Central Coast AVA
Central Coast is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) that spans along the Central California Pacific coastline from the San Francisco Bay Area south through Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. It was established on October 24, 1985, as the nation's 83rd and the state's 47th appellation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted by Taylor California Cellars, a winery in Gonzales, California, to establish the "Central Coast" viticultural area. The boundaries of the Central Coast AVA, which have been expanded twice, include portions of six counties where approximately cultivated with Chardonnay being more than half of the varietal. Within the multi-county AVA are numerous established appellations that share the same maritime climate produced by the Pacific Ocean.