Sonoma Coast: from the Pacific over the ridges
From the surf, across the San Andreas fault, up to the ridges above the fog and down to the Russian River. Tap a layer to read it.
Swipe the plate sideways to see the whole section.
Schematic. The line runs WNW to ESE from the sea off Stewarts Point through Wayfarer to Guerneville. The San Andreas trace follows the South Fork of the Gualala River here; the Coastal Belt and Central Belt contact is drawn as a plain east-dipping line and should be checked against the USGS and CGS Santa Rosa 1:100,000 sheets. The ridge-top marine sand is patchy, not a continuous bed. Heights from AWS terrain data; sea floor from the coarser bathymetry in the same tiles.
6 layers, youngest at the top
Single vineyards we pour from. Tap one on the plate.
Why the vines sit on the ridges
- The AVA is drawn on the 920 ft contour, roughly the top of the summer fog; the vines sit above it on most days.
- Above it the vines get sun from early morning, yet the sea keeps the days cool and the nights mild.
- Soils are thin over fractured sandstone or poor marine sand, so yields stay low without trying.
- Steep slopes shed cold air, so frost is rare, though the season is long and ripening late.
Did you knowFort Ross-Seaview is drawn on a contour line, not a map of roads. Only land above 920 feet is in, so the appellation is a scatter of ridge-top islands rising out of the redwoods.
Pas Mal wines on this ground
Fort Ross-Seaview: Wayfarer
Sonoma Coast blends
- Sonoma Coast ChardonnayRecline
- Sonoma Coast Pinot NoirRecline
- Pinot Noir Sonoma CoastYoung Hagen Wines
Further north: Mendocino and Anderson Valley
- Riley's Rows Sauvignon BlancFlanagan
- Chardonnay MendocinoTRIM
- Wendling Vineyard Pinot NoirYoung Hagen Wines
Sources: TTB final rule, Fort Ross-Seaview AVA (2011); TTB final rule, West Sonoma Coast AVA (2022); USGS and California Geological Survey, Santa Rosa 1:100,000 geologic map; Wayfarer Vineyard technical notes; AWS Terrain Tiles.