Central Coast

From Barron's Wine Lover's Companion:

Established in 1985 this huge viticultural area encompasses vineyards from Los Angeles to San Francisco. It originally covered areas in Alameda, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz Counties. In 1999 the Central Coast AVA was expanded to include the newly established san francisco bay ava adding areas in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Contra Costa Counties. There are numerous smaller avas within the large Central Coast area. Some winemakers use the smaller AVA names on their labels, although those who use grapes from more than one of these must use the Central Coast AVA.