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California Wine Atlas

Tehachapi Mountains

AVA · Kern County · District 14

27 CFR 9.273 · established 2020-11-19

Heat class II · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

2,995°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

31 GridMET cells cover this region

II

raw 4 km GridMET would say III

64mm

season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31

19 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

Measured vineyard area

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Drought categories, year by year

Kern County — not Tehachapi Mountains

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What's in the ground

7.3

pH, 1:1 water

15.0cm

, whole profile

158cm

to

Well drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 50 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

7.3
1.3%
14.6%
available water
15.0cm
depth to restriction
158cm

Dominant

  • 23.3%
  • 21.2%
  • 21.1%
  • 15.6%
  • 4.0%

50 map units · soil described over 96.3% of the region’s area · 3.3% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 34% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Sandy loam

64% sand · 21% silt · 15% clay

Sandier than 94% of California appellations and clayier than 9%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.

Plus 14% 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

Kern County · District 14

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Price per ton

Kern County · District 14

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The appellation in federal law

The boundary, in the government’s own words (853 words)

(c) Boundary. The Tehachapi Mountains viticultural area is located in Kern County, California. The boundary of the Tehachapi Mountains viticultural area is as described below: (1) The beginning point is on the Bear Mountain map at the intersection of the 4,800-foot elevation contour and an unnamed road known locally as Skyline Drive. From the beginning point, proceed easterly along the 4,800-foot elevation contour, crossing onto the Keene map, to the intersection of the 4,800-foot elevation contour and Horizon Court; then (2) Proceed south along Horizon Court to its intersection with the 4,600-foot elevation contour; then (3) Proceed east, then north along the meandering 4,600-foot elevation contour to its intersection with Shenandoah Place; then (4) Proceed southeast in a straight line to the 4,400-foot elevation contour south of an unnamed road known locally as Big Sky Court; then (5) Proceed east, then north along the meandering 4,400-foot elevation contour to its intersection with Bear Valley Road; then (6) Proceed east in a straight line to the 4,600-foot elevation contour; then (7) Proceed southeasterly along the 4,600-foot elevation contour, crossing onto the Cummings Mountain map and continuing southeasterly, then northerly along the 4,600-foot elevation contour, crossing back onto the Keene map, and continuing northerly along the 4,600-foot elevation contour to a point due west of the intersection of Marcel Drive and an unnamed road known locally as Woodford-Tehachapi Road; then (8) Proceed east in a straight line to the intersection of Woodford-Tehachapi Road and Marcel Drive; then (9) Proceed east in a straight line, crossing onto the Tehachapi North map and crossing Tehachapi Creek, to the 4,400-foot elevation contour northeast of the community of Cable, California; then (10) Proceed easterly along the 4,400-foot elevation contour, crossing onto the Tehachapi NE map, and continuing southeasterly along the 4,400-foot elevation contour to a point due west of the terminus of Zephyr Court; then (11) Proceed east in a straight line to the terminus of Zephyr Court; then (12) Proceed east in a straight line to Sand Canyon Road; then (13) Proceed south along Sand Canyon Road, crossing onto the Monolith map, to its intersection with East Tehachapi Boulevard; then (14) Proceed southwesterly in a straight line, crossing the railroad tracks and State Route 58, to the 4,200-foot elevation contour; then (15) Proceed westerly along the 4,200-foot elevation contour to its intersection with an unnamed intermittent creek; then (16) Proceed southwest in a straight line to the 4,400-foot elevation contour; then (17) Proceed west along the 4,400-foot elevation contour, crossing onto the Tehachapi South map, to its intersection with Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road; then (18) Proceed south along Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road to its intersection with the 4,520-foot elevation contour; then (19) Proceed west in a straight line to the intersection of the 4,840-foot elevation contour and Snowshoe Lane; then (20) Proceed north in a straight line to the 4,800-foot elevation contour; then (21) Proceed westerly along the 4,800-foot elevation contour, crossing onto the Cummings Mountain map and over two unnamed intermittent streams, and continuing to the intersection of the 4,800-foot elevation contour and a third unnamed intermittent stream; then (22) Proceed south in a straight line to the 5,200-foot elevation contour; then (23) Proceed southerly along the 5,200-foot elevation contour to a point northeast of the southern terminus of Arosa Road; then (24) Proceed east in a straight line, crossing onto the Tehachapi South map and over an unnamed road known locally as Water Canyon Road, to the 5,400-foot elevation contour; then (25) Proceed southeasterly, then south, then southwesterly along the 5,400-foot elevation contour, crossing onto the Cummings Mountain map and continuing to the intersection of the 5,400-foot elevation contour with an unnamed road known locally as Matterhorn Drive; then (26) Proceed west in a straight line, crossing Mountain Climber Way, to the 4,600-foot elevation contour; then (27) Proceed westerly along the 4,600-foot elevation contour to its intersection with High Gun Drive; then (28) Proceed south in a straight line to the second intersection of the line with the 5,000-foot elevation contour; then (29) Proceed west in a straight line, crossing onto the Tejon Ranch map, to the line's intersection with an unnamed 4-wheel drive road; then (30) Proceed northwesterly along the 4-wheel drive road to its intersection with the southern terminus of an unnamed road known locally as Carlisle Drive; then (31) Proceed southwesterly in a straight line to an unmarked 4,680-foot summit; then (32) Proceed north in a straight line to the 3,640-foot elevation contour; then (33) Proceed west in a straight line to the 3,600-foot elevation contour; then (34) Proceed west, then northwesterly along the 3,600-foot elevation contour to its intersection with an unnamed intermittent stream northwest of Jack Springs Road; then (35) Proceed northeast in a straight line, crossing onto the Bear Mountain map, and continuing to the intersection of the 4,800-foot elevation contour and an unnamed intermittent creek west of Rockspring Court; then (36) Proceed north along the 4,800-foot elevation to a point due west of the intersection of the 4,800-foot elevation point and an unnamed road known locally as Skyline Drive; then (37) Proceed east in a straight line to the beginning point.