Mendocino Ridge AVA

The Mendocino Ridge AVA is a coastal, cool climate and high altitude American Viticultural Area located entirely within the coastal zone of Mendocino County, California. The boundaries of the AVA encompass the coastal ridges adjacent to the Pacific Ocean that reach inland toward the Anderson Valley. Roughly 36 miles of the southernmost portion of the Mendocino Coast make up the western boundary of the AVA, with the Sonoma County line as the southern boundary, the Navarro River as the northern boundary and Anderson Valley as the inland boundary running northwest–southeast. The Mendocino Ridge AVA "is essentially a northern extension of the true Sonoma Coast viticultural area." However, the Mendocino Ridge AVA designation is unique in that it is limited by elevation, reserved only for vineyards at or above 1200 feet. This means Mendocino Ridge is the only non-contiguous AVA in the United States. The Mendocino Ridge AVA has been nicknamed "Islands in the Sky," because the thick fog moving inland from the Pacific Ocean blankets the coast and the valleys between the ridge tops, making the tops of the mountains, where the vinyards lay, look like islands protruding from a sea of fog. The Mendocino Ridge AVA lands are above the Anderson Valley and Mendocino appellations. The Mendocino Ridge viticultural area boundary encompasses 262,400 acres (410 square miles, 36 miles long from north to south), but the actual viticultural area contains only 87,466 acres. Of these, approximately 1,500 to 2,000 acres (2% of the total acreage) are suitable for vineyards. The loczl hillsides are very steep (often above 70%) and covered with timber, making them unfit for planting. Estimates of planted acres range from 233 to 410, which accounts for about 0.3% of the total area.

The average high temperature is 75.9 °F and the average low temperature is 49.4 °F. The diurnal variation during the growing season is significantly less than the Anderson Valley (20 degrees versus 40-50 degrees in Anderson Valley), and daytime high temperatures are often 10 degrees cooler than in the Anderson Valley. The soil composition is of the "timber" type, shallow and with good drainage due to the ridge top locations. Average annual rainfall average is 58 inches, leaving sufficient groundwater to dry farm vineyards.

While Mendocino Ridge was only approved as an AVA in 1997, it has some of the oldest vineyards in the region. Italian immigrants in the late 1800s planted on Greenwood Ridge and surrounding areas, preferring zinfandel which remains a popular varietal in the AVA, although pinot noir has become the most common grape in the region since the 1990s. Other plantings (ordered by decreasing representation in total acres) include Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Primitivo, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Grüner Veltliner. Much of the non-planted land is covered by Redwood and Douglas Fir trees.