CA - North Coast Flashcards by Rosemary Walker

What counties are included in the North Coast AVA

-Mendocino
-Lake
-Sonoma
-Napa
-Solano
-Marin

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What percentage of vineyard acreage is in Napa County? What percentage of value of CA wine does it account for?

-4% acreage
-20% value

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How many sub AVAs of Napa County? Name them

17
-Napa Valley
-Calistoga
-Howell Mountain
-Chiles Valley
-Diamond Mountain District
-Spring Mountain District
-St. Helena
-Rutherford
-Oakville
-Atlas Peak
-Stags Leap District
-Yountville
-Mount Veeder
-Oak Knoll Distict
-Coombsville
-Wild Horse Valley
-Los Carneros

(N to S ish)

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Main towns of Napa County

-Starts at San Pablo Bay in South
-Napa
-St. Helena
-Calistoga in the north

(5 miles wide at Napa to 1 mile wide at Calistoga)

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Does it get warmer or cooler as you travel North in Napa County? Why?

Warmer!

Cool ocean air funnels through Petaluma Gap in San Pablo Bay and upward through valley

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What AVA in Napa is the coolest and suitable for sparkling wine production?

Los Carneros AVA

-affected by wind from San Pablo Bay through Petaluma Gap

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What is the temperature like in Calistoga AVA?

-Routinely over 90 degrees
-largest diurnal temperature shift in the Napa Valley
-suitable for Cab Sauv and Zin

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What two mountain ranges line Napa on west and east?

-Mayacamas on the West
-Vaca Mountains on the East

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What is range of altitude in Napa?

0 to over 2000 ft above sea level

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What mountain range forms the border of Napa and Sonoma County?

Mayacamas Mountains

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Soils of Napa

Range of volcanic, alluvial and maritime soil types
-gravel loam, dense clay, thin rocky soils

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What is “mountain fruit”

-Refers to (usually) Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa’s sun-drenched hillside vineyards and mountainside AVAs
-prized for density, dark fruit, concentration and ability to retain good acid structure through ripeness
-Low nutrient soils make grapes struggle and produces smaller berries, influencing color, intensity and a higher level of tannins.
-The reason is the increased level of light intensity and affect of the inversion layer that creates these more intense, powerful wines
-Basically The higher you are in the hills, the warmer nights and cooler the days. Initially ripening is slower for mountain fruit, but by the end of the summer the tannin and color have rocketed ahead….very different profile from the valley floor where the cool nights preserve aromatic freshness and you end up with more elegant Cabs.

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What AVA producers benchmark “mountain wines”

Howell Mountain

1st AVA wholly within Napa to receive its own AVA

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What is a concern for hillside growers in Napa?

-erosion
-heavy winter rains can wash away vineyards entire topsoil

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Five “mountain” or hillside AVAs in Napa

To the west:
-Diamond Mountain District AVA (Mayacamas)
-Spring Mountain District (Mayacamas)
-Mount Veeder (Mayacamas)

To the East:
-Howell Mountain AVA (Vaca Moutains)
-Atlas Peak (Vaca Mountains)

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Describe “valley fruit”

-more elegant supple style of Cabernet
-less intensity of color

-valley floor has deeper topsoil

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What AVA exemplifies valley floor style?

Rutherford AVA
-Valley is the widest here - highest number of daylight hours

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7 “valley” AVAs for Cabernet in Napa

-Calistoga
-St Helena
-Rutherford AVA
-Oakville AVA
-Stag’s Leap District
-Yountville
-Oak Knoll District
-Coombsville AVA

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Where is Pinot Noir generally found in Napa?

Los Carneros
-for sparking and still wine production

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Location and bordering counties of Sonoma

-Between Napa County and Pacific Coast
-Mendocino and Lake to the North
-Marin, Solano and Contra Costa to the South

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AVAs of Sonoma:

North East
-Pine Mountain Cloverdale Peak
-Alexander Valley
-Knights valley
-Chalk Hill

North Central
-Rockpile
-Dry Creek valley
-Northern Sonoma

North West»South West
-Fort Ross Seaview
-Sonoma Coast
-West Sonoma Coast
-Petaluma Gap

Central
-Russian River Valley
-Green Valley of RRV

South East
-Sonoma Valley
-Bennet Valley
-Sonoma Mountain
-Moon Mountain District
-Carneros

-Fountaingrove District

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What is the climate like in Carneros AVA in Sonoma?

-windy, foggy, cool
-Region 1
-mostly pinot noir and chard for sparkling wine

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What soils characterize the RRV?

Fertile alluvial soils
-“Goldridge” sandy loam
Altamont soils
-deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from fine-grained sandstone and shale

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“Sub AVAs” of RRV?

Chalk Hill
Green Valley

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Notable COASTAL producers in Sonoma

Littorai Hirsch Marcassin Peay Anthill Farms Cobb Flowers

Notable RRV producers in Sonoma

Dehlinger Joseph Swan Rochioli Williams Selyem Radio-Coteau Dumol Merry Edwards Siduri Kosta Browne

What AVAs in Sonoma Country north and east of Healdsburg experience warmer region III climates

Alexander Valley Dry Creek Valley Rockpile Knights Valley

What is the warmest AVA in Sonoma County?

Knights Valley

What are the soils of Alexander Valley and Knights Valley? What characters do the Cab Sauvs from each display?

-gravelly soils -Alexander Valley - more herbaceous than Napa -Knights Valley - can be similar to Napa (Peter Michael "Les Pavots")

Where is Peter Michael based? Name some cuvees?

Knights Valley - Sonoma County Cab Sauv - Les Pavots Chard - Belle Côte Pinot Noir - Clos du Ciel (fruit from Fort Ross Seaview)

What are Dry Creek Valley and Rockpile AVA known for?

-Ripe, powerful styles of Zinfandel -aged in American or French oak

What is the most established sub region of Sonoma County? What grapes are successful there?

Sonoma Valley AVA Zin, PN, Chard, Cab Sauv - successful

What mountains straddle Sonoma Valley

Mayacamas and Sonoma Mountains -runs nearly parallel to Napa Valley

What grape is favored in Bennett Valley AVA in Sonoma?

Merlot too cold to ripen Cab

What Champagne house and Cava producer set up their American sparkling wine estates in Carneros in the 80s?

-Taittinger -Codorníu

What is significant about Gloria Ferrer?

-first sparkling wine house in Sonoma Carneros -first to plant Champagne clones and the first to plant in Carneros

What is required of all wines produced in Sonoma County as of 2011?

Must state Sonoma County on the label

Where is Mendocino in relation to Sonoma?

North

What two rivers are Mendocino's best winegrowing regions centered at the confluence of?

Russian and Navarro Rivers

What AVAs are nestled within Mendocino AVA?

(N to Sish) Eagle Peak Redwood Valley Potter Valley Anderson Valley Mendocino Ridge (Portion) Cole Ranch McDowell Valley Yorkville Highlands Pine Mt Cloverdale Peak (Shared with Sonoma)

4 AVAs not included within Mendocino AVA but still in Mendocino County

Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak Dos Rios Covelo Eagle Peak Mendocino County (2014)

What is the smallest AVA in America? Who owns all of the vineyard acreage?

-Cole Ranch AVA (150 acres with about 55 acres to vine - Less than 1/4 sq mile) -within Mendocino AVA in Mendocino County -Esterlina Winery owned all vineyard acreage -Mike Lucia of Rootdown Cellars bought for $2.7 million in 2020 -

Where is McDowell Valley and who owns most of vineyard area?

In Mendocino County -essentially monopole of McDowell Valley wineries

What is the climate of Anderson valley?

Cool -one of coolest in CA

What champagne house is based in the Anderson Valley?

Louis Roederer -produces elegant sparkling compared to competitors in Carneros

What is unique about the requirements for Mendocino Ridge AVA?

Restricted to vineyards that are at least 1,200 feet above sea level

What grape thrives in the sun above the fog line in Mendocino Ridge?

Zinfandel

What is the smallest wine-producing county in the North Coast?

Lake County

What is the most prominent AVA in Lake County?

Clear Lake AVA -cool climate bc of moderating Lake -Sauvignon Blanc

What is the only non-contiguous AVA in US?

Mendocino Ridge AVA

Where is Teldeschi Vineyard?

Dry Creek Valley AVA

Where is Monte Rosso Vineyard?

Sonoma Valley AVA - Moon Mountain AVA Louis Martini

Where is Eisele vineyard

Calistoga AVA Araujo

Where is Sanford & Benedict vineyard?

Sta Rita Hills AVA Sandhi

What was Napa Valley's first sub-AVA?

Howell Mountain, 12/30/1983 Carneros, 8/18/1983 - not considered a nested AVA

Napa Valley: Lakes

Lake Berryessa Lake Henessey (foot of Howell Mountain)

Howell Mountain: elevation boundaries

1400-2200ft -a vineyard must be located at or above 1400 feet above sea level to claim the appellation

How high are Mount Veeder's highest vineyards? What is the lowest elevation allowed?

2630ft at the highest point (summit is 2700ft) 400ft is the lowest allowable elevation.

When was Wild Horse Valley AVA created? What counties does it cover? And what is are its elevation requirements?

1988 - second nested AVA in Napa Valley Straddles Napa and Solano counties 1,351-2,137ft

Which two AVAs sit directly east of Wild Horse Valley?

Solano County Green Valley Suisun Valley

What is Goldridge Sandy Loam? Where is it prominent?

A series of deep, moderately well draining soils formed from weakly consolidated sandstone. RRV Green Valley

What is the Franciscan Assemblage? Where is it prominent?

Mix of greywacke sandstone, limestone, deep sea radiolarian cherts, greenstone (altered mafic volcanic rock), serpentinites, shale, and metamorphic rock. Second major series in Russian River

What are the elevation boundaries of Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak?

1600-2600ft

Where is Lake Sonoma?

East of Rockpile, at the north end of Dry Creek Valley

What AVA was created in Sonoma in 2015?

Fountaingrove District, between Chalk Hill and Sonoma Valley up against the Mayacamas.

What are the two key rivers of Sonoma?

Russian River Sonoma Creek

What winery was the driving force behind the Bennet Valley AVA? Who owns it now?

Matanzas Creek (Jean Arnold, CEO) Now owned by Jackson Family Wines

What is the major soil type of Jahant? Where is Jahant?

Rocklin-Jahant, a pink sandy loam with a high clay content. Lodi (Central Valley) San Joaquin, Sacramento

Central Valley: Rivers

Sacramento, San Joaquin Lodi: Mokelumne River, Cosumnes River, Dry Creek River (Jahant), Deer River (Sloughhouse)

Where is UC Davis?

Yolo County

What is unique about Diablo Grande?

The entire AVA is owned by a private Golf Club and Residential Community: the Diablo Grande Resort.

What are the sub-AVAs of the Sierra Foothills?

North Yuba (far north) El Dorado Fair Play (within southern El Dorado) Shenandoah Valley Fiddletown

What is the inversion layer?

The inversion layer means that cooler air in the valley pushes hot air upwards; night-time lows in the mountains can be higher than valley lows, but the daytime highs are lower in the mountains than on the valley floor-afternoons tend to be cooler. Fog, which settles on the valley floor in the late evening and may not burn off until mid-morning, impacts nighttime temperatures and sunshine hours on the valley floor. Mountain regions tend to be drier--there are few summer days of intense wetting from fog--and they are seldom affected by frost.

What are the AVAs of Lake County?

Clear Lake (north) Benmore Valley (far west) High Valley (east; north of Red Hills across the lake)) Red Hills Lake County (south) Kelsey Bench (west of Red Hills) Big Valley (north of Kelsey Bench) Guenoc Valley (far south)