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California Wine Atlas

Hames Valley

Sub-AVA · Monterey County · District 7

27 CFR 9.147 · established 1994-03-25

Heat class IV · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

3,796°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

9 GridMET cells cover this region

IV

48mm

season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31

17 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 Hames Valley

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What's in the ground

6.7

pH, 1:1 water

19.9cm

, whole profile

157cm

to

Well drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 39 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

6.7
3.4%
23.2%
available water
19.9cm
depth to restriction
157cm

Dominant

  • 42.9%
  • 18.2%
  • 15.0%
  • 6.6%
  • 3.0%

39 map units · soil described over 100.0% of the region’s area · 0.7% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 33% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Loam

39% sand · 38% silt · 23% clay

Sandier than 32% of California appellations and clayier than 57%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.

Plus 19% 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 (312 words)

(c) Boundary. The Hames Valley viticultural area is located in southern Monterey County in the State of California. The boundary is as follows: (1) Beginning at the southeast corner of section 26, T. 23 S., R. 10 E., which coincides with the point where the 640 foot contour line crosses the Swain Valley drainage, the boundary proceeds in a straight line across section 26 to the northwest corner of section 26, T. 23 S., R. 10 E.; (2) Then west northwest in a straight line across sections 22, 21, 20, and 19, T. 23 S., R. 10 E., to the northwest corner of section 24, T. 23 S., R. 9 E.; (3) Then southeast in a straight line across sections 24, 25, 30, 31, and 32, to the southeast corner of section 5, T. 24 S., R. 10 E.; (4) Then east southeast in a straight line across section 9 to the southeast corner of section 10, T. 24 S., R. 10 E.; (5) Then east southeast in a straight line for approximately 2.25 miles to Hill 704, located in section 18, T. 24 S., R. 11 E.; (6) Then north northwest in a straight line for approximately 1.35 miles to Hill 801, located near the northwest corner of section 7, T. 24 S., R. 11 E., and then continue in a straight line to the northwest corner of section 6, T. 24 S., R. 11 E.; (7) Then in a generally northwesterly direction along the Salinas River for approximately 1 mile to where the Swain Valley drainage enters the Salinas River about .11 mile south of the northern boundary line of section 36, T. 23 S., R. 10 E.; (8) Then in a westerly direction for approximately .75 mile along the Swain Valley drainage to the southeast corner of section 26, T. 23 S., R. 10 E., the point of beginning.