Chalone
Sub-AVA · Monterey County · District 7 — 96.8% of this appellation; also in San Benito (3.2%)
27 CFR 9.24 · established 1982-06-14
Heat class III · 1991-2020 normals
Climate normals in three numbers
, Apr 1 – Oct 31
5 GridMET cells cover this region
season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31
20 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
Monterey County — not Chalone
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What's in the ground
6.6
pH, 1:1 water
9.2cm
, whole profile
72cm
to
Well drained
, dominant condition
Distribution across 43 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar
Dominant
- 58.5%
- 25.6%
- 5.2%
- 3.6%
- 1.9%
43 map units · soil described over 99.9% of the region’s area · 1.2% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 92% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.
Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation
Sandy loam
57% sand · 27% silt · 16% clay
Sandier than 84% of California appellations and clayier than 11%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.
Plus 10% 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 — 96.8% of this appellation; also in San Benito (3.2%)
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Price per ton
Monterey County · District 7 — 96.8% of this appellation; also in San Benito (3.2%)
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The appellation in federal law
The boundary, in the government’s own words (112 words)
(c) Boundaries. The Chalone viticultural area includes 8640 acres, primarily located in Monterey County, California, with small portions in the north and east located in San Benito County, California. The boundaries of the Chalone viticultural area encompass: (1) Sections 35 and 36, in their entirety, of T.16 S., R.6.E.; (2) Sections 1, 2 and 12, in their entirety, of T.17 S., R.6 E.; (3) Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, and 17, in their entirety, the western half of Section 5, and the eastern half of Section 18 of T.17 S., R.7 E.; and (4) Section 31, in its entirety, and the western half of Section 32 of T.16 S., R.7 E.