Carmel Valley 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 winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

(AVA) located in Monterey County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea and it is one of the ten AVAs in the county. Approximately south of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, the AVA was recognized by the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

(ATF), Treasury on January 13, 1983 after reviewing the petition submitted by Mr. David Armanasco, General Manager of Durney Vineyard, located in Carmel, to propose a viticultural area named “Carmel Valley.” The appellation is nestled about inland from the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

within the towering

Santa Lucia Range The Santa Lucia Range (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Mountains is a rugged mountain range in coastal Central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than fro ...

encompassing over with of cultivated grapes on elevations ranging from

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. The AVA is resident to a number of wineries and some

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s dating back to the 1870s, as well as the town of Carmel Valley Village. Vineyards are predominantly within Carmel Valley and Cacahgua Valley. Bordeaux varietals are popular with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot comprising more than 70% of the grapes grown in the area.

History

The Carmel River was discovered in 1603 by Sebastian Vizcaino and the name “Carmel" has applied to the area since that time. The Carmel Valley viticultural area is within the watershed of the Carmel River and within a larger area commonly known by the name Carmel Valley. Grapevines have been grown commercially in Carmel Valley since 1968 though vineyards were first planted in the region in the 1870s.

Terroir

Carmel Valley viticultural area is a rugged region west of Monterey and Pebble Beach extending from the village of Carmel Valley southeasterly along the Carmel River and Cachagua Creek for a distance of approximately . The northeastern boundary is Tularcitos Ridge, which readily distinguishes the area from areas northeast of it by topography and the ridge’s effect on the climate of the valley. Southwest of the area is the

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...

where agricultural land use is restricted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The smaller northwestern and southeastern boundaries are less well defined geographically. Its vineyards are generally situated at elevations above on the mountainous terrain, and are less influenced by the coastal fog and wind which affects the northern end of the

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle de Salinas'') is one of the major valleys and most productive Agriculture, agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and ...

Climate

The Carmel Valley viticultural area is distinguished from the surrounding area by climate and soil types. Utilizing the Amerine-Winkler method, Carmel Valley has different cumulative heat summation during the grape growing season than nearby areas, as follows: Carmel Valley 2317 degree-days (Region I),

2148 degree-days (Region I), King City 3085 degree-days (Region III). Although Carmel Valley and nearby Salinas Valley are both Region I heat summation areas, the higher elevations in Carmel Valley, where vineyards are situated above , curbs the marine fog incursion producing more sunny days in Carmel Valley than in Salinas Valley at the southern end. This phenomenon distinguishes the area from the surrounding AVAs. Cachagua Valley’s unique mountainous setting sits high above the fog line along the coast and exposes the grapes to a warmer overall climate. Average summer temperatures can reach into the 100’s with cool evenings dropping into the low 30’s and 40’s. This dramatic swing in temperature extends the ripening time and growing season, allowing the grapes a slow maturation process. Carmel Valley’s normal annual precipitation ranges from distinguishes it from Monterey County’s overall normal annual precipitation of .

Soil

Carmel Valley

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

s are significantly different from the surrounding area and particularly well-suited to viticulture. It is composed of various mixtures of coarse, gravelly and fine

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

y and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

s forming a complex aggregate throughout the region. The soil variations are as follows: * San Benito (SdF) clay loam, 30-50% slopes * San Benito (SdG) clay loam, 50-75% slopes * Junípero (JaF) loamy sand, 30-50% slopes * Junípero (JbG) sandy loam, 30-75% slopes * Junipero-Sur (Jc) complex, 50-85% slopes * Santa Lucia (SfF) shaly clay loam, 30-50% slopes * Cieneba (CcG) fine gravelly sandy loam, 30-70% slopes * San Andreas (SgC) fine sandy loam, 30-75% slopes * Sheridan (SoG) coarse sandy loam, 30-75% slopes * Santa Lucia-Reliz Association (Sg) loamy and shallow loamy complex, 30-75% slopes. These soil mixes and terrain provides ideal drainage and allows for optimal airflow through the root system requiring minimal amounts of supplemental irrigation producing healthy, vibrant grapes.

Industry

Wineries with tasting rooms in Carmel Valley include Bernardus, Boëté, Boekenoogen, Chateau Sinnet, Folktale Winery and Vineyards, Galante, Georis, Joyce Vineyards, Holman Ranch, Joullian Vineyards, Massa Estate (formerly Heller Estate and Durney Vineyards) and Talbott. The Monterey-Salinas Transit Route 24 public bus, named the Grapevine Express, runs through the Carmel Valley stopping at most of the tasting rooms. County Route G16 traverses through the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

while the Carmel River flows on the valley floor. The vineyards in the region are mostly located at

or higher.

References