonoma Coast designation familiar to California wine fans. The Sonoma Coast AVA was established in 1987 to cover most of the county, including parts nowhere near the Pacific. The new West Sonoma Coast AVA stretches from the Mendocino line south to the areas of Freestone and Occidental. It’s bordered by the ocean on the west, the Russian River Valley region to the east and the Petaluma Gap AVA to the south. It includes the previously established Fort Ross-Seaview AVA, a high-elevation area that lies completely above the fog line. The region has “steep mountainous terrain, sedimentary soil, and a maritime-influenced climate that is generally cooler during the day and warmer during the night than the more inland regions of Sonoma County,” the TTB noted.

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This is logging country, hours away from Santa Rosa or Healdsburg, up hairpin roads that hug the coastline, a drive you don’t want to make when the fog is coming in.

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That rugged terrain and marine influence lend chardonnay “vibrancy and energy, good citrusy acidity without the heavier, tropical notes you get with a warmer climate,” says Andy Peay, of Peay Vineyards in Annapolis, Calif. He describes pinot noir from the region as “floral and earthy” rather than the “fleshy and sweet” flavors of the Russian River Valley. He said Peay will probably use the West Sonoma Coast designation on its 2021 wines when they are bottled in August.

Further south, the perfectly named SLO Coast evokes an easygoing surfer dude vibe centered on San Luis Obispo and Avila Beach. It stretches from San Simeon in the north to Nipomo on its southern edge and is no more than 15 miles wide — from the Pacific on the west to the Santa Lucia Mountains on the east. It includes the Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande Valley AVAs. Fog is less of a factor in this region, but the ocean’s cooling influence is ideal for pinot noir and chardonnay. Albariño, grüner veltliner and riesling also do well among white varieties, while grenache, syrah, tempranillo and zinfandel also grow there.

Rachel Martin, proprietor of Oceano wines, is looking forward to putting the new AVA on her outstanding chardonnay and pinot noir, which until now have carried the San Luis Obispo County designation. The county includes warmer regions such as Paso Robles, farther north and inland. Oceano wines originate at Spanish Springs Vineyard just north of Pismo Beach, less than three miles from the ocean. The cool temperatures help produce “balanced wines with bright red or citrus fruit flavors, refreshing acidity and a resonating vibrancy,” Martin says. “You know, the style of wine that gets me out of bed in the morning.”

Fog-shrouded forests or sun and surf — take your pick. Along either stretch of California’s coast, you’ll find distinctive wines worthy of your glass.

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