Tracy Hills AVA

Tracy Hills is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) is located primarily in southern San Joaquin and straddling northwestern Stanislaus Counties, California approximately 55 miles (89 km) east-southeast from San Francisco on the western edge of the Central Valley south and southwest of the city of Tracy, California. The wine appellation was established on November 8, 2006, as the nation's 209th, the state's 107th and San Joaquin County's seventh AVA by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted by Sara Schorske of Compliance Service of America, Inc., on behalf of the Brown family, owners of a vineyard near Tracy, proposing the viticultural area named "Tracy Hills."
The name "Tracy," is used to identify the neighboring city of Tracy, California, and its surrounding agricultural land, together with the geographical modifier "Hills," to accurately describe the viticultural area. The 32,900-acre (51.4 sq mi) region was designated based on the petition by the Brown family, owners of Tulip Hill Winery in Lake County and their Mount Oso vineyard in the Tracy Hills appellation. The five original vineyards in the appellation are planted between 100 and 500 feet (30–152 m) above sea level among the low, rolling Altamont Hills surrounding Tracy. The best known vintages are a range of Italian varietals, Nero d'Avola, Montepulciano and Sagrantino, produced by Jacuzzi Family Vineyards who are based in Sonoma Valley. The sloping hillside topography includes streams and alluvial fans and plains. The distinguishing climatic features of the proposed area include limited rainfall and persistent winds, along with sparse fog, frost, and dew. The plant hardiness zone is 9b.

Originally, the petitioner submitted the name "Mt. Oso" for the proposed viticultural area. However, after an initial review of the petition, TTB concluded and advised the petitioner that the submitted evidence did not demonstrate, as required by § 9.3(b)(1) of the TTB regulations, that the proposed viticultural area is locally or nationally known as "Mt. Oso." In response, the petitioner amended the petition to propose use of the name "Tracy Hills" for the proposed viticultural area. The petitioner also revised the proposed viticultural area's western boundary and submitted additional evidence to support the amended petition.