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"The wine made in Monterey County is gaining worldwide recognition.\u201CYou can't beat it here,\u201D said Salinas resident Michael Howell. \u201CYou just go down the road any way you want to here, to any one of these wineries, and you've got some good wines.\u201DThe growing attention to the coastal vineyards is putting Monterey County on many lists of top wine destinations in the world.Wine maker Rodney Whitlock said the secret to the location's success is just that: the location.\"The Santa Lucia Highlands Appalachian has premiere growing conditions for chardonnays and pinots. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve been known for the last couple of years,\u201D Whitlock said.Napa Valley has made a name for itself in the wine industry with its 47,000 acres of vineyards, but Monterey County is not far behind with 45,000 acres of vineyards and growing.About half of the grapes grown in Monterey County are sold to areas like Santa Barbara, Sonoma and even Napa to use in their wines.The growing wine industry means opportunities for expansion for business owners like Sam Martinez. He runs Monterey Guided Wine Tours, taking visitors to wineries along the Salinas Valley.\u201CWe\u2019re actually doing twice as much business as we did last year,\u201D said Martinez. \u201CI\u2019ve had to add more cars to my fleet and additional drivers so that we can take care of the growing demand for wine tours out there.\u201DMonterey County is even attracting winery owners from Napa, like Gregory Ahn, who recently acquired Chateau Julien in Carmel Valley.Ahn says he sees a lot of potential.\u201CWhile we have a lot of tasting rooms in Carmel and Carmel Valley Village there's not as many commercial wineries and vineyards where you can do a tour and see first-hand the wine making process from grape all the way to glass,\u201D said Ahn \u201CBecause so much of our grape growing happens out in Salinas Valley its much harder to access those wineries because there's not an infrastructure to support it.\u201DThat\u2019s the next step for the industry in the area.Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association\u00A0Executive Director\u00A0Kim Stemler said the number of boutique wineries has doubled, bringing the wine to high-traffic areas in the county.Now it\u2019s time for ancillary businesses to step in.\u201CWe need drivers. We need transportation. We need businesses that take people to wineries,\u201D said Stemler.In the meantime, visitors from out of town are enjoying the local vibe.\u201CIt\u2019s more intimate,\u201D said Tom Van Cleave from San Jose.He and his wife visited Folktale Winery in Carmel Valley to celebrate their anniversary.\u201CThere\u2019s more individual attention, more personalized service, just great wine on a smaller scale,\u201D he said."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.ksbw.com/article/monterey-county-wine-on-rise/1057857>