Pinot Country

regionSanta Maria Valley

34.00°N35.00°NSta. Rita HillsBien NacidoSanford & BenedictAu Bon ClimatSanta Maria tri-tipSanta Barbara VintnersSanta Maria Style Barbeque AssociationDine Out Santa Maria StyleWorld of Pinot NoirTri-tip over red oakSanford & BenedictWorld of Pinot NoirSanta Maria Valley53 km
Santa Maria Valley, and what else this directory knows within 240 km.

A funnel opening west to the Pacific at 34.9°N — further south than anywhere sensible for pinot noir, and colder through the growing season than most of Oregon. The transverse ranges turn this valley east-west, the ocean walks straight in, and summer averages 75°F.

Written down by US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (1981)

The story Cited

Grapes grew here in the 1830s, under the Mexican land grants. Modern planting starts in 1964 with a hundred acres; by the mid-1970s there were over 2,000. The AVA came on 5 August 1981 — the country's third, California's second, and the first for either county. In 2010 the TTB pushed the southern line out to the watershed, adding 18,790 acres and nine vineyards.

How it is done Cited

Morning fog takes hours to burn off and afternoon wind replaces it. Winkler Region I. Under 14 inches of rain in a normal year, so nearly everything is irrigated.

Today Cited

Pinot noir and chardonnay are the appellation's two flagship varieties — and the same valley cooks the beef that made it famous, over oak cut off these hills.

Facts

countryUnited States
levelava
established1981
soilsandy loam to clay loam; alluvial floor, shaly slopes
regionSanta Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County, Central Coast, California
where34.9300, -120.2500 (region) · OpenStreetMap · open in maps Cited
confidencehigh · updated 2026-09-16

Numbers somebody published

AVA area after the 2010 expansion · 2010116273 acres — Santa Maria Valley AVA
Cultivated vineyard7500 acres — Santa Maria Valley AVA
Average summer temperature75 °F — Santa Maria Valley AVA
Annual rainfall in non-drought years14 inches — Santa Maria Valley AVA
stated as less than
Latitude34.9 °N — Pinot Country — this project's own reasoning
computed from this record's own coordinates

Nothing in this table is estimated here. Where a figure is missing it is missing, and the row is not written.

Near here

Straight-line kilometres; the road is always longer. The finder sorts every cellar on the map from wherever you are.

Its kin

vineyardBien NacidoThe bench planting that sells this valley's fruit to half of California.and of this page it says: The AVA it helped define.storyTri-tip over red oakBeef, red oak and pinot noir out of one valley — the long version.and of this page it says: The AVA on the same ground.at the tableSanta Maria tri-tipWhat the valley eats, and the argument about what to pour with it.and of this page it says: The valley that also grows pinot noir on the same hills.regionSta. Rita HillsThe county's other pinot valley, half an hour south.and of this page it says: The county's other pinot valley, half an hour north.cellarAu Bon ClimatJim Clendenen's winery, built inside Bien Nacido.and of this page it says: The valley it argued for.organizationSanta Maria Style Barbeque AssociationThe body that polices what the phrase on the menu means.and of this page it says: The valley whose name is on the menu.

Who points back

region · says of this pageSanta Lucia HighlandsAnother Central Coast valley that runs the wrong way and gets away with it.at the table · says of this pagePinquito beansThe only ground that grows them at scale.at the table · says of this pageRed oakThe hills it grows on.person · says of this pageBob SchutzHis town, and the valley it made famous.person · says of this pageJim ClendenenThe valley he argued for.organization · says of this pageSanta Barbara VintnersOne of the AVAs it represents.organization · says of this pageTTBEstablished under its predecessor bureau in 1981.event · says of this pageWorld of Pinot NoirHalf an hour north, and well represented.word · says of this pageAVAEstablished 1981: the country's third.story · says of this pageOne film, measuredHalf an hour north of the film's route, and a beneficiary.

Sources

Where it came from: Cited a source we name · Harvested pulled from an open dataset · Tradition what the tradition says, hedged · Inference this project's reasoning · Field somebody stood there. This record as JSON.

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