California Flashcards
Who is Charles Valentine Riley and what major contribution did he provide for not only the California wine world, but the rest of the world’s wine regions as well?
Missouri enologist who is credited as the first to understand the innate resistance of American grape species/rootstock to Phylloxera
Describe how the average temperature changes the further one moves north in the Napa Valley and why this is the case.
Cool mists and winds blow in from the San Pablo Bay and Pacific ocean through the Petaluma Gap, but the land gets increasingly warmer the further one moves north into the valley where the mists have an increasingly lesser effect.
Where is Tablas Creek winery? Who owns it? What kind of wines are produced here?
Paso Robles AVA
Owned by the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel
Wines from a wide range of Rhône varietals
In what county is Livermore Valley located? What is the most famous grape here and what famous winery did the cuttings come from that would become the progenitor of this grape? When was this?
Alameda County Sauvignon Blanc is the most famous for being the most individual style of the grape in the state.
Cuttings for the vines here came from Château d’Yquem in 1869
What is the warmest AVA in Sonoma?
Alexander Valley
Which grows more grapes, Napa or Sonoma?
Sonoma grows far more.
Arroyo Seco AVA is known for wines from what grapes? Styles?
White wines that are dry and off-dry made from Riesling and Gewürztraminer.
Name the years in which the following wineries were founded.
Buena Vista Charles Krug Schramberg Beringer Inglenook Beaulieu Vineyards Robert Mondavi
Buena Vista (1857) Charles Krug (1861) Schramsberg (1862) Beringer (1876) Inglenook (1879) Beaulieu Vineyards (1900) Robert Mondavi (1966)
If a wine is labeled by single vineyard, what percentage of grapes used for its production must come from the stated vineyard?
95%
Who makes Les Pavots, where is it located, and what is the style?
Peter Michael in Knights Valley AVA
Style is massive and extracted, super ripe with volcanic minerality.
Who owns Alexander Mountain Estate and what wine is it known for?
Stonestreet
Known for one of California’s finest examples of Chardonnay
Who is the name of the “rhone ranger” whose original estate in Santa Cruz was overtaken by Pierce’s Disease? What is the name of his winery?
Randal Graham Bonny Doon
Describe the style of Cabernet produced in Alexander Valley compared to its Napa counterparts.
More herbaceous character and less body than its Napa counterparts.
What is the coolest AVA and most distinctive wine region in Mendocino County?
Anderson Valley
What is the major soil type of Dry Creek Valley? Describe it.
Dry Creek Valley conglomerate
Mixture of gravel and red clays
What is Gloria Ferrer famous for? What two other major international producers of this style established wineries here?
Pioneering sparkling wine in Carneros. Taittinger and Codorníu both have also set up wine sparkling wine operations here.
What is the Petaluma Gap and why is it significant?
Opening in the Coastal Ranges around the town of Petaluma that allows for the influx of cool air and mists from the Pacific Ocean when combination with cool air from the San Pablo Bay create the coolest vineyard sites in southern Sonoma.
What is the Rutherford Bench?
Famous deposit of alluvial gravels at the foot of the Mayacamas
Which valley in Monterey County is known for having one of the longest growing seasons in the world? how does the growing season here compare to that in Napa Valley?
Salinas Valley
Budbreak occurs two weeks earlier than in Napa Valley and the harvest is two weeks later
Who is the name of the “rhone ranger” whose original estate in Santa Cruz was overtaken by Pierce’s Disease? What is the name of his winery?
Randal Graham
Bonny Doon Winery
What is peculiar about Mendocino Ridge AVA in regards to geographical boundaries?
California’s first non-contiguous AVA
What is the soil type of Knights Valley?
Volcanic
Below what altitude on coastal mountain ranges does cold Pacific air spill over and cool the land below?
Below 1500ft.
What is the name of the smallest AVA in American and who owns it?
Cole Ranch
Owned by Esterlina
Where is the Sanford and Benedict vineyard?
Santa Rita Hills
What is the name of the oldest winery in Mendocino and when was it founded?
Parducci, founded in 1932
Where is Chalk Hill, what’s the climate like there, who is the main producer, and what is the greatest wine from there?
In Sonoma, east, northeast and adjacent to Russian River Valley near the town of Windsor.
Climate is much warmer than Russian River Valley however.
Main Producer is Chalk Hill Winery
Particular and direct Chardonnay is the greatest wine here.
Sauvignon Blanc also does well here.
The vineyards of Monterey roughly follow what valley and what bay, and are also planted in the hills of what two mountain ranges?
Salinas Valley and the Monterey Bay
Santa Lucia Mountains and Gabilan Mountains
What is the name of the river that runs through Anderson Valley?
Navarro River
Which AVA has been called California’s treasure chest of old-vine Zinfandel? Why are there so many old-vine Zin plantings here?
Sierra Foothills AVA
During prohibition much of the vineyard was abandoned, but because the land was so low-value the vines weren’t ripped out. After Prohibition, the vines were reclaimed and thus the area has some of the oldest zin plantings in the state.
What famous Champagne house established a sparkling wine winery in the Anderson Valley?
Louis Roederer (Roederer Estate)
Who owns the Two Rock Vineyard and what impact did it have on Russian River Valley as recently as 5 years ago?
Gallo
It is responsible for the expansion of the Russian River Valley in 2011
What are the main grapes found in Napa Valley?
Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are definitely the main grapes, but Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, and even Sangiovese are also found in Napa
What is the dominant grape variety of Bennett Valley AVA? Why is this?
Merlot is the dominant grape because the AVA is too cool to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon properly.
If a wine carries a vintage date, what is the requirement in regards to size of the appellation? If AVA is listed what percentage of the grapes must come from that vintage? If state or county are listed in lieu of AVA?
If a wine is vintage dated it must carry a smaller appellation than a country.
If AVA is listed 95% of fruit must come from stated vintage.
If labeled with state or county, 85% of fruit from stated vintage
Which AVA in Central Coast is known for its thin, free-draining soils of granite and pockets of limestone that has been closely compared to the soils of Burgundy? What vineyard gave name to this AVA which placed third at the 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting and who was the original owner?
Chalone AVA
“Chalone Vineyard”
Richard Graff
How did the grape vines spread between the years of 1770-1820 in California?
The Franciscan mission grape vine was spread from established missions throughout the state and were passed from here to small growers as the mission lands were secularized under the Mexican government.
Name the hillside AVAs from North to south on the Mayacamas side. Name them on the Vaca side.
Mayacamas side
Diamond Mountain District
Spring Mountain District
Mount Veeder
Vaca Side Howell Mountain Chiles Valley Atlas Peak Stags Leap District
What winery is famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon besting the greatest wines of Bordeaux in the Judgement of Paris Tasting in 1976? What was the vintage?
Stag’s Leap 1973
What other white wine is found in Monterey County in and around the northern part of the country?
Riesling is found in the cooler northern part
Where is the Arroyo Grande Valley AVA and what grapes is it known for? Producer? Where is the Arroyo Secco AVA and what are the most significant grapes there?
South of Edna Valley in the Central Coast in San Luis Obispo County
Known for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir of high quality, good fruit, and pleasant freshness. Talley is a good producer here.
Arroyo Secco AVA is in Monterey County. Known for Riesling and Gewürztraminer
Describe why the climate in some parts of Santa Barbara is so cool.
Certain valleys in Santa Barbara lie end-up on the ocean and act as funnels that allow sea air to invade as far as 75 miles inland effectively cooling much of this area.
In what county is Mt. Harlan AVA located? What mountains are located here? Who is responsible for its founding and what is the name of the winery?
San Benito County
Gabilan Mountains
Founded by Josh Jensen who owns Calera winery there.
Despite Santa Cruz’s location within this larger AVA’s boundaries it is excluded from the AVA. What is the name of the larger AVA?
Central Coast AVA
What is the major soil type found in the Russian River Valley? Describe it.
“Goldridge” sandy loam.
Who is Count Agoston Haraszthy and what important contributions did he provide to California wine? What was his nickname?
Dubbed the father of American wine. Responsible for introducing over 300 grape varieties to the state of California including to have rumored to be the first to introduce Zinfandel to the U.S.
The San Francisco Bay AVA encompasses which counties in California? (7) Who is responsible for its creation and when was this?
Alameda Santa Clara Contra Costa San Mateo San Francisco
and parts of San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.
Created in 1999 after petitioning by Wente
In regards to alcohol content, within what margin must the alcohol content listed be in relation to the actual content in the bottle?
+/- 1.5%
Santa Cruz Mountains are home to what famous vineyard that was known to take top honors at the 30th anniversary Judgement of Paris Tasting? Who is the producer of this?
Monte Bello
Ridge
Where are a majority of Napa Valley’s Pinot Noir vineyards located and what styles can be found there?
Planted heavily in Carneros and used there for premium sparkling wine and still production.
What two types of natural features greatly influence the climate in any given area of California?
Proximity to the cool Pacific Ocean and various mountain ranges in the state determine the climate for any one region.
In what year were two bottlings of Eisele produced with one being the first Araujo and the other being the last for the previous producer? Who was this previous producer?
1991
Joseph Phelps
What are the three major towns found in the Anderson Valley?
Philo, Navarro, and Boonville
Which AVA’s vineyards are planted on the east-facing slopes of the Salinas Valley? What’s the soil like here?
Santa Lucia Highlands AVA
Low-vigor, well-draining granitic soils
What is the name of Ridge’s famous bottling produced in Alexander Valley and what grapes go into its production?
Geyserville
Zinfandel, Carignan, Petite Sirah, and Mataro
What grape accounts for more than 50% of plantings in Monterey County? What is the style of this grape?
Chardonnay
Wines of high acidity and fresh notes of green apples and citrus.
From what famous Château did suitcase clippings come from that would become the Cabernet Sauvignon vines at Diamond Creek?
Château Haut-Brion
Rockpile AVA is known for what grape and in what style?
Zinfandel made in a ripe and powerful style and aged in either American or French Oak.
