Sacramento/San Joaquin Valleys

California's great interior valley is actually two, the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, nestled between the coastal mountain range and the Sierra Nevada.  When joined, they stretch nearly 400 miles, from Shasta County in the north to Kern County in the south, merging at the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta.

The Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys are California's market basket, where agriculture and politics share equally important roles.  Sacramento is home to the California State Capital and the California State Fair, and the valley supports a variety of economy-driven crops such as rice, olives, walnuts and almonds. The San Joaquin Valley also grows a host of agricultural products such as cotton, grains, vegetables, fruits and nuts.

The Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys comprise the state's center of agriculture and yield the majority of its winegrapes. While these two regions are not designated American Vineyard Areas (AVAs), they produce more than 71 percent of the state's wine grapes and include 16 AVAs - Alta Mesa, Borden Ranch, Capay Valley, Clarksburg, Clement Hills, Consumnes River, Diablo Grande, Dunnigan Hills, Jahant, Lodi, Madera, Merritt Island, Mokelulmne River, River Junction, Salado Creek and Sloughhouse.