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California Wine Atlas

North Coast

AVA · Mendocino County · District 1 — 35.25% of this appellation; also in Sonoma (30.81%), Lake (15.15%), Napa (12.23%), Marin (5.41%), Solano (1.06%)

27 CFR 9.30 · established 1983-09-21 · last amended 2024-11-06

Heat class III · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

3,005°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

886 GridMET cells cover this region

III

180mm

season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31

59 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

Mendocino County — not North Coast

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What's in the ground

6.1

pH, 1:1 water

14.5cm

, whole profile

108cm

to

Well drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 1051 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

6.1
3.4%
23.3%
available water
14.5cm
depth to restriction
108cm

Dominant

  • 8.3%
  • 5.5%
  • 4.8%
  • 4.2%
  • 3.8%

1051 map units · soil described over 95.3% of the region’s area · 5.6% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 78% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Loam

40% sand · 36% silt · 23% clay

Sandier than 43% of California appellations and clayier than 58%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.

Plus 16% 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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Producers

A curated roster, not a census — only source-verified entries appear, 2772 published across the atlas.

Bearing acreage by variety

Mendocino County · District 1 — 35.25% of this appellation; also in Sonoma (30.81%), Lake (15.15%), Napa (12.23%), Marin (5.41%), Solano (1.06%)

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Price per ton

Mendocino County · District 1 — 35.25% of this appellation; also in Sonoma (30.81%), Lake (15.15%), Napa (12.23%), Marin (5.41%), Solano (1.06%)

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The appellation in federal law

The boundary, in the government’s own words (580 words)

(c) Boundaries. The North Coast viticultural area is located in Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma Counties, California. The beginning point is found on the “Santa Rosa, California” U.S.G.S. map at the point where the Sonoma and Marin County boundary joins the Pacific Ocean. (1) Then follow the Pacific coastline in a generally southeasterly direction for 9.4 miles, crossing onto the Tomales map, to Preston Point on Tomales Bay; (2) Then northeast along the shoreline of Tomales Bay approximately 1 mile to the mouth of Walker Creek opposite benchmark (BM) 10 on State Highway 1; (3) Then southeast in a straight line for 1.3 miles to the marked 741-foot peak; (4) Then southeast in a straight line for 3.1 miles, crossing onto the Point Reyes NE map, to the marked 804-foot peak; (5) Then southeast in a straight line 1.8 miles to the marked 935-foot peak; (6) Then southeast in a straight line 12.7 miles, crossing back onto the Santa Rosa map, to the marked 1,466-foot peak on Barnabe Mountain; (7) Then southeast in a straight line for approximately 10.0 miles to the peak of Mount Tamalpais (western peak, elevation 2604 feet); (8) Then northeast in a straight line for approximately 5.8 miles to the confluence of San Rafael Creek and San Rafael Bay in San Rafael; (9) Then north and northeast following San Rafael Bay and San Pablo Bay to Sonoma Creek; (10) Then north following Sonoma Creek to the boundary between Napa and Solano Counties; (11) Then east and north following the boundary between Napa and Solano Counties to the right-of-way of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Jameson Canyon; (12) Then east following the right-of-way of the Southern Pacific Railroad to the junction with the Southern Pacific in Suisun City; (13) Then north in a straight line for approximately 5.5 miles to the extreme southeastern corner of Napa County; (14) Then north following the boundary between Napa and Solano Counties to the Monticello Dam at the eastern end of Lake Berryessa; (15) Then following the south and west shore of Lake Berryessa to Putah Creek; (16) Then northwest following Putah Creek to the boundary between Napa and Lake Counties; (17) Then northwest in a straight line for approximately 11.4 miles to the peak of Brushy Sky High Mountain (elevation 3196 feet); (18) Then north-northwest in a straight line for approximately 7.6 miles to the 1,851-foot summit of Red Rocks; (19) Then northwest in a straight line for approximately 4.3 miles to the 1,696- foot summit of Chalk Mountain; (20) Then northwest in a straight line for approximately 6 miles to the 4,005- foot summit of Evans Peak; (21) Then northwest in a straight line for approximately 5.0 miles to Pinnacle Rock Lookout; (22) Then northwest in a straight line for approximately 8.0 miles to Youngs Peak (elevation 3683 feet); (23) Then northwest in a straight line for approximately 11.2 miles to the peak of Pine Mountain (elevation 4057 feet); (24) Then northwest in a straight line for approximately 12.1 miles to the peak of Sanhedrin Mountain (elevation 6175 feet); (25) Then northwest in a straight line for approximately 9.4 miles to the peak of Brushy Mountain (elevation 4864 feet); (26) Then southwest in a straight line for approximately 17.6 miles to the confluence of Redwood Creek and the Noyo River; (27) Then west following the Noyo River to its mouth at the Pacific Ocean; (28) Then southeast following the Pacific Ocean shoreline to the point of beginning.