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California Wine Atlas

Carmel Valley

AVA · Monterey County · District 7

27 CFR 9.58 · established 1982-12-14 · last amended 2011-02-01

Heat class II · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

2,786°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

13 GridMET cells cover this region

II

89mm

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

This boundaryClick to open

Hovering a shaded region names it; a click opens its page.

Measured vineyard area

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Drought categories, year by year

Monterey County — not Carmel Valley

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What's in the ground

6.5

pH, 1:1 water

8.1cm

, whole profile

80cm

to

Well drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 33 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

6.5
2.4%
13.8%
available water
8.1cm
depth to restriction
80cm

Dominant

  • 26.0%
  • 23.8%
  • 14.3%
  • 8.2%
  • 6.0%

33 map units · soil described over 99.3% of the region’s area · 4.3% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 89% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Sandy loam

66% sand · 20% silt · 14% clay

Sandier than 95% of California appellations and clayier than 7%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.

Plus 21% 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

Monterey County · District 7

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Price per ton

Monterey County · District 7

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The appellation in federal law

The boundary, in the government’s own words (105 words)

(c) Boundary. The Carmel Valley viticultural area is located in Monterey County, California. The boundary is as follows: (1) The beginning point is the northeast corner of Section 5 in Township 17 South, Range 2 East. (2) The boundary follows the Los Laurelles Land Grant boundary south, then easterly, to the north-south section line dividing Section 9 from Section 10 in Township 17 South, Range 2 East. (3) The boundary follows this section line south to the southwest corner of Section 22 in Township 17 South, Range 2 East. (4) From this point, the boundary follows section lines in Township 17 South, Range 2 East: