The name Kelsey Bench is a combination of Kelsey, the surname of several early settlers in the area, and bench, a term used to describe the terraces that rise above the lower elevations of the valley to the north. The AVA boundaries cover a series of tectonically-uplifted terraces in the southern half of a valley on the banks of Clear Lake. The Mayacamas mountains in the south and west separate the area from the southern end of Mendocino County, and the dormant Mount Konocti volcano lies to the east. The Red Hills Lake County AVA is on the south-eastern border of Kelsey Bench and when the appellation was formalized, the Red Hills boundaries were modified slightly to meet the Kelsey Bench boundaries.