Santa Cruz Mountains: Scaling the Heights

Standing high atop the North American Plate the eye is drawn to the gorge below and the forest that lies on the San Andreas Fault. Across the valley, the Pacific Plate comes into view. The hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley is visible down on the valley floor. A seemingly endless stream of cars moves through the freeways like ants; industrious, but also totally silent. We are in the Santa Cruz Mountains, one of the most unique wine producing regions anywhere in the world.

Multimedia: An Overview of the Santa Cruz Mountains

Mountain viticulture is a often struggle. The elements can pose serious challenges, which means, among other things, that vineyards naturally tend to produce small crops. But that is also part of the attraction. The best mountain sites also yield wines of extraordinary complexity and pedigree. Here, in these rugged hillsides, readers will find world-class Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs and Cabernet Sauvignon-based reds. Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnays tend to be phenolic, structured and surprisingly age worthy by California standards. Pinot Noir takes on multiple shades of expression; from supple, fruit driven wines to more aromatic, Burgundian-inflected styles. Bordeaux varieties also thrive, especially on the warmer North American Plate, which is further away from the ocean and therefore slightly warmer than the Pacific Plate. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet-based blends reign supreme, while other Bordeaux grapes are most often successful as blenders rather than on their own.