Yorkville Highlands is an American Viticultural Area
(AVA) located in southern Mendocino County, California and is the county border between Sonoma's Alexander Valley AVA and Mendocino's Anderson Valley AVA. It was established as the nation's 133rd, the state's 79th and the county's ninth appellation on April 7, 1998 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after reviewing a petition submitted by Mr. William J.A. Weir on behalf of the Yorkville Highlands Appellation Committee proposing a viticultural area within southern Mendocino County known as " Yorkville Highlands." In addition, a related petition was filed by Ms. Bernadette A. Byrne, Executive Director of the Mendocino Winegrowers Alliance proposing to extend the southern boundary of the Mendocino viticultural area to coincide with the Yorkville Highlands' boundary.
The petitions requested the Yorkville Highlands area be entirely contained within both the Mendocino AVA and the county borders. Yorkville Highlands covers approximately 40,000 acres (63 sq mi) of which 70 acres (28 ha) are devoted to viticulture. At the outset, there were seven growers and two wine producers within the area, with two new growers planning vineyards and some existing growers planning to plant more vineyards. The expansion of the Mendocino viticultural area adds approximately 10,000 acres (16 sq mi) to that area.
The soil in the Yorkville Highlands is rocky with a high gravel content, which provides excellent drainage. During the day, the climate is cooler than Alexander Valley but warmer than Anderson Valley, while at night the highlands are cooler than the surrounding areas. As of 2025, there are twelve growers and five wineries within the area.