Napa Valley and Sonoma County might get most of the winery tourists, but the massive Santa Cruz Mountains AVA is often cited by locals and wine snobs alike as their favorite wine-growing region in the Bay Area. The vineyards here reside on steep, redwood tree–shaded mountains instead of in sun-drenched valleys, and are also much closer to the ocean.
The appellation is split between Santa Cruz County and Santa Clara County (and a tiny bit of San Mateo County) at the top of Highway 17 around Summit Road, an area best known as the epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Skyline Boulevard, the main artery through the mountains, is full of hiking parking lots and panoramic viewpoints. At the base of the mountains are a pair of beautiful small towns, Los Gatos and Saratoga, full of great restaurants and a few tasting rooms. The mountains are much more narrow up the Peninsula, as the vineyards conclude in the terrain above the town of Woodside and then the mountain range fades into the ground several miles before San Francisco.
