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GLENN MCGOURTY Grounded Grapegrowing State of Viticulture In the Central Coast Highlights • This column looks at California's Central Coast, a net exporter of fruit to other regions and the backbone of many medium-priced quality wines from the largest wineries in California. Santa Cruz County Santa Cruz • Here the quality of wine grapes is above average, but the dry climate, limited water supplies and waterquality regulations are challenges for the industry. San Benito County Monterey Monterey County • The wine industry has helped create several tourist destinations along California's Central Coast. King City Paso Robles San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo Pacific Ocean Pismo Beach Santa Maria Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara S tretching from Monterey Bay to Santa Barbara County, the Central Coast of California is an agricultural cornucopia of produce ranging from artichokes to zucchini in the vegetable business. Wine grapes are also extremely important, with more than 95,000 acres producing 517,547 tons in 2012, according to the CDFA California Grape Crush Final Report. The weather in the north part of the region is a kind of "endless spring," where almost daily fog forms in the air above the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean in Monterey Bay and moves south into the Salinas Valley. The fog turns into cool ocean breezes as the sun emerges mid-morning, and winds blow steadily south. A series of reservoirs impound water to replenish the fairly abundant aquifers along the Salinas River, allowing an amazingly verdant patchwork of farmland for miles on the valley floors and alluvial fans, framed by brown hills to the east, where native rainfall only allows scarce growth. The east side of Paso Robles is a mix of large and small plantings. King City, Calif., is noteworthy, for north of here most of the vineyards are planted to varieties that thrive in cool regions, including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Riesling. Many of the vineyards are large and industrial in farming approach, utilizing mechanization for canopy management and harvesting. As you travel south through southern Monterey County into Paso Robles, Calif., and the headwaters of the Salinas River, the flat valley floor changes to more rolling hills covered with oak trees. The air becomes drier, hotter in the summer and colder in the winter and spring. There is almost always a cool evening breeze as the fog returns to the north end of the Salinas WI N ES & V I NE S MAY 2013 75