South Coast is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in the state of

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 ...

that encompasses five

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

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, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and

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. It was established on November 21, 1985 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF),

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after reviewing the petition submitted from the South Coast Vintners Association on behalf of grape growers and wineries in the region proposing a viticultural area to be known as "South Coast." The area encompasses about and expands along the Pacific coastline between Los Angeles (L.A.) and the Mexican border with about under vine at the time. The petition stated that at least 15 wineries were operating within the area. This large

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includes a number of smaller sub-appellations that all share the common ecology trait of having warm weather moderated by cooling coastal influences from the

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Geography

The "South Coast" viticultural area is distinguished geographically from the surrounding areas as follows:
(1) To the north, the area is set off by the predominant urbanization of Los Angeles County, which makes grape-growing there unfeasible. The petition explained this as follows: "No doubt portions of Los Angeles County would qualify, with respect to name, as "South Coast." However, as a practical matter the entire Los Angeles County coastal area is urbanized and no present or potential grape growing areas exist. Since no grapes come from Los Angeles County and it is very unlikely that any ever will, it was considered confusing to include the L.A. County in "South Coast."
(2) To the west, the area is bounded by the Pacific Ocean.
(3) The southern boundary of the area. "the Mexican-American border, does not correspond to a geographical distinction. However, since 27 CFR Part 9 is titled "American Viticultural Areas," and since "American" is defined in 27 CFR 9.11 as "Of or relating to the several States, the

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, and

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," it is evident that an American viticultural area must not extend into Mexico.
(4) To the east, the proposed area is distinguished geographically by the limit of "coastal influence." This distinction was described in the petition as follows: "Applicant believes that 'coast' infers some substantial coastal influence on the grape growing areas involved, resulting in classification of same as Zone I through III of the Davis scale. While many grapes are grown in San Bernardino, eastern Riverside, eastern San Diego and Imperial Counties, they are grown in Zones IV or V, and are primarily table grapes rather than wine grapes."

References

American Viticultural Areas of Los Angeles County, California American Viticultural Areas of Southern California American Viticultural Areas of California Geography of Orange County, California Geography of Riverside County, California Geography of San Bernardino County, California Geography of San Diego County, California Agriculture in Riverside County, California 1985 establishments in California {{wine-region-stub