Santa Clara County; Santa Clara Valley AVA

County located at the south end of the San Francisco Bay that includes the cities of San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara. The population expansion has pushed out most of the vineyard area, and the majority of what's left is in the Santa Clara Valley AVA. This ava encompasses over 330,000 acres in the southern end of Alameda County around Pleasanton plus the vineyard areas in the Santa Clara Valley-those around Gilroy, Hecker Pass, and Morgan Hill. The western boundary runs along the santa cruz mountains ava. The dominant variety in the Santa Clara area is chardonnay followed by cabernet sauvignon merlot and zinfandel. There are over twenty-five wineries in Santa Clara County, but most get their grapes from other areas.