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California Wine Atlas

Sierra Foothills

AVA · Calaveras County · District 10 — 19.72% of this appellation; also in Mariposa (18.52%), El Dorado (16.82%), Tuolumne (11.67%), Amador (11.33%), Placer (9.48%), Nevada (9.22%), Yuba (3.21%)

27 CFR 9.120 · established 1987-11-18 · last amended 2024-11-06

Heat class IV · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

3,902°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

759 GridMET cells cover this region

IV

177mm

season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31

51 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

Calaveras County — not Sierra Foothills

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What's in the ground

6.1

pH, 1:1 water

12.5cm

, whole profile

89cm

to

Well drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 1032 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

6.1
3.9%
18.8%
available water
12.5cm
depth to restriction
89cm

Dominant

  • 9.5%
  • 5.5%
  • 5.5%
  • 5.2%
  • 5.0%

1032 map units · soil described over 92.7% of the region’s area · 14.1% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 92% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Loam

44% sand · 38% silt · 19% clay

Sandier than 58% of California appellations and clayier than 27%. 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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Bearing acreage by variety

Calaveras County · District 10 — 19.72% of this appellation; also in Mariposa (18.52%), El Dorado (16.82%), Tuolumne (11.67%), Amador (11.33%), Placer (9.48%), Nevada (9.22%), Yuba (3.21%)

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Price per ton

Calaveras County · District 10 — 19.72% of this appellation; also in Mariposa (18.52%), El Dorado (16.82%), Tuolumne (11.67%), Amador (11.33%), Placer (9.48%), Nevada (9.22%), Yuba (3.21%)

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The appellation in federal law

The boundary, in the government’s own words (813 words)

(c) Boundary. The Sierra Foothills viticultural area is located in portions of the counties of Yuba, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa, in the State of California. The boundary is as follows: (1) Beginning on the “Chico” map at the point of intersection of the north border of T(ownship) 18 N(orth), R(ange) 6 E(ast), with S. Honcut Creek the boundary proceeds approximately 3.5 miles, in a generally south and southwesterly direction, along the eastern bank of S. Honcut Creek to the point where S. Honcut Creek meets the western border of T. 18 N., R. 6 E.; (2) Then south, approximately 15 miles, along the western borders of T. 18 N., T. 17 N., and T. 16 N. in R. 6 E., to the point where the western border of T. 16 N., R. 6 E. meets the northernmost perimeter of Beale Air Force Base in the southwestern corner of T. 16 N., R. 6 E.; (3) Then east, south and west along the perimeter of Beale Air Force Base to the point where the perimeter of Beale Air Force Base intersects the western border of R. 7 E. in T. 14 N.; (4) Then south, approximately 24 miles, along the western borders of T. 14 N., T. 13 N., T. 12 N., and T. 11 N. in R. 7 E., to the southwestern corner of T. 11 N., R. 7 E. (see “Sacramento” map); (5) Then east, approximately six miles, along the south border of T. 11 N., R. 7 E., to the southeastern corner of T. 11 N., R. 7 E.; (6) Then in a south southeasterly direction, in a straight line, approximately three miles, to the northeasternmost corner of Sacramento County in T. 10 N., R. 8 E.; (7) Then continuing in a south southeasterly direction, in a straight line, along the Sacramento County—El Dorado County line, approximately 15 miles, to the point where the county line meets the Cosumnes River in the southwestern corner of T. 8 N., R. 9 E.; (8) Then south, in a straight line, approximately 14.1 miles, along the Sacramento County—Amador County line, to the point where the county line meets Dry Creek in the northwestern corner of T. 5 N., R. 9 E.; (9) Then in a south southeasterly direction, in a straight line, approximately 5.4 miles. along the San Joaquin County—Amador County line, to the point where the Mokelumne River forms the Amador County—Calaveras County line in T. 4 N., R. 9 E.; (10) Then continuing in a south southeasterly direction, in a straight line, approximately 10.4 miles, along the San Joaquin County-Calaveras County line, to the point where the power line meets the western border of T. 3 N., R. 10 E.; (11) Then in a southeasterly direction, in a straight line, approximately 22.4 miles, along the Calaveras County-Stanislaus County line to the point where the county line meets the Stanislaus River in T. 1 S., R. 12 E. (see “San Jose” map); (12) Then in a southeasterly direction, in a straight line, approximately 20 miles, along the Tuolumne County-Stanislaus County line to the point where the county lines of Tuolumne, Mariposa, Stanislaus and Merced counties meet in the southeast corner of T. 3 S., R. 14 E.; (13) Then continuing along the Mariposa County-Merced County line in a generally southeasterly direction, approximately 37 miles, to the point where the county lines of Mariposa, Merced and Madera counties meet in the northwestern corner of T. 9 S, R. 18 E.; (14) Then northeasterly in a straight line, approximately 23 miles, along the Mariposa County-Merced County line to the point, approximately one mile west of Miami Mountain, where the Mariposa County-Merced County line meets the western border of the boundary of the Sierra National Forest in T. 6S, R. 20 E. (see “Mariposa” map); (15) Then in a generally northerly and westerly direction, along the western borders of the Sierra and Stanislaus National Forests in Mariposa County (see “San Jose” map); (16) Then in a generally northerly and westerly direction, along the western border of the Stanislaus National Forest in Tuolumne County (see “Sacramento” map); (17) Then in a generally northerly and westerly direction, along the western border of the Stanislaus National Forest in Calaveras and Amador counties; (18) Then in a generally northerly and westerly direction, along the western border of the El Dorado National Forest in Amador, El Dorado and Placer counties (see “Chico” map); (19) Then in a generally northerly and westerly direction, along the western border of the Tahoe National Forest in Placer, Nevada and Yuba counties to the point south of Ruef Hill where the western border of the Tahoe National Forest intersects the northeast corner of T. 18 N., R. 6 E.; (20) Then west, approximately five miles, along the north border of T. 18 N., R. 6 E., to the point of beginning.