Appellation
Santa Ynez Valley AVA is an AVA in Santa Barbara County. It is often used as a catch-all appellation for wines produced from fruit sourced from across its different nested AVAs - such as Sta. Rita Hills AVA and Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA.
13
The Santa Ynez is famed for a topography that runs East-West. Vineyards benefit from cooling ocean breezes which drift in off the Pacific. Morning fog is prone to forming in the valleys, and this tends to burn off by the afternoon. To the north, the San Rafael Mountains provide shelter from cold winds, as do the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south. Certain areas experience warmer conditions than others. The Sta. Rita Hills AVA is closer to the Sea, and receives less warmth than further inland, where the likes of Ballard Canyon AVA and Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA are able to ripen Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon much easier.
