High-elevation wine country between the Central Valley and the Mojave: the Tehachapi Mountains AVA grows small family vineyards near 4,000 feet, where mountain sun, wind and cold nights shape wines unlike anywhere else in Kern County.
Tehachapi is what a wine region looks like at the very beginning of its story. The Tehachapi Mountains AVA earned federal recognition in 2020, one of California's newest appellations, and its vineyards climb to elevations near 4,000 feet, some of the highest commercial plantings in the state. Up here the growing season is a study in extremes: fierce mountain sun, near-constant wind and nights cold enough to lock in acidity, producing small lots with genuine mountain character.
The community matches the scale. Members of the Tehachapi Mountains Wine Growers are family estates where the person pouring usually planted the vines, and visits feel closer to a ranch call than a resort tasting. The town of Tehachapi itself, perched on the historic mountain crossing between Bakersfield and the Mojave, gives the wine trail a main-street anchor.
Wino Notion's pages for the Tehachapi roster are rolling out now. Browse the live list below as the region comes online.
A federal appellation designated in 2020 covering high-elevation vineyards in the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County, with plantings near 4,000 feet between the Central Valley and the Mojave.
Altitude: intense sun, mountain wind and cold nights create a large diurnal swing that concentrates flavor and preserves natural acidity in the fruit.
Yes, the region's small family estates, most connected to the Tehachapi Mountains Wine Growers, welcome visitors, with many tastings poured by the owners; hours vary, so check each winery.
In the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County, along the historic crossing between Bakersfield and the Mojave Desert, roughly two hours north of Los Angeles.
All 6 wineries we track across the Tehachapi Mountains AVA, from Cummings Valley estates to the downtown tasting room, each with its own Wino Notion page. All six are members of the growers association covered in our Tehachapi Mountains wine trail guide.