Alisos Canyon
AVA · Santa Barbara County · District 8
27 CFR 9.270 · established 2020-08-25
Heat class III · 1991-2020 normals
Climate normals in three numbers
, Apr 1 – Oct 31
6 GridMET cells cover this region
raw 4 km GridMET would say II
season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31
25 mm of it in the , Sep 1 – Oct 31
Warm and cool vintages since 1980
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Rain across the season, and at harvest
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The boundary
Hovering a shaded region names it; a click opens its page.
Measured vineyard area
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Drought categories, year by year
Santa Barbara County — not Alisos Canyon
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What's in the ground
6.0
pH, 1:1 water
15.7cm
, whole profile
81cm
to
Well drained
, dominant condition
Distribution across 46 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar
Dominant
- 53.3%
- 15.0%
- 6.2%
- 5.3%
- 4.5%
46 map units · soil described over 99.5% of the region’s area · 0.6% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 82% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.
Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation
Sandy loam
52% sand · 29% silt · 19% clay
Sandier than 77% of California appellations and clayier than 27%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.
Plus 17% rock fragments by volume, which the triangle does not describe — the three fractions are of the fine-earth material only.
Elevation, slope and aspect
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Bearing acreage by variety
Santa Barbara County · District 8
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Price per ton
Santa Barbara County · District 8
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The appellation in federal law
The boundary, in the government’s own words (319 words)
(c) Boundary. The Alisos Canyon viticultural area is located in Santa Barbara County, California. The boundary of the Alisos Canyon viticultural area is as described below: (1) The beginning point is on the Foxen Canyon map at an unnamed hilltop with a marked elevation of 1,137 feet, located west of the Cañada de los Coches in the La Laguna Grant. From the beginning point, proceed east in a straight line for 3.71 miles to the intersection of two unnamed, unimproved roads north of Rancho San Juan; then (2) Proceed east-southeast in a straight line for approximately 1.2 miles to an unnamed hilltop with a marked elevation of 1,424 feet in the La Laguna Grant; then (3) Proceed southwest in a straight line for approximately 1.7 miles, crossing onto the Zaca Creek map, to a point designated “Oil,” adjacent to the north fork of San Antonio Creek and the intersection of three unnamed light-duty roads in the Cañada del Comasa, La Laguna Grant; then (4) Proceed west-southwest in a straight line for approximately 1.56 miles to the intersection of the north fork of San Antonio Creek and the 800-foot elevation contour in the Cañada del Comasa, La Laguna Grant; then (5) Proceed west in a straight line 1.95 miles to an unnamed rectangular structure northeast of the terminus of an unnamed, unimproved road north of U.S. Highway 101 and BM 684 in the La Laguna Grant; then (6) Proceed northwesterly in a straight line 0.32 mile to the intersection of Alisos Canyon Road and an unnamed, unimproved road east of the Cañada de los Coches in the La Laguna Grant; then (7) Proceed north-northwest in a straight line for 1.68 miles, crossing onto the Foxen Canyon map, to an unnamed hilltop with a marked elevation of 997 feet in the La Laguna Grant; then (8) Proceed northeast in a straight line for 0.5 mile to return to the beginning point.