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California Wine Atlas

Merritt Island

AVA · Yolo County · District 9, 17

27 CFR 9.68 · established 1983-05-17 · last amended 1987-02-27

Heat class IV · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

3,839°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

7 GridMET cells cover this region

IV

raw 4 km GridMET would say V

79mm

season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31

24 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

Yolo County — not Merritt Island

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What's in the ground

6.9

pH, 1:1 water

27.2cm

, whole profile

198cm

to

Somewhat poorly drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 15 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

6.9
2.3%
35.3%
available water
27.2cm
depth to restriction
198cm

Dominant

  • 38.8%
  • 27.4%
  • 14.9%
  • 11.9%
  • 4.4%

15 map units · soil described over 98.7% of the region’s area · 1.3% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 2% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Silty clay loam

14% sand · 51% silt · 35% clay

Sandier than 0% of California appellations and clayier than 97%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.

Plus 0% 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

Yolo County · District 9, 17

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Price per ton

Yolo County · District 9, 17

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The appellation in federal law

The boundary, in the government’s own words (117 words)

(c) Boundaries. The Merritt Island viticultural area is located in Yolo County, California, six miles south of the City of Sacramento. The boundaries of the Merritt Island viticultural area, using landmarks and points of reference found on the appropriate U.S.G.S. maps, are as follows: (1) Starting at the most southernly point, the intersection of Sutter Slough with the Sacramento River. (2) Then west along the course of Sutter Slough for 0.54 miles until it intersects Elk Slough. (3) Then northeast along the course of Elk Slough for 9.58 miles to the community of Clarksburg and the intersection of Sacramento River. (4) Then southeasterly along the course of the Sacramento River for 7.8 miles to the beginning point.