(Wine-Searcher) - Two new U.S. winegrowing areas are officially recognized including Malibu Coast, extending from the famous Mulholland Drive.

The U.S. federal government formally established the Malibu Coast as an American Viticultural Area on Friday – three years after the process began.

The AVA designation, which covers 44,590 acres (18,000 hectares) in portions of California’s Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, means vintners will be able to better describe the origin of their wines and consumers will be able to better identify the wines they purchase, the government said.

The Malibu Coast AVA borders the city of Los Angeles and the posh community of Thousand Oaks. It runs over the rugged terrain of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and the AVA covers 52 commercial wineries, which have a galaxy of Hollywood stars living nearby.

Those wineries are unlikely to dramatically increase in number, given the proposed ban on new wineries in the Santa Monica Mountains area of the AVA.

Earlier this year Los Angeles County's board of supervisors approved a proposal that would stop development of new wineries in the county due to the impact on water quality. The proposal goes to the California Coastal Commission for approval this month.

The already-established Saddle Rock-Malibu and Malibu-Newton Canyon AVAs will be part of the Malibu Coast AVA since all three share similar characteristics, including high elevations, warm temperatures, marine fog, and well-drained soils containing volcanic material. However, the establishment of the new AVA will not affect any wineries already using one of the other two AVAs on their labels.

Meanwhile, the 690-square mile Upper Hiwassee Highlands viticultural area in Cherokee and Clay Counties, North Carolina, and Towns, Union, and Fannin Counties, Georgia, has also been established.