Monterey AVA

The blanket AVA for Monterey county encompasses Arroyo Seco AVA, Carmel Valley AVA, San Lucas AVA, Hames Valley AVA, San Antonio Valley, Chalone AVA, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, San Bernabe AVA and all other vineyards not included in these more specific regions. The San Lucas AVA was sponsored by the vast Almaden Vineyards when it owned large acreages in them; it has not been actively used on labels since Almaden left the region although it contains a hefty percentage of Monterey’s total acreage in vines. The borders of the AVA are overlapped by the largest contiguous vineyard in the world, San Bernabe’s 13,000 acres owned by Delicato, which also has bases in the Central Valley and Napa Valley, and pushed through AVA status for San Bernabe in 2004. Both Hames Valley and San Lucas would be considered hot by the overall standards of Monterey county.