Carneros Wine Alliance, a nonprofit association of wineries and grape growers in the Carneros American Viticultural Area (AVA), is celebrating the AVA’s 40th anniversary throughout 2023. With a history that dates to the 1800s, Carneros received its AVA status in 1983 and the Carneros Wine Alliance was formed shortly thereafter in 1985, now comprised of more than 45 wineries. Carneros was the first wine region in California to be defined by its climate characteristics rather than political boundaries, in large part due to the San Pablo Bay that straddles both Sonoma and Napa. In the year ahead, the Alliance will host activities to highlight the anniversary of the AVA while supporting the overarching mission to promote vineyards, wineries and visitor destinations of the Carneros region, including its annual Spring Barrel Tasting and an anniversary celebration in October to toast the end of its monumental year.