Designated an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1992, The Santa
Lucia Highlands is part of the western mountain range shielding the Salinas Valley from the Pacific Ocean. The region consists of southeastern-facing benches
sitting above the morning fog and cooled by coastal winds that sweep in from
Monterey
Bay. The cooling fog, afternoon winds and good sun exposure lengthen the growing season, allowing the
grapes to hang on the vines longer, developing complex flavors while keeping their attractive, crisp acidity.
The Santa Lucia Mountains or Santa Lucia Range is a mountain range in coastal California,
running from Monterey southeast for 105 miles (170 km) to San Luis Obispo. The highest summit is Junipero Serra Peak, 5,862 ft (1,786 m), at 36°08′44″N,
121°25′10″W in Monterey County, California. It is part of the Pacific Coast Ranges.
HISTORY: The first European to document the Santa Lucias was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542 while sailing northward along
the coast on a Spanish naval expedition. Cabrillo originally named the southern portion of the range the "Sierras de San Martín", as he was passing the area on
11 November, the feast day for Saint Martin.
The present name for the range was documented in 1602, when another Spanish voyage, this time lead by Sebastian Vizcaíno, tasked with completing a detailed
chart of the coast. Passing by the northern portion of the range on 14 December, he named the range "Sierra de Santa Lucia" in honor of Saint Lucia.
CLIMATE: Like
all other Pacific Coast Ranges, these mountains are close enough to the Pacific Ocean and high enough to force incoming moisture upward, making the west side
wet and fit for conifers to grow. This creates a rain shadow over Salinas Valley to the east, which is considerably drier. The higher peaks receive some
snowfall during the winter.
SOIL:
The rock of the Santa Lucias is dominated by granitic basement of the Salinian Block, between the San Andreas fault and Sur-Nacimiento fault.
According to plate tectonic theory, the core of the Salinian block formed as part of the same batholith which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and
the Peninsular Ranges of Baja California. It was broken off of the North American Plate and transported north by the action of the San Andreas Fault from an
original position. It is predominantly Mesozoic granitic and pre-Cretaceous metamorphic rocks. There is some Cretaceous sedimentary rock of the Great Valley
Sequence, considerable Miocene marine sediments, and some other Tertiary sediments. Units west of the Sur-Nacimiento fault are dominated by rocks of the
Franciscan Assemblage.
