Monterey Wine Country
Discover
Santa Lucia
Highlands
A narrow mountain bench above the Salinas Valley where marine winds, ancient soils, and multi-generational farming converge — where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay find one of their most demanding homes in California.
The Santa Lucia Highlands AVA
Shaped by Wind. Farmed by Generations.
The Santa Lucia Highlands rises from the rich, fertile Salinas Valley floor—known as the Salad Bowl of the World—in a series of ancient terraced benchlands shaped by granite-laced soils, relentless afternoon winds, and a growing season stretched long and cool by marine influence from Monterey Bay. The Santa Lucia Highlands earned AVA recognition in 1991 and, for more than three decades, built its reputation as California's premier cool-climate winegrowing region and a powerhouse for Pinot Noir.
Legacy farming families have worked this rugged landscape for generations — many of them long before the appellation had a name. The wines reflect that history: structured, site-driven Pinot Noir and Chardonnay built on place, not formula. No gatekeeping. No $75 tasting flights. Just great wine and the people who make it.
By the Numbers
22,000
Acres of Appellation
1,650
Feet of Elevation
1991
AVA Established
18
Miles of Ridgeline
Who We Are
Meet The Wine Artisans
The Santa Lucia Highlands is a place, but it’s also a people. Our community of growers and winemakers has spent generations coaxing something extraordinary from demanding terrain. Our vineyards are the soul of Monterey wine country.
But the reach of our grapes tells its own story. These wind-sculpted grapes are coveted by celebrated producers from Sonoma and Napa to Santa Barbara — and when the best in California keep making the drive, that says everything.
Continue Exlporing
More to Discover
Terroir
The Wind
The daily winds of Santa Lucia Highlands, which can range from 10-15 miles per hour, with some gusts up to 20 miles per hour, are as important to the character of its wines as the ground the vines...
Travel
Exploring the Santa Lucia Highlands and Carmel-by-the-Sea
From multiple Michelin-starred restaurants to some of California’s best-kept secret wines, the Santa Lucia Highlands and Carmel-by-the-Sea is an absolute gold mine for food and wine lovers -...
Varietals
The Pleasures of Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
It’s no accident that more than half the acres planted to grapes in the Santa Lucia Highlands are Pinot Noir vines. The region has been praised by critics around the world for the unique and...
