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The Santa Cruz Mountains are a mountain range in central California. They separate San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley from the Pacific Ocean. San Francisco is at the northern end and the Salinas Valley is at the southern end.
Santa Cruz Mountains Wines and Wine Making
This appellation is home to some of California's elite wineries despite Viticultural hardships. Thin soils, high land prices, earthquakes and rugged mountains are among the problems Santa Cruz Mountains wine makers face. However, over seventy wineries successfully operate there, producing high quality wines including Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir.
With fewer than fifteen hundred acres under the vine, this area is relatively small. Microclimates are very important in this region because the climate varies a lot, depending on the elevation of vineyards and which side of the range the vineyards are on. The Pacific side has the coolest climate. Some vineyards are as low as eight hundred feet, which means the grapes used have to be resistant to fog and ocean winds. Low lying inland vineyards tend to be the warmest.
History of Santa Cruz Mountains
The mission church in Santa Cruz planted its first vineyards between 1804 and 1807 but they did not do well in the cool, coastal climate. The wine was inferior and bitter so the padres added brandy to sweeten it. Loggers stripped eighteen million board feet of lumber from the mountains and left cleared land, which were ideal for fruit farmers. Vineyards were established and by 1870, there were sixteen vintners in the area. The wine was rushed to market before it was really ready so the product was inferior.
After a while, the wine quality improved and Santa Cruz Mountains vineyards began to receive international level wine awards. Ben Lomond Wine Co won prizes at World's Fairs in Paris in 1889, Chicago in 1893, and San Francisco in 1894, making Santa Cruz Mountains the first area in California wine country to produce wines of international repute.
In 1899, a forest fire nearly wiped out the large Mare Vista Winery. Firefighters lost their water supply and were told to hook up to the wine vats and use wine to put out the flames. They did and the vineyard was saved. Los Gatos Creek ran red with claret, which surprised the locals!
Not many of these original award-winning wines survived the prohibition but a lot of new wineries have opened up since the 1940s. The Santa Cruz Mountains Viticultural Appellation was recognized in 1981. The area is now recognized as a unique grape growing area and there are more than seventy small, family owned wineries there. Because these wineries are small, the wine makers can handcraft their wines and maximize the potential of the grapes. Modern Santa Cruz Mountains winemakers have the same spirit of determination and innovation as the great nineteenth century winemakers.
Recommended Santa Cruz Mountains Winery
The hidden Ridge Winery is close to the urban areas and freeways and it is located at the top of Monte Bello Ridge. Their wines are very good and they receive rave reviews every year from wine experts. Ridge produces wine from its estate vineyards on Monte Bello Ridge and from other selected vineyards in Central and Northern California wine country. Their Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet wines are all excellent.
Despite the various hardships presented by the terrain in this area, Santa Cruz Mountains have been producing high quality wine for many years and will continue to do so. This is a delightful area to visit, since it has grown significantly but still has its old world charm and also its rightful place on any map of California wine country.
Author: California Wine Guide Staff Writer
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