The United States of America is the world’s fourth largest producer of wine and claims the world’s sixth highest acreage of land under vine.
California produces approximately 85% of all American wine, followed by Washington, New York, and Oregon. Compared with traditional wine-producing countries, the US has a large population, surpassing France in early 2011 to become the world’s largest wine consumer. Despite this, the US ranked only 62nd in per capita consumption by 2016, with just 30% of the population identifying as wine drinkers. In 2019, the US experienced its first decline in wine consumption in 25 years, as the industry lost market share to fast-growing categories such as canned hard seltzers, spirits, and craft beer. Still, the US continues to provide the world’s most substantial market for fine wines. Further, over the past 20 years, powerful American critics have had a significant influence on winemakers and markets worldwide.
In the early ninth century, the Viking Leif Eriksson brought his boat aground at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, becoming the first European to definitively set foot on the North American continent. He christened his discovery Vinland—possibly a reference to the meadows before him or, as recounted in the 13th-century poem “Saga of the Greenlanders,” a tribute to the wealth of native grapevines. Unlike in South America, several species of wild grapevines awaited the first colonists of North America, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis aestivalis. Vitis vinifera, the source of fine wine
Jacob Conn Take a closer look at the wording here; counties and AVAs are two separate entities. Although a part of the county of Santa Cruz falls within the boundaries of the larger Central Coast AVA, none of the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA itself is within the Central Coast AVA boundaries. It's specifically excluded from Central Coast AVA. It might be easier to think about the importance of elevation, exposure, and soil type within Santa Cruz Mountains AVA.
I'm struggling to delineate this in my head. So the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA doesn't fall under any of the five largest AVA designations (North Coast, Central Coast, South Coast, San Francisco Bay, Sierra Foothills)?
Gary, that is correct. It is closest to the Central Coast AVA but is specifically excluded from its boundaries. If it is helpful you can look at the geography of the AVA boundaries and overlapping AVAs on the TTB map explorer site: https://www.ttb.gov/wine/ava-map-explorer