Santa Maria Valley
AVA · Santa Barbara County · District 8 — 84.27% of this appellation; also in San Luis Obispo (15.73%)
27 CFR 9.28 · established 1981-08-05 · last amended 2010-12-29
Heat class II · 1991-2020 normals
Climate normals in three numbers
, Apr 1 – Oct 31
42 GridMET cells cover this region
raw 4 km GridMET would say III
season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31
27 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
Santa Barbara County — not Santa Maria Valley
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What's in the ground
6.5
pH, 1:1 water
12.7cm
, whole profile
113cm
to
Well drained
, dominant condition
Distribution across 179 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar
Dominant
- 16.6%
- 9.8%
- 7.5%
- 6.7%
- 5.8%
179 map units · soil described over 93.1% of the region’s area · 6.6% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 62% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.
Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation
Sandy loam
52% sand · 28% silt · 20% clay
Sandier than 76% of California appellations and clayier than 32%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.
Plus 15% 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
Santa Barbara County · District 8 — 84.27% of this appellation; also in San Luis Obispo (15.73%)
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Price per ton
Santa Barbara County · District 8 — 84.27% of this appellation; also in San Luis Obispo (15.73%)
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The appellation in federal law
The boundary, in the government’s own words (277 words)
(c) Boundary. The Santa Maria Valley viticultural area is located in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, California. The boundary of the Santa Maria Valley viticultural area is as follows: (1) Begin on the Orcutt quadrangle map at the intersection of U.S. Route 101 and Clark Avenue, section 18 north boundary line, T9N/R33W, then proceed generally north along U.S. Route 101 approximately 10 miles onto the Santa Maria quadrangle map to U.S. Route 101's intersection with State Route 166 (east), T10N/R34W; then (2) Proceed generally northeast along State Route 166 (east) onto the San Luis Obispo N.I. 10-3 map to State Route 166's intersection with the section line southwest of Chimney Canyon, T11N/R32W; then (3) Proceed south in a straight line onto the Santa Maria N.I. 10-6 map to the 3,016-foot summit of Los Coches Mountain; then (4) Proceed southeast in a straight line onto the Foxen Canyon quadrangle map to the 2,822-foot summit of Bone Mountain, T9N/R32W; then (5) Proceed south-southwest in a straight line approximately 6 miles to the line's intersection with secondary highways Foxen Canyon Road and Alisos Canyon Road and a marked 1,116-foot elevation point, T8N/R32W; then (6) Proceed west-northwest in a straight line approximately 6 miles onto the Sisquoc quadrangle map to the southeast corner of section 4, T8N/R32W; then (7) Proceed west-northwest in a straight line approximately 6.2 miles, crossing over the Solomon Hills, to the line's intersection with U.S. Route 101 and a private, unnamed light-duty road that meanders east into the Cat Canyon Oil Field, T9N/R33W; then (8) Proceed north 3.75 miles along U.S. Route 101 onto the Orcutt quadrangle map and return to the point of beginning.