San Benito
AVA · San Benito County · District 7
27 CFR 9.110 · established 1987-10-05 · last amended 2024-11-06
Heat class II · 1991-2020 normals
Climate normals in three numbers
, Apr 1 – Oct 31
22 GridMET cells cover this region
raw 4 km GridMET would say III
season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31
18 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
San Benito County — not San Benito
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What's in the ground
7.1
pH, 1:1 water
21.2cm
, whole profile
140cm
to
Well drained
, dominant condition
Distribution across 74 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar
Dominant
- 21.1%
- 19.5%
- 10.4%
- 6.9%
- 6.8%
74 map units · soil described over 89.0% of the region’s area · 13.5% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 68% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.
Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation
Clay loam
39% sand · 32% silt · 29% clay
Sandier than 38% of California appellations and clayier than 86%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.
Plus 5% 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
San Benito County · District 7
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Price per ton
San Benito County · District 7
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The appellation in federal law
The boundary, in the government’s own words (117 words)
(c) Boundary—(1) General. The San Benito viticultural area is located in San Benito County, California. The starting point of the following boundary description is the point where the eastern border of Section 17 of Township 15 South, Range 7 East, crosses the latitude 36°37′30″ (on the Cherry Peak map). (2) Boundary Description. (i) From the starting point, westward along latitude 36°37′30″ to the Range Line R.6E./R.7E. (on the Paicines map). (ii) Then northward along that range line to the southern border of Section 1, Township 15 South, Range 6 East. (iii) Then westward along that southern border to the western border of the same section. (iv) Then northward along that western border to the 800-foot contour line.