The Pacheco Pass AVA is an American Viticultural Area

American Viticultural Area

An American Viticultural Area is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau , United States Department of the Treasury....

 located in the Santa Clara

Santa Clara County, California

Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...

 and San Benito

San Benito County, California

San Benito County is a county located in the Coast Range Mountains of the U.S. state of California, south of San Jose. As of 2010 the population was 55,269. The county seat is Hollister, which includes nearly two-thirds of the county's population. El Camino Real passes through the county and...

 counties of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It is part of the larger San Francisco Bay AVA

San Francisco Bay AVA

The San Francisco Bay AVA is a large American Viticultural Area centered around the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. The AVA includes the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo as well as parts of Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. The AVA was...

. The pass is a 15 miles (24 km) long corridor between the San Francisco Bay area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

 to the west and the San Joaquin Valley

San Joaquin Valley

The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...

 to the east. State Route 152

California State Route 152

State Route 152 is a state highway that runs near the latitudinal middle of the U.S. state of California from Watsonville to Route 99 southeast of Merced...

 passes through the center of the wine region. Pacheco Pass was granted AVA status in 1984 following a petition by the Zanger family, who continue to operate the only commercial winery in the appellation

Appellation

An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown; other types of food often have appellations as well...

, Zanger Vineyards.