California North Coast AVA

Question 1

California’s 5 North coast premium wine regions?

Answer 1

Mendocino County
Lake County
Sonoma County
Napa County
Los Carneros

Question 2

Mendocino County characteristics?

Answer 2

Northermost growing area
Quality not quantity. Many use of their own prestigious AVA on wine labels. Large producers use the North Coast AVA.
Foggy & Cool
Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon & Pinot noir.
Many other varietals due to the diverse terroir and Italian-influenced heritage. Barbera, Sauv B, Syrah, Colombard.
Wines with big fruit but as the acidity levels are high and alcohol levels are usually around 13.5%.
Excellent aging potential.
Many certified organic vineyards
Affordable, less well-known than their southern Sonoma and Napa neighbours.

Question 3

Best known AVA in Mendocino County?

Answer 3

Anderson Valley (Sparkling wines)

Question 4

Lake County characteristics?

Answer 4

East (inland of Mendocino)
The region here is a lot drier than Mendocino and due to the high prevalence of volcanic soils and high elevation vineyards.
Unlike most California lakes, Clear Lake is a natural lake
Earth sediments of 480,000 years old.
Volcanic soils producing “dusty” wines.
Lake County AVAs: Bottles from this region can be labeled as Lake County, High Valley, Big Valley District, Kelsey Bench, Guenoc Valley, and Red Hills.

Question 5

Best wines from Lake County?

Answer 5

bolder wine varieties
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Tempranillo, and Petite Sirah.
Affordable wines.

Question 6

Sonoma County characteristics?

Answer 6

Diverse – soils, climates, elevations, grapes.
Cooling fog, rolls in from San Pablo Bay in the summer. Trapped between the Sonoma and Mayacamas mountains. The fog is denser and more persistent than in the broader valleys to the north.
combined with cooling ocean breezes, this means that Sonoma Valley is sufficiently cool to rate as Region I (>2500 degree days) on the Amerine-Winkler climate scale, but still sufficiently sunny to produce bright, intensely flavored wines.

Question 7

Sonoma County is divided into three distinct sections. What are they?
Why?

Answer 7

Sonoma Valley AVA,
Northern Sonoma AVA and
Sonoma Coast AVA,
Each has its own AVA title and encompasses several sub-AVAs.
Sonoma County runs parallel with the Napa Valley wine region on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.
Topography from one end of the Valley to the other is markedly different, so the region has divided and re-divided itself into AVAs and sub-AVAs.

Question 8

General about Sonoma

Answer 8

One of the most important wine growing regions in the whole of the United States. Vines have been planted here since the 1850s.
Sonoma County AVA stretches north from San Pablo Bay to the Alexander Valley.
In October 2017 wildfires caused devastation across much of Sonoma and Napa Counties. Sonoma County’s largest city, Santa Rosa, was hit particularly hard.

Question 9

Grapes of Sonoma?

Answer 9

Dominant - Cabernet Sauvignon
Some Cabernet Franc in the county’s cooler mountainside sites.
Warmer dryer areas - Zinfandel, Bordeaux reds
Cool - Sonoma Coast, Russian River – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
Significant Merlot but not as in the in the 1980s and 1990s.
Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Viognier are gaining vineyard acreage.

Question 10

Sonoma County best AVA’s?

Answer 10

Alexander Valley AVA.
Russian River AVA.
Dry Creek AVA.
Chalk Hill AVA
Knights Valley AVA

Question 11

Largest producer in Sonoma Valley AVA is?

Answer 11

Gallo.

Question 12

Name some characteristics of the Napa Valley?

Answer 12

Most well-known county in the North coast AVA.
America’s finest red wines
Cabernet Sauvignon (42% of Napa vineyards)
10% of CA’s vineyards, but only 3.8% of its production.
Hot north, cooler south
Low altitude and high mountainside vineyards

Question 13

What is common practice in labelling wines from Napa Valley?

Answer 13

All producers in the Napa County can include the County AVA on their labels. The Napa Valley AVA title is much more profitable than the County AVA, so this is used.
Sub-region AVA names are often included on labels with the Napa AVA title but never on their own. - State law requires that the ‘Napa Valley’ should always be included.

Question 14

Napa Valley Geography?

Answer 14

The Napa Valley is bordered by the Mayacamas Mountain Range to the west and the Vaca Mountains to the east.
Extends from cooler San Francisco Bay, up to Calistoga at the head of the valley, where the average summer temperature is often 6.3 degrees C. hotter in the summer.
This terroir enables a wide range of quality grape varieties to thrive.

Question 15

Grapes of Napa Valley

Answer 15

Home of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Question 16

Famous sub-AVAs in Napa Valley include?

Answer 16

Stags leap. (first place in the 1976 Judgment of Paris)
Rutherford, 
Yountville,  
St Helena,
Oakville.

Question 17

Los Carneros characteristics?

Answer 17

Located along the low-lying hills of the Mayacamas range north of San Pablo Bay.
Across Napa and Sonoma Counties.
Moderately cool and windy with marked influences from San Pablo Bay, making it the coolest and windiest AVA in both Napa & Sonoma.
Early morning fog is a persistent feature.

Question 18

General about Los Carneros

Answer 18

Carneros means “Sheep” in Spanish and commonly used as natural weed controllers.
AVA status in 1983.
The first wine region in California to be defined by its climate characteristics rather than political boundaries
Many wineries in Napa & Sonoma use Carneros grapes as a cool-climate blending component.

Question 19

Grapes of Los Carneros?

Answer 19

Chardonnay & Pinot noir
Sparkling wines.
High acid Chardonnay favouring stainless steel and neutral French Oak. Rarely using much malolactic fermentation.
Pinot noir with crisp acidity, tight structure and spicy berry fruit.
Recently Merlot, Syrah and Albarino.