Napa Flashcards
unofficial subregions of Napa Valley AVA
Pritchard hill
conn Valley
Deer Park
Rutherford bench
Spring Valley*(may become AVA)
AVAs of Napa County
Atlas Peak (1992)
Calistoga (2010)
chiles Valley (1999)
Coombsville (2011)
diamond Mountain District (2001)
Howell Mountain (1983)
Mount Veeder (1990)
Napa valley (1981)
oak knoll of Napa Valley District (2004)
Oakville (1993)
Rutherford (1993)
spring mountain district (1993)
Saint Helena (1995)
Stags’ Leap district (1989)
wild horse valley (Napa/Solano) (1988)
Yountville (1999)
Carneros (1983)
What year were the first commercial plantings of Vinifera in Napa Valley
1854
what year did Napa Valley become an AVA
1981
Atlas Peak AVA must be this elevation
760 ft
Howell Mountain must be a minimum of this elevation
1400 ft
soil types of Howell Mountain
Northwest: Aiken red clay loam
Southeast: Tuff (igneous rock of explosive volcanic eruptions)
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for what percentage of acreage overall in Napa Valley plantings?
50%
Main soil type of Mount Veeder
Sandstone shale uplifted seabed
Napa Valley for bids the cultivation of any slope over___
30 degrees
in the judgment of Paris 1976 what wines won
1973 stag’s Leap Wine cellars SLV Cabernet
1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay
what year was Robert Mondavi winery founded in Napa Valley
1966
Boots Brounstein founded this winery in 1968 which produced the first Napa Cab over 100 dollars
Diamond Creek winery produced “lake” in 1978
Bottlings of Diamond Creek
Gravelly Meadow
Volcanic Hill
Red Rock Terrace
Lake Vineyard
Two main entry points for fog in Napa
San Pablo Bay to South
Chalk hill Gap in North
what are the three basic bedrocks of Napa Valley
Great Valley sequence (oldest)
Franciscan assemblage (oldest)
Napa volcanics
in 2001 the discovery of the Croatian origin of Zinfandel was made by this Napa Vintner and geneticist
Dr Carole Meredith of Meredith Lagier
in Napa Valley to be considered single vineyard what percentage of grapes have to come from that vineyard
95%
vineyards of bond
Melbury
Quella
St Eden
Vecina
Pluribus
Bond
What was the first commercial winery established in Napa Valley in what year
Krug
1861
What year was Stag’s Leap wine cellars founded
1970
Second wine of Screaming Eagle
The Flight
Second wine of Harlan
The Maiden
Second wine of Scarecrow
M. Étain
who pioneered drip irrigation in the 70s in California
Andy Beckstoffer
Charles Krug studied with this man before starting the winery in 1861
Agoston Haraszthy
What is the oldest Sparkling winery in Napa Valley?
Jacob Schram built Schramsberg in 1862.
Napa’s oldest continuously operating winery
Beringer 1876
What year did Finnish immigrant Gustav Niebaum found his winery?
Inglenook Winery in 1880
When did Phylloxera first hit Napa and Sonoma?
Early 1870s,
Vitis riparia rootstock from the US had to be grafted
Again In the 1980s
This winery survived by becoming the “House of Altar Wine” during Prohibition
Georges de Latour’s Beaulieu Vineyards
How did Prohibition affect California’s wine market?
From the end of Prohibition through the early 1970s, America’s wine industry became truly industrial, as it focused on inexpensive, lower-quality wines for a generally uneducated domestic market. This period also marked a firm shift in the bulk of the industry to California.
What year did Georges de Latour hire André Tchelistcheff, a Russian winemaker trained in France, to oversee the production at Beaulieu
1938
What wine did Andre Tschellitscheff introduce to the world
Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
He introduced temperature-controlled fermentations and controlled malolactic fermentation
In 2009, When Calistoga stood to become an AVA, These two Wineries were not grandfathered in, as they didn’t have enough fruit from Calistoga, setting an example for future label integrity
Calistoga Cellars and Calistoga Estates
Napa Valley accounts for this % of California vineyard acreage
4% of California’s vineyard acreage
Who said “The wine is bottled poetry”
Robert Louis Stevenson in “The Silverado Squatters”
First Non Native grapes in California
Listan Prieto (pais, Palomino Negro)
San Diego Mission 1769 founding
In what year did General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo award the Rancho Caymus to George Calvert Yount?
1836
What year did George Yount plant Napa’s first vineyard
1838 or 9
Small patch of mission vines
Who was Napa’s first consulting winemaker, helping homesteaders after learning from Agoston Haraszthy
Charles Krug
Former name of Mayacamas winery
Fisher
This winery is famous for cultivating Napa’s first hillside Vineyard
Schramsberg
These men were influential in the founding of Napa’s first wineries
Agoston Haraszthy
Joseph W. Osborne
George Belden Crane
H. W. Crabb
Gustave Niebaum
Thomas Rutherford
why did the composition of Napa’s vineyards change by 1926 to Alicante Bouschet, Petit Sirah, Zinfandel and Carignan?
“Shipper varieties” were planted, during home winemaking and prohibition to send to the East Coast
Wineries of Napa coming to the forefront from the 30s to the 50s
Relaunches of Beringer, Beaulieu Vineyard, Mayacamas, Inglenook
Stony Hill and Louis Martini came on the scene
Mondavi family purchased Charles Krug in 1943
These men all made improvements in controlled malolactic fermentation and temperature control in Napa
Peter Mondavi (Charles Krug)
Inglenook John Daniel Jr
George Deuer
When was Louis Martini winery finished
1932
These wineries were all founded in the last part of the 1960s decade
Chappellet
Sterling
Diamond Creek
Spring Mountain Vineyard
What year was the Agricultural Preserve enacted in Napa Valley
1968
Steven Spurrier wanted to honor this in the 1976 Judgement of Paris
America’s 200th birthday
These domestic whites and reds were all prize winners in the judgement of paris
*Chardonnay: *
73 Montelena
74 Chalone
73 Spring Mountain
72 Freemark Abbey
72 Veedercrest Wines
73 David Bruce Winery
Cabernet
73 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V
71 Ridge Monte Bello
71 Mayacamas Vineyards
72 Clos du Val
70 Marthas Vineyard
69 Freemark Abbey
In 1978 and 1979, respectively, these magazines were launched
The Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Opposing philosophies, both 100 point scales
These wineries of Napa Valley were early beneficiaries of French investment
Clos Du Val (72)
Domaine Chandon (73)
Opus One (79)
Domaine Carneros (87)
What year in Winter did Phylloxera spread valley wide
1986
Why did Cabernet Sauvignon overtake Chardonnay Plantings in 1992
1991 60 minutes special on the French Paradox: promoted red wine as part of a healthy diet
These three viticultural techniques were employed to maximize a marginal climate in early 90s after phylloxera, mimicing Bordeaux
VSP
high density planting
low fruiting zones
What happened in 1997 in Napa
Warm, abundant year. Two waves of harvest: one at Normal ripeness levels and the remaining crop with extra hang time. Became the “new normal”
Post 2008 economic crash, this movement was born in California
New California Movement
This man wrote “The New California Wine”
Jon Bonné
Where is the fog line in Napa
1400 feet
Where is the biggest diurnal shift in Napa
Calistoga AVA
Highest levels of rainfall in Napa are here
North end of the valley in the mountains
When does rain fall in Napa
October to April sometimes a month at a time
Why do the Mayacamas look Verdant and the Vacas look scorched
Eastern facing Mayacamas: enjoy gentle morning sun
Western Facing Vaca: bake in the afteroon sun
Napa Volcanics are also known as this
Sonoma Volcanics
The Franciscan Assemblage was created 80-140 million years ago when this plate subducted beneath the North American plate (volcanic, marine and ocean crust soil)
Farallon
When were the Napa Volcanics born
7 million years ago lava and ash on preexisting bedrock
When did the mountains rise in Napa
three million years ago
Vaca first then Mayacamas
What tectonic action formed the Napa Valley
Pacific plate exerting pressure on North American Plate, parallel to San Andreas Fault offshore, why Napa cants northwest
The Vaca was made when the crust cracked and stacked on itself, while Mayacamas is what is known as this”
Crustal Wrinkle
Where is volcanic material concentrated in Napa
Vacas and Mayacamas North of St Helena
Why are the gravelly benches of Napa on the West side
Valley floor slopes gently southward and westward
What variety is mostly planted on the Napa River
Sauvignon Blanc