Central Coast Flashcards
What are the major American grape species?
Vitis Labrusca (Concord) Vitis Aestivalis (Norton) Vitis Rotundifolia (Scuppernong)
What was America’s first AVA?
Augusta, Missouri (1980)
When did Napa Valley gain AVA status?
1981
Who oversees the AVA system?
Originally the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF);
Currently the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
What are the required % for County or State labeled wines?
Vintage: 85%
Varietal: 75%
Location: 75%
What are the required % for AVA labeled wines?
Vintage: 95%
Varietal: 75%
Location: 85%
What % of grapes must be from the state to label Calfornia, Oregon, or Washington?
CA and OR: 100%
WA: 95%
What % is required to varietally label vitis labrusca wines?
51.00%
What % is required to list a single vineyard?
95.00%
What is required to qualify a wine as Estate Bottled?
100% of the wine must come from grapes grown on land owned or controlled by the winery, and the vineyards and the winery itself must be within the same AVA.
What AVAs are between San Francisco and Monterey?
San Francisco Bay
Livermore Valley (within San Francisco Bay)
Ben Lomond Mountain (within Santa Cruz Mtns)
Santa Cruz Mountains
Santa Clara Valley
Pacheco Pass
San Ysidro District
Which AVA southeast of SF is NOT included in the Central Coast? What other larger AVA is it excluded from?
Santa Cruz Mountains
San Francisco Bay
What was the first AVA to be designated by altitude, and what are its minimums? Why?
Santa Cruz Mountains, 1981.
Best vineyards are planted on steep ridges above the reach of the fog; altitude and ocean breezes collaborate to create a long, cool, growing season.
400ft-800ft, depending on where you are on the boundary.
What are the AVAs of Monterey County?
Monterey
Carmel Valley (coastal, direct maritime influence)
Chalone (east, inland side of the mountains)
Santa Lucia Highlands
Arroyo Secco
San Bernabe
San Lucas
San Antonio Valley (surrounds San Antonio Lake)
Hames Valley
What major river runs north through Paso, San Lucas, Hames, Bernable, Arroyo Seco, and Monterey? Largest river in the central coast!
Salinas River
Who owns the single vineyard in San Bernabe? How large is it?
Delicato Family Vineyards
5,000acres (2,020 ha)
Where is San Benito County? What are the nested AVAs?
East of Monterey Mount Harlan Cienega Valley Lime Kiln Valley (within Cienega Valley) Paicines (east of Cienega)
Part of Pacheco Pass is in San Benito County, but nested within the larger San Francisco Bay AVA.
What mountains separate the Central Coast from the Central Valley?
The Diablo Range
Who is the sole producer of Mount Harlan? What vineyards do they farm?
Calera
(clockwise from 12; all approx 2200-2400ft)
Sellek, Reed, de Villiers (1997 block), Jensen, Hills, Ryan
What mountain ranges bracket Monterey (and separate it from San Benito in the east)?
Santa Lucia Range
Sierra de Salinas
Gabilan Range
Who founded Mer Soleil? What wines are produced? What is their relationship to Belle Glos?
The Wagner family (Caymus).
Mer Soleil is run by Charlie Wagner II, producing Mer Soleil Reserve and Silver (unoaked).
Belle Glos is run by Charlie’s brother Joe Wagner, producing vineyard designate Pinot Noirs in Sonoma and the Central Coast.
What are the AVAs of San Luis Obispo?
Paso Robles
York Mountain
Edna Valley
Arroyo Grande Valley
What are the sub-AVAs of Paso Robles? When did they come into effect?
Adelaida District, San Miguel District, Paso Robles Estrella District, San Juan Creek
Paso Robles Willow Creek District, Templeton Gap District, El Pomar District, Paso Robles Geneseo District
Creston District, Paso Robles Highlands District
Santa Margarita Ranch
2014
What AVAs of Paso Robles are Region II?
Adelaida District (II-III) Paso Robles Willow Creek District Templeton Gap District El Pomar District Santa Margarita Ranch
Which AVAs of Paso Robles are Region IV?
San Juan Creek
Paso Robles Geneseo District
Paso Robles Highlands District
Paso Robles: Climate and Soils (general)
Maritime near the coast, becoming more continental to the east.
Bifurcated by Santa Lucia Range in the west and La Panza Range in the east.
Mix of granitic and sedimentary in the hills; alluvial soils with some calcaire in the valleys.
Paso Robles: Mountains and Rivers
Santa Lucia Range (west), La Panza Range (east)
Huerhuero-La Panza fault (Geneseo), Rinconada fault (Sant Margarita Ranch)
Salinas River, Estrella River, San Juan Creek, Huerhuero Creek
What was the first winery established in the Central Coast?
Ascencion Winery, founded 1882 by Andrew York in what is now York Mountain.
Where does the California coastline turn east?
Point Conception
Santa Ynez Valley encompasses what sub-AVAs?
Sta. Rita Hills
Ballard Canyon
Los Olivos
Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara
What are the AVAs of Santa Barbara County?
Santa Maria Valley Sta. Rita Hills Santa Ynez Valley Ballard Canyon Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara
What and where is Los Alamos?
An unofficial winegrowing region in Santa Barbara, between Santa Maria and Santa Ynez. Runs along the Solomon Hills.
Santa Barbara: Mountains
San Rafael and Sierra Madre to the northeast
Santa Ynez along the South Coast
Santa Rita Hills, Purisima Hills (internal)
Where are the oldest Syrah plantings in Santa Barbara?
Black Bear Block at Zaca Mesa Winery (1978)
Where is Temecula?
California’s South Coast - between Irvine and Escondido
Where is Gary’s Vineyard? Name producers.
Santa Lucia Highlands
Kosta Browne Pinot Noir
Lucia Pinot Noir
Miner Pinot Noir
Where is Pisoni? What lines do they produce?
Santa Lucia Highlands
Pisoni Estate (Pinot Noir from Pisoni Estate vineyard)
Lucia (vineyard designate PN, Chard, and Syrah from the three vineyards farmed by Pisoni: Pisoni, Gary’s Soberanes)
Where is the Sawyer-Lindquist vineyard?
Edna Valley
Where is Alban Vineyards? When was it established? Name three wines produced.
Edna Valley, established 1990 by John Alban.
All Rhone varieties: Viognier, Roussanne, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre.
Syrah: Seymour’s, Reva, Lorraine, Patrina
Grenache: Pandora Proprietary
Mourvedre: Forsythe
Where is Bonny Doon located? First vintage of the flagship wine?
Santa Cruz Mountains
1984 Cigare Volant
Where is Wente Vineyards? What are its claims to fame?
Livermore Valley
“oldest continuously operating, family-owned winery in the USA”
Original source for the Wente clone, sourced from Montpellier in 1912 and then proliferated.
Who owns Chalone Vineyard?
Diageo (2005)
Who produces Le Moulin Rouge Pinot Noir, and where?
Peter Michael, SLH
Where is the Peter Martin Ray vineyard?
Santa Cruz Mountains
Where is Scheid Vineyards? How much acreage do they own?
Monterey (up and down the Salinas Valley)
4,200 acres
Where is Tablas Creek?
Paso Robles (Adelaida District)
Where is Bien Nacido vineyard?
Santa Maria Valley
Where is Sanford & Benedict? When was it planted? Who owns it now?
Sta. Rita Hills, 1971
Terlato, who also owns Sanford Winery
Demands from which winery caused the abbreviation of Santa Rita Hills, and when?
Santa Rita (Chile) 2006