Alta Mesa
AVA · Sacramento County · District 9, 11, 17
27 CFR 9.195 · established 2006-07-17
Heat class V · 1991-2020 normals
Climate normals in three numbers
, Apr 1 – Oct 31
26 GridMET cells cover this region
season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31
26 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
Sacramento County — not Alta Mesa
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What's in the ground
6.2
pH, 1:1 water
12.0cm
, whole profile
73cm
to
Moderately well drained
, dominant condition
Distribution across 42 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar
Dominant
- 78.4%
- 6.6%
- 5.9%
- 1.5%
- 1.4%
42 map units · soil described over 98.9% of the region’s area · 1.9% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 90% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.
Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation
Loam
32% sand · 47% silt · 20% clay
Sandier than 10% of California appellations and clayier than 36%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.
Plus 5% 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
Sacramento County · District 9, 11, 17
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Price per ton
Sacramento County · District 9, 11, 17
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The appellation in federal law
The boundary, in the government’s own words (638 words)
(c) Boundary. The Alta Mesa viticultural area is located in Sacramento County, California, and is entirely within the Lodi viticultural area (27 CFR 9.107). The Alta Mesa viticultural area boundary is as follows: (1) The beginning point is on the Lodi North map at the intersection of Kost Road and the Southern Pacific railway, section 34, T5N, R6E. From the beginning point, proceed north-northwest 8.7 miles along the Southern Pacific railway to its intersection with State Route 99 at McConnel, section 20, T6N, R6E (Galt Quadrangle); then (2) Proceed northwest 4.7 miles on State Route 99 to its intersection with Sheldon Road at the northern boundary of section 26, T7N, R5E (Florin Quadrangle); then (3) Proceed east 5.2 miles on Sheldon Road to its intersection with the Central California Traction railroad at the northern boundary of section 27, T7N, R6E (Elk Grove Quadrangle); then (4) Proceed southeast 3.85 miles along the Central California Traction railroad to Grant Line Road, then southwest on Grant Line Road to Wilton Road at the hamlet of Sheldon, and then continue southeast on Wilton Road to its intersection with Dillard Road, section 6, T6N, R7E (Elk Grove Quadrangle); then (5) Proceed northeast 2.6 miles on Dillard Road to its intersection with Lee Shorthorn Road, T7N, R7E (Sloughhouse Quadrangle); then (6) Proceed southeast 0.9 mile on Lee Shorthorn Road to its intersection with Tavernor Road, T7N, R7E (Sloughhouse Quadrangle); then (7) Proceed south 0.95 mile on Tavernor Road to its first 90 degree turn to the west (where two unimproved roads join Tavernor Road from the east and south), section 4, T6N, R7E (Sloughhouse Quadrangle); then (8) Continue due south 1 mile in a straight line to the line's intersection with the 105-foot contour line and an unimproved extension of Blake Road, section 9, T6N, R7E (Sloughhouse Quadrangle); then (9) Proceed west 0.3 mile on the unimproved extension of Blake Road to its intersection with Tavernor Road, section 9, T6N, R7E (Sloughhouse Quadrangle); then (10) Proceed south 0.7 mile on Tavernor Road to the center of the loop at the end of the road, section 16, T6N, R7E (Sloughhouse Quadrangle); then (11) Proceed southwest in a straight line for 0.1 mile to the line's intersection with the east end of the landing strip shown in the northwest quadrant of section 16, T6N, R7E (Sloughhouse Quadrangle); then (12) Proceed west along the landing strip and a line extending from its western end to the line's intersection with Alta Mesa Road on the eastern boundary of section 17, T6N, R7E (Sloughhouse Quadrangle); then (13) Proceed south 6.1 miles on Alta Mesa Road, crossing State Route 104, to Alta Mesa Road's intersection with Borden Road at the southwest corner of section 9, T5N, R7E (Clay Quadrangle); then (14) Proceed east 1 mile on Borden Road to its intersection with Alabama Road at the southeast corner of section 9, T5N, R7E (Clay Quadrangle); then (15) Proceed south 2 miles on Alabama Road to its intersection with Simmerhorn Road at the southeast corner of section 21, T5N, R7E (Clay Quadrangle); then (16) Proceed east 2 miles on Simmerhorn Road to its intersection with Clay Station Road at the northeast corner of section 26, T5N, R7E (Clay Quadrangle); then (17) Proceed south 0.5 mile on Clay Station Road to its intersection with Dry Creek, section 26, T5N, R7E (Clay Quadrangle); then (18) Proceed west-southwest (downstream) 7.8 miles along Dry Creek, crossing over the northwest corner of the Lockeford map, and twice crossing over the southeast corner of the Galt map, to Dry Creek's intersection with Lincoln Way, section 35, T5N, R6E (Lodi North Quadrangle); then (19) Proceed northwest 0.1 mile on Lincoln Way to its intersection with Kost Road, section 35, T5N, R6E (Lodi North Quadrangle); and (20) Proceed west 0.3 mile on Kost Road, returning to the beginning point.