Skip the Highway 12 traffic and the tasting-room queues of Napa and Sonoma — there's an AVA barely anyone talks about sitting just 48 miles north of LAX. Sierra Pelona Valley, a 10-square-mile wine region near Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County, turns out award-winning whites and reds while drawing a fraction of the visitors that Northern California's famous valleys see each year.
The appellation only earned its official American Viticultural Area status in 2010, so it's still an emerging scene — Napa got its designation back in 1981. Set against the Sierra Pelona and San Gabriel mountains, the high-desert terrain suits winegrowing well, and the proximity to Hollywood is hard to beat: about an hour's drive from downtown LA, with Hollywood Burbank Airport a saner arrival point than LAX if you're flying in from elsewhere in the US.
Two names anchor the region. Agua Dulce Winery, on Sierra Highway, is the big one — a nearly 100-acre estate that claims the title of largest premier winery and vineyard in Los Angeles County. Its handcrafted wines have picked up medals at the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles International wine competitions, and visitors praise the tasting flights, including an amber chardonnay. Beyond the glass, you can tour the oak-barrel cellar, say hello to rescue goats, alpacas and donkeys, and time a visit around events like vintage car shows, craft fairs and holiday markets. There's even a five-bedroom Colonial-style manor on the property you can rent — though note the winery has been listed for sale, so some of this could eventually change under new ownership.
A short drive away, Reyes Winery offers the opposite mood: intimate rather than sprawling. The 16-acre, family-run operation has collected hundreds of awards, with standouts including a lightly smoky 2011 syrah and the 2013 old vine Quinn's Zin, both medal winners at Los Angeles International and San Francisco International competitions. Prefer something brighter? The pinot grigio is fruit-forward and easy, and there are port-style dessert wines to finish. Tastings currently run on weekends only, and you can bring a picnic or order a cheese plate, then book a guided hike through the surrounding hills in advance.
For LA locals, this is an easy weekend detour without an overnight commitment. For visitors, it's a chance to pair wine country with Santa Clarita and the film-famous, Western-and-sci-fi-flavored hamlet of Agua Dulce — all before the crowds catch on. If quiet tasting rooms, personal service and cheaper pour flights appeal over Napa's volume, this is the region to watch.
