The Sonoma Coast AVA is an American Viticultural Area

American Viticultural Area

An American Viticultural Area is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau , United States Department of the Treasury....

 in Sonoma County

Sonoma County, California

Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 containing more than 500000 acre (2,023.4 km²), mostly along the coastline of the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. It extends from San Pablo Bay

San Pablo Bay

San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in northern California in the United States. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water channel approximately in mid bay, which allows access to Sacramento, Stockton, Benicia, Martinez, and...

 to the border with Mendocino County

Mendocino County, California

Mendocino County is a county located on the north coast of the U.S. state of California, north of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and west of the Central Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 87,841, up from 86,265 at the 2000 census...

. The appellation

Appellation

An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown; other types of food often have appellations as well...

 is known for its cool climate and high rainfall relative to other parts of Sonoma County. The area has such a broad range of microclimates that petitions are being made to the United States Department of the Treasury

United States Department of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...

 Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, statutorily named the Tax and Trade Bureau and frequently shortened to TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury....

 for the creation of sub-AVAs such as the proposed Fort Ross-Seaview AVA.

Geography

The boundaries of the appellation are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27, Section 9.116. The following seven cities are located in, or partly in, the Sonoma Coast AVA:

• Cotati
  Cotati, California
  Cotati is an incorporated city in Sonoma County, California, U.S.A., located about north of San Francisco in the 101 corridor between Rohnert Park and Petaluma....
  
  
• portions of Healdsburg
  Healdsburg, California
  Healdsburg is a city located in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 11,254...
  
  
• Rohnert Park
  Rohnert Park, California
  Rohnert Park is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately north of San Francisco. The population at the 2010 United States Census was 40,971. It is an early planned city, modeled directly after Levittown, New York and Levittown, Pennsylvania. Rohnert Park is the...
  
  
• Petaluma
  Petaluma, California
  Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. In the 2010 Census the population was 57,941.Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San...
  
  
• portions of Santa Rosa
  Santa Rosa, California
  Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
  
  
• Sebastopol
  Sebastopol, California
  Sebastopol is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, approximately north of San Francisco. The population was 7,379 at the 2010 census, but its businesses also serve surrounding rural portions of Sonoma County, totaling about 50,000 people...
  
  
• portions of Sonoma
  Sonoma, California
  Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
  
  

The Petaluma Gap

Petaluma Gap

The Petaluma Gap is a geographical region in Sonoma County, California which extends in a band from the Pacific Ocean to San Pablo Bay. It is an area of low land 22 to 31 miles wide in the coast ranges of the northern San Francisco Bay Area. The western edge of the gap is located in the coastal...

 is also part of the Sonoma Coast AVA.

Wineries

E & J Gallo Winery

E & J Gallo Winery

E & J Gallo Winery was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo in Modesto, California. E & J Gallo Winery is the largest exporter of California wines and is a large promoter of wines from Sonoma County.-History:...

operates Two Rock Vineyard, a 400 acre (1.6 km²) hillside vineyard near Cotati.

External links

• Sonoma County Wine Regions (map)