Napa.Sonoma Flashcards
Which American settler planted the first California vineyard?
George Yount in 1839.
Who founded Buena Vista Winery?
Count Agoston Haraszthy, in 1849
Who founded the first winery in Napa Valley?
Charles Krug, in 1861 (St. Helena)
What are some other Very Old California wineries?
Schramsberg (1862)
Beringer (1876)
Inglenook (1879)
What was Napa Valley’s first sub-AVA?
Howell Mountain, 12/30/1983
Carneros, 8/18/1983 - not considered a nested AVA
What geographical feature cools Napa Valley?
The Petaluma Gap, allowing cool ocean air across the San Pablo Bay and up through the valley.
Napa Valley: Lakes
Lake Berryessa
Lake Henessey (foot of Howell Mountain)
What are the sub-AVA’s of Napa Valley?
Calistoga
Diamond Mountain
Spring Mountain
St. Helena
Rutherford
Oakville
Yountville
Stag’s Leap
Oak Knoll District
Mount Veeder
Los Carneros
Howell Mountain
Chiles Valley
Atlas Peak
Coombsville
Wild Horse Valley
Howell Mountain: elevation boundaries
1400-2200ft
How high are Mount Veeder’s highest vineyards? What is the lovest elevation allowed?
2630ft at the highest point (summit is 2700ft)
400ft is the lowest allowable elevation.
When was Wild Horse Valley AVA created? What counties does it cover? And what is are its elevation requirements?
1988 - second nested AVA in Napa Valley
Straddles Napa and Solano counties
1,351-2,137ft
Which two AVAs sit directly east of Wild Horse Valley?
Solano County Green Valley
Suisin Valley
What is Goldridge Sandy Loam?
A series of deep, moderately well draining soils formed from weakly consolidated sandstone.
What is the Franciscan Assemblage?
Mix of greywacke sandstone, limestone, deep sea radiolarian cherts, greenstone (altered mafic volcanic rock), serpentinites, shale, and metamorphic rock.
Second major series in Russian River.
What is the warmest AVA in Sonoma?
Knights Valley
What are the elevation boundaries of Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak?
1600-2600ft
Where is Lake Sonoma?
East of Rockpile, at the north end of Dry Creek Valley
What AVA was created in Sonoma in 2015?
Fountaingrove District, between Chalk Hill and Sonoma Valley up against the Mayacamas.
Since 2011, what is required on all wines produced in Sonoma County, regardless of whether the label indicates an AVA?
Sonoma County
What are the two key rivers of Sonoma?
Russian River
Sonoma Creek
What winery was the driving force behind the Bennet Valley AVA? Who owns it now?
Matanzas Creek (Jean Arnold, CEO)
Now owned by Jackson Family Wines
What are the AVA’s of Sonoma County?
Sonoma Coast
Fort Ross-Seaview
Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak
Rockpile
Dry Creek Valley
Chalk Hill
Russian River Valley
Green Valley
Carneros
Alexander Valley
Knights Valley
Sonoma Valley
Bennett Valley
Sonoma Mountain
Moon Mountain
Northern Sonoma
A Carneros wine can be labeled as the following:
Carneros
Napa Valley
Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Coast
Main soil of Carneros?
Clay-dominant sandy soils
-occasional pocket of volcanic soils can be found in the foothills of carneros
Notable vineyards of Carneros:
Taitinger
Domaine Carneros
Stanly Ranch (first winery established in 1850s)
Soil of Howell Moutain
Poor, think, rocky
–majority volcanic
-NW side rich in iron and clay
-SW compressed grey and white volcanic ash
Benchmark producer of Howell Mountain
Dunn (Randy Dunn)
Notabe Vineyard in Wild Horse Valley
Heron Lake
What Napa Valley floor AVA is the only one to not cross the river?
Stags Leap District
What is special about Stags Leap District?
Virtual wind tunnel
-smooth knolls deposited from ancient landslides off the Vacas
-knolls provide for some east-facing slopes and work to funnel and amplify the afternoon breezes that naturally flow through the valley
-keeps vines disease free and cool in the hot afternoons
How long is Napa Valley?
30 miles
1/8 size of Bordeaux
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.
Which is the smallest mountain AVA in Napa Valley?
Diamond Moutain District
What Napa AVA serves as the transition point between the more sedimentary peaks to the south and the more volcanic mountains in the north?
Spring Mountain AVA
What is the most recent Napa AVA? When? What makes it geologically unique from the other sub AVA’s?
Coombsville in 2011. It is a pretty interesting area. Kinda like a amphitheater. The fog kinda sits a bit longer. A lot of volcanic ash in the soil.
-close enough to the Bay to experience a good amount of cooking ocean influence
-on the eastern end of the valley opens it up to the warm afternoon sun
-poor and shallow mountain soils to deep volcanic loam to compressed ash and diatomaceous earth
Where is Pritchard Hill?
What are the soils/climatic features?
Name 5 producers who are based there?
North of Atlas Peak and South of Howell Mountain.
—features poor volcanic soils, a healthy exposure to the afternoon sun, and a variable amount of moderating influence from the large Lake Hennessey below.
—It is not an AVA, but is home to Colgin, Bryant, Dalla Valle, Chappellet, and Tim Mondavi’s Continuum.
How much wine does Harlan Estates and Screaming Eagle make annually?
Compare that to Latour and Margaux?
Harlan Estates: 2,000 cases a year
Screaming Eagle: 1,000 cases a year
Latour: 18,000 cases a year
Margaux: 11,000 cases a year
AVA/Producer: Jackass Hill Vineyard
Russian River Valley: Martinelli Zinfandel
*south easterly exposure remains the steepest non-terraced vineyard in Sonoma County
What is the max slope allowed in Napa Valley?
Napa Valley forbids the cultivation of any slope greater than 30 degrees, which also limits vineyard size. That said, a handful of even steeper sites that were planted before this ordinance have been grandfathered in and can still be spotted among Napa’s many hillsides.
What and when were the first and second vineyard designated wines of Napa Valley?
—Martha’s 1966 (Monte Bello in Santa Cruz Mountains was first in 1962)
—Eisele 1971