The Ben Lomond Mountain AVA is an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know about th ...

Santa Cruz County, California Santa Cruz County (), officially the County of Santa Cruz, is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,861. The county seat is Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County comprises the San ...

, located on the western edge of the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean fr ...

. Jim Beauregard established the AVA in 1983 and

Beauregard Vineyards Beauregard or Beauregarde may refer to: People * Larry Pitchford (born 1936), stage name Beauregarde * Charles Costa de Beauregard (1835–1909), French historian and politician * Christopher Beauregard Emery (born 1957), American White House ...

continues to be only winery that currently produces wine bearing the Ben Lomond Mountain AVA designation. Vineyards were first planted on the mountain in the 1860s sitting at a premium spot for grape growing. The appellation ranges in altitudes as high as above sea level to 1300 feet, placing it between the fog that rolls in from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, ensuring long hours of sunlight and long growing season

References

American Viticultural Areas of the San Francisco Bay Area Geography of Santa Cruz County, California American Viticultural Areas American Viticultural Areas of California Wineries in Santa Cruz Mountains 1987 establishments in California {{SantaCruzCountyCA-geo-stub