Many years ago I drove to Annapolis, California, while touring Napa wineries. I did so because I was living in Annapolis, Maryland, and wanted to see how it compared. There was hardly anything there — certainly no colonial architecture steeped in history or bustling tourism industry that highlights the East Coast namesake.

I saw a lot of cows and apple orchards, but few vineyards. I did stop at the Annapolis Winery and tasted their wines. I was not impressed and left thinking there wasn’t much of a future for Annapolis, the wine-growing region.

Jess Jackson was buying property in this Sonoma Coast region in the late 1990s, but otherwise there wasn’t much interest for years. Today, the Annapolis region has about 20 vineyards nowadays and wineries such as Emeritus and Hartford Court are buying its grapes.

Then, the other day I came across a single-vineyard “Annapolis Ridge” pinot noir from J Vineyards. Not only was I surprised to see a $110 pinot noir coming from this region, I was surprised it was so good. The vineyard for this wine spans a rugged hillside close to the rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean. Yields are low because of the terrain. Only 600 cases of the wine are produced.

It’s a beautiful area to visit and now I have better reason to go there.