Santa Cruz is a surfer’s paradise. There are the sizzling city beaches, where students and Silicon Valley types come to soak in the California sun. Sportier types flock to the coastal city to carve into Monterey Bay’s endlessly rolling whitecaps. But on your next trip to Santa Cruz, leave the beach behind and wind up the mountains.

Hundreds of feet above the California coast, vineyards weave in and out of fog-slicked redwoods and curl up the chaparral-dotted hills that overlook Silicon Valley. Buzzing wine bars hide in quiet mountain towns. Tasting rooms inhabit former logging cabins, or new-built architectural wonders that complement the surrounding forests. Welcome to the Santa Cruz Mountains.

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As local rule goes, the wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA (America

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