Santa Clara Valley is an AVA extending south from San Francisco Bay along the edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The valley produces premium, concentrated wines made from Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon, but is far more famous for its technology industry – nowadays, Santa Clara Valley is perhaps better known by its adopted name of Silicon Valley.
A part of the larger San Francisco Bay AVA, the Santa Clara Valley AVA spans 332,800 acres (135,000ha) and stretches roughly 70 miles (110km) south from San Francisco. The AVA encompasses the towns of San Jose, Sunnyvale and Saratoga, but most wine production takes place in the southern end of the valley around the town of Morgan Hill, at the entrance to the perpendicular Uvas Valley.
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Early explorers in the Santa Clara Valley discovered wild grapes growing on the valley floor and in the neighboring valleys. Uvas Valley was particularly dense with these American grapes, leading explorers to name it uvas, the Spanish word for "grape". It wasn't until the late 18th century that missionaries first planted grapes for the production of wine. During the Gold Rush of the 1850s, European immigrants recognised the potential of the area and began to cultivate French and Italian grape varieties.
Viticulture continued throughout much of the 20th century, and the area was delimited as an AVA in 1989. However, urban sprawl and industrialization in the past 20 years have taken their toll on the wine industry here, and wine production has been pushed into the southern end of the valley. Most wineries are small in size and boutique in nature, although a few larger ones remain in the northern part of the valley. This is not an uncommon situation in California - Contra Costa County, Livermore Valley, and Cucamonga Valley near Los Angeles have all suffered similar fates.
Most of Santa Clara Valley's vineyards can be found in the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz mountain range, and benefit from a variety of aspects and inclines that take advantage of prevailing sunlight. Soils in the area are generally made up of gravelly loam, clay and sandstone. These free-draining soils are excellent for vineyards – by limiting water intake, they cause stress in the vines, leading to less vigor and lower grape yields.
Santa Clara Valley is relatively warm by San Franciscan standards, due to the sheltering influence of the Santa Cruz mountains. The climate can be classified as Mediterranean, and the region enjoys warm days and moderate evenings, cooled by sea breezes from the San Francisco Bay. Early-morning fog settles in the vineyards of Santa Clara Valley, helping to cool the grapes before burning off later in the day. These ocean influences serve to extend the growing season, which helps grapes to achieve phenolic ripeness while retaining a good level of acidity.
Along with Facebook and Google, Santa Clara Valley is home to some of the oldest Zinfandel vineyards in California. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sangiovese can also be found in the valley.
