Hugging the southern shoreline of the Pacific’s deep Blue Grand Canyon—Monterey Bay—Monterey wine country reaches south, down a 90-mile-long valley. The bay generates fog and moderate temperatures that create ideal climate conditions for growing exceptional Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Traveling south, the valley experiences a thermal rainbow, providing increasingly warmer microclimates that support more than 40 varieties. There are tasting rooms in downtown Monterey, Carmel by-the-Sea, and Carmel Valley, and further inland along the River Road Wine Trail.