SLO Coast AVA
Wine Enthusiast Sept. 2022
After more than eight years of planning and patiently waiting, proponents of the San Luis Obispo Coast appellation finally toasted success on March 9, when the federal government approved the roughly 60-mile-long, 15-mile-wide region as an American Viticultural Area (AVA).
Known as the SLO Coast, the area stretches from the San Luis Obispo County’s northern border near Big Sur to the southern boundary with Santa Barbara County. It includes all lands on the west of the Santa Lucia Mountains ridgeline, comprising 408,585 acres total. Though primarily focused on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the AVA is an increasingly popular site for aromatic varieties such as Albariño and Grüner Veltliner as well as ideal for cool-climate Rhône reds like Grenache and Syrah.
They became the SLO Coast Wine Collective, which now has 32 members, and applied for the appellation in July 2017. The application was deemed “perfect” two months later, but approval was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and change in federal administrations.
The new appellation — which is home to more than 50 wineries and 78 commercial vineyards, reaching nearly 4,000 planted acres — is believed to be the coolest growing area in all of California, based on current data from 30+ weather stations spread across the region. Though the boundary extends 15 miles inland at certain points, 97% of the vineyards are closer than six miles to the coast. Fort Ross-Seaview in Sonoma County enjoys a similar proximity, but that region is just 600 acres and most of its vineyards are higher than 900 feet, making them warmer than the SLO Coast in the summer months.
The AVA includes the existing appellations of Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande, whose producers can now choose to use “San Luis Obispo Coast” or “SLO Coast” on their labels. Producers in the region include Baileyana, Center of Effort, Chamisal, Laetitia, Stephen Ross, Talley and Tolosa.
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