About Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains AVA is one of California's most dramatic wine appellations — a rugged, fog-shrouded range that rises between the Pacific Ocean and Silicon Valley. The region produces some of California's most age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, with Ridge Vineyards' Monte Bello serving as the appellation's most celebrated benchmark.
Stretching from San Francisco Bay south to the Pajaro River, the Santa Cruz Mountains encompass a remarkable diversity of elevations, aspects, and soil types. Vineyards range from sea-level sites in the Santa Cruz coastal zone to high-elevation benchlands above 2,600 feet, where the combination of thin soils, cool temperatures, and intense sunlight produces wines of extraordinary concentration and longevity. Ridge Vineyards' Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon is the appellation's most celebrated wine — a wine that has competed with and often surpassed the world's finest Cabernets in blind tastings, including the famous 1976 Paris Tasting rematch in 2006. Pinot Noir from the western slopes achieves remarkable elegance and complexity.
