Central Coast is a vast American Viticultural Area (AVA) that spans along the Central California Pacific coastline from the San Francisco Bay Area south through Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.

It was established on November 25, 1985 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted by Taylor California Cellars, a winery in Gonzales, California, to establish the "Central Coast" viticultural area.

[1] The boundaries of the Central Coast, which have been expanded twice, includes portions of six counties where approximately 100,000 acres (40,469 ha) cultivated with Chardonnay being more than half of the varietal.

Within the multi-county AVA are numerous established appellations that share the same maritime climate produced by the Pacific Ocean.

TTB was created in January 2003, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or ATF, was extensively reorganized under the provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.