California: North Coast Flashcards
What two mountain ranges sandwich Napa Valley AVA
Mayacamas (west; marks the border with Sonoma County)
Vaca (east)
What counties make up the North Coast AVA? (6)
Location of each
Mendocino: Most northerly on the west coast, north of Sonoma
Lake: SE of Mendocino and north of Napa
Napa: South of Napa and east of Sonoma
Sonoma: South of Mendocino and west of Napa
Solano: South and east of Napa
Marin: South of Sonoma on the coast
How much acreage does Napa Valley contain of California?
How much of Napa wine makes up the state’s annual wine revenue?
- -4% of California’s wine acreage.
- -Due to the high value of the wines, 25% of the state’s annual wine revenue.
Napa Valley AVA’s (16)
While Callie will take her diamond and throw it in the spring
St Helena would rather oak, yount, and leap over mount veeder into oak knoll district then take a car to comb a wild horse, at the peak of Atlas with a chile and a howell
Calistoga Diamond Mountain District Spring Mountain District St. Helena Rutherford Oakville Yountville Stags Leap District Mount Veeder Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley Los Carneros Coombsville Wild Horse Valley Atlas Peak Chiles Valley District Howell Moutain
Name four principle towns of Napa Valley. N-S
Calistoga
St Helena
Yountville
Napa
As one moves north the temperatures warm perceptibly.
What is the influence of the Peteluma Gap to Napa Valley?
Coastal influence of the San Pablo Bay funnels ocean air upward through the valley—Carneros, the southernmost AVA within Napa, is suitable for the production of sparkling wines, whereas Calistoga, the northernmost AVA, routinely sees daytime summer temperatures above 90° F suitable for sturdier grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.
How does altitude effect Napa’s climate?
It has a major effect on temperature–vineyards strecth from 0-2000 ft (approx 600 meters)
What are the diverse soils of Napa Valley?
Volcanic, alluvial and maritime soil types, ranging from well-drained gravel loam to dense clays to the thin, rocky soils of the hillside vineyards
Explain the difference between Cabernet Sauvignon “mountain fruit” and “valley fruit”? What creates these styles? Name an AVA that exemplifies each.
Mountain Fruit
-Prized for it’s density, dark fruit and concentration, and its ability to retain a good acid structure through intense ripeness. (i.e. Howell Mountain). 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
Erosion is a serious concern amongst Napa’s hillside growers, as heavy winter rains can literally wash away a vineyard’s entire topsoil, leaving nothing but hard bedrock behind.
Valley Fruit
-tends to produce a more elegant and supple style of Cabernet, with less intensity of color. (i.e. Rutherford). Valley fruit also tends to have deeper topsoil.
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.
Name the Mountain Floor AVAs of Napa Valley
Mount Veeder (Mayacamas) Spring Mountain District (Mayacamas) Diamond Mountain District (Mayacamas) Atlas Peak (Vaca Mountains) Howell Mountain (Vaca Mountains)
Name the Valley Floor AVAs of Napa Valley
Coombsville Oak Knoll of Napa Valley Yountville Stags Leap District Oakville Rutherford St. Helena Calistoga
Name the outlier AVAs of Napa Valley (neither mountain or valley)
Chiles Valley District-most isolate Napa AVA
Wild Horse Valley-most sparsely planted Napa AVA
Los Carneros-Napa’s coolest growing region; extends into Sonoma.
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.
How long is Napa Valley?
30 miles
1/8 the size of Bordeaux
Howell Mountain AVA
- est. 1983 (first sub-ava in 1983; along with Los Carneros)
- High-altitude 1400 ft/430 m
- West-facing vineyards
- Mountain fruit Cabernet Sauvignon, pre-prohibition known for Zinfandel
- first sub-appellation wholly within Napa Valley to receive its own AVA (1983), first mountain AVA
- receives the most rainfall in Napa Valley? (averages 60” per year)
- Dunn Vineyards, La Jota, O’Shaghnessy, and Robert Craig
Rutherford AVA
-AVA est 1993
- Rutherford Dust- some say it refers to the actual flavor (Dusty and spicy berry element that can be found in all great Rutherford Cabs. Some call it mocha or allspice), the texture of the tannins, or simply a metaphor for Rutherford’s unique terroir.
- sets the wines of Rutherford apart from Oakville and Saint Helena.
- Rutherford bench (extends into Oakville (i.e. To-Kalon)- loamy gravel, important for Cab Sauv, which needs well drained soil where the water leaves early in the summer and restrains the growth.If it grows vigorously you get green flavors and weak thin wines. The vines run out of water at veraison and stop growing.
- Producers- Inglenook, Frog’s Leap, Staglin, Beaulieu Vineyards, Caymus, Scarecrow, Cakebread, Grgich Hills
Where are the two main points in Napa Valley for fog entry?
San Pablo Bay to the south (most of the fog) and the Chalk Hill Gap to the north (in Calistoga near Diamond Mountain)
—While much of Sonoma is covered by fog daily, the Mayacamas Mountains that separate the two counties act as a goalie, blocking most of the fog from proceeding eastward into Napa.
What is the body of water at the south end of Napa?
San Pablo Bay
What are “benchlands” and where are they found?
—Found in the valley floor Napa AVA’s (mostly located on the western foothills, due to the fact that the valley floor slopes gently southward and westward)
—deep, fertile, sloping soil deposits composed of run-off from mountain streams. In these alluvial fans, vines can develop deep root systems. and are the best sites for wine growing.
—Napa’s benches (alluvial fans) act as a transition point between rocky hillside vineyards and the fertile valley floor.
Sonoma AVA’s (18)
Alex threw dry rock and pine from the fort on the coast at the knight.
We chalked it up to petting the russian in the green valley
Bennett went through the valley and the mountain to get to the moon and drove a car up north to the fountain.
Alexander Valley Dry Creek Valley Rockpile Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak Fort Ross-Seaview Sonoma Coast Knights Valley Chalk Hill Russian River Valley Green Valley of Russian River Valley Bennett Valley Sonoma Valley Sonoma Mountain Moon Mountain District Sonoma County Carneros AVA (majority, small share in Napa) Northern Sonoma Fountaingrove District (2015 addition) Petaluma Gap (2018 addition) West Sonoma Coast (2022 addition)
Sonoma Coast AVAs (8)
—Bennett Valley
—Chalk Hill
—Green Valley of Russian River Valley
—Los Carneros
—Northern Sonoma
—Russian River Valley
—Sonoma Valley
—Petuluma Gap
Northern Sonoma AVAs (9)
Who proposed the Northern Sonoma AVA?
Est. 1985 —Alexander Valley —Chalk Hill —Dry Creek —Green Valley of Russian River Valley —Knights Valley —Pine Mountain—Cloverdale Peak —Rockpile —Russian River Valley —Sonoma Coast **Proposed by Gallo of Sonoma, as part of Gallo's RRV expansion. They got another 45,000 acres added to Northern Sonoma. Gallo may now blend across pre-existing AVA boundaries for its estate-bottled wines.
What is north of Sonoma County? What is south of Sonoma County?
north-Mendocino and Lake
south- Marin, Solano, and Contra Costa
What is “goldridge”?
Sandy loam soil that characterizes Russian River Valley
Fort Ross AVA
- AVA est 2011
- assumption that Pinot Noirs would be leaner and more acidic than their Russian River cousins, which originally drove the price for these grapes to extremely high levels.
- elevation (exceeds 1800 ft/548 mt)of most Fort Ross AVA puts them above the maritime fog layer so that the grapes bud early and often ripen in late August leading to big body and bold fruit.
- producers- Hirsch, Flowers, Marcassin, Martinelli
- Principal varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah
Knight’s Valley AVA
- AVA est 1983
- Separates the upper end of the Napa valley from the lower end of the Alexander valley (new Fountaingrove district may now claim this.)
- warmest AVA in Sonoma county
- It was originally developed by Beringer Vineyards
- Focus on Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties from gravelly soils.
- prominent winery owned by British businessman Peter Michael.
Alexander Valley AVA
- AVA est 1984
- The largest and most fully planted of Sonoma county
- Cabernet tends to show a more herbaceous character and less body than its Napa counterparts.
- Rodney Strong was the first of the pioneers to plant Cabernet
- takes in the Russian river watershed upstream of Healdsburg north to the Sonoma–Mendocino county line north of Cloverdale.
- Chateau Souverain 1973 and Jordan Vineyards in 1976 awakened the valley adding an elegance.
- -Accessibility is much more likely to be a general descriptor than longevity; Kendall-jackson’s 1996 purchase of the mountain vineyards on Gauer Ranch; Gallo’s acquisition of nearly 1,500 acres/600 ha since 1988.
- Russian river cuts through valley.
- Cabernet Sauvignon from volcanic redish soils and gravelly soils, with a signature note of chocolate warmth and agreeable mouthfeel (more herbaceous and less body than Napa Cabs) along with other Bordeaux varieties.
- Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel succeed often enough to make one wonder if they are not suited best to these particular suns and soils.
- Wineries that brought Alexander Valley to wide attention in recent years were Geyser Peak, Clos du Bois, and Murphy-Goode.
Dry Creek Valley AVA
and
Rockpile AVA
Dry Creek Valley AVA est 1983
- Known for Sauvignon Blanc.
- Known for ripe, powerful Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon.
- The valley heads north and west from Healdsburg, where Dry creek flows into the Russian river.
- Prominent wineries- Ferrari-Carano, Nalle, Preston, Michel Schlumberger, and Rafanelli
- Rockpile AVA est 2002
- Known for ripe, powerful Zinfandel
- Rockpile established plantings north of Lake Sonoma after years of no planting due to Warm Springs dam drowning patches of Zinfandel;
- Prominent wineries- Rosenblum exceptional, sun-drenched, chewy Zinfandel
Sonoma Valley AVA
Sonoma Valley AVA est 1981
- Known for Zinfandel, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
- first great winery name of northern California, Buena Vista courtsey of Agoston haraszthy
- Hanzell Vineyard started the rush to using French oak barrels to age California wines and thereby revolutionized their style, most especially Chardonnay’s.
- warms from south to north because San Francisco bay’s influence dwindles mile by mile.
- Steep mountains on each side make it geologically as well as climatically complex.
- Sebastiani and Gundlach-Bundschu are the old-timers of the valley. Kenwood, Benziger, St Francis, and Kunde. Carmenet is in the AVA in the eastern mountains, as is Ravenswood’s tasting room.
Mt. Veeder AVA
- AVA. est 1990
- stretches out along ridgetops that separate the Napa and Sonoma valleys immediately west of the town of Napa.
- notable producers Mayacamas (oldest extant winery), Hess Collection (largest), Jackson Family Lokoya (mini-cult)
Which AVA is most of the appellation’s planted area currently belongs to only two massive vineyards: Stagecoach, purchased by Gallo in 2017, and Antinori’s Antica property, which occupies Foss Valley, a large indent near the summit?
Atlas Peak AVA (est. 1992)
—Italy’s Marchese Piero Antinori grew Sangiovese in Napa Valley to less than stellar reviews, but establishing Atlas Peak as an AVA
—principle grape variety: Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons focused and ageworthy. —think well drained red-tinged volcanic soils planted above the fog line.
—most of the appellation’s planted area currently belongs to only two massive vineyards: Stagecoach, purchased by Gallo in 2017, and Antinori’s Antica property, which occupies Foss Valley, a large indent near the summit. William Hill (also part of Gallo)
—Kongsgaard purchased a property atop Atlas Creek and built a new winery in 2004.
—Just north of Atlas Peak is Pritchard Hill.
–best Cabs are concentrated and well-structured, with a muscular frame and an iodine or bloodlike quality on the palate.
Which is the smallest mountain AVA in Napa Valley?
Diamond Mountain AVA
- AVA est. 2001
- This AVA is defined by its elevation (400 to 2,200 feet)
- volcanic soils, including small bits of volcanic glass which give the AVA its name.
- Weathered red sedimentary soils contribute graphite notes to the tannic Cabernet Sauvignons
- it has a distinct cooling effect on parts of the Diamond Mountain District, adds steel to the wines.
- notable producers Von Strasser sets the pace. Diamond Creek vineyards Napa’s first cult brand.
- principle varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Franc
- defined by the Napa-Sonoma county line on the west, Spring Mountain on the south, and Calistoga wraps around it to the east and north
- there is no Diamond Mountain, just a collection of sloping, jagged hillsides gathered together under the AVA.
What AVA has the largest diurnal shift?
What mountains are on all three sides of this AVA?
Calistoga AVA est. 2009
—up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
-northern most AVA in Napa
-delayed as an AVA after years of debate over two wineries’ use of the word Calistoga outside of district
-Home to historic Chateau Montelena, Araujo Estate (now owned by François Pinault of Chateau Latour and Chateau Grillet), and visitor magnet Sterling Vineyards, Storybook Mountain Vineyards for Zinfandel
-three sides of Calistoga are bordered by mountains: Howell to the east, Diamond to the west, and the towering Mount St. Helena to the north.-very warm (routinely over 90° during the summer), with cooling breezes from Knights Valley to the west dropping temperatures to 41° F (54 °C) overnight, making quality grapegrowing possible.
-principal varieties-Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Syrah
