North America Flashcards
The United States of America is the world’s _____ largest producer of wine and claims the world’s _____ highest acreage of land under vine.
4th largest producer
6th highest acreage of land
Who was the first American settler to step foot in Napa Valley? He also planted its first vineyard.
George Yount
Which winery survived Prohibition by declaring itself the “House of Altar Wine”?
Beaulieu Vineyards
Who was dubbed the “dean of American winemakers,” having mentored many of California’s young talents?
André Tchelistcheff
Percentage of Grapes Required for Labeling by Appellation:
If labeled by country, state, or county: ?
If labeled by AVA: ?
If labeled with a single vineyard: ?
If labeled by country, state, or county: 75%
If labeled by AVA: 85%
If labeled with a single vineyard: 95%
Wines labeled as California or Oregon are required to be made from what % of grapes grown in the state?
100%
Wines labeled as Washington are required to be made from what % of grapes grown in the state?
95%
American wines have an ABV leniency of ___%
1.5%
In order for an American wine to legally qualify for the term “Estate Bottled,” ___% of a wine must come from grapes grown on land owned or controlled by the winery.
100%
What does “meritage” mean?
It indicates a Bordeaux grape blend (red or white) in which no grape accounts for more than 90% of the wine
How many sub-AVAs are in Napa Valley?
16
Temperatures are generally _____ as one travels north through Napa valley.
Warmer
What is the soil like in Napa Valley?
The valley has a remarkable diversity of:
volcanic
alluvial
maritime soil types
What is mountain fruit in Napa known for?
Its density, dark fruit, and concentration, and its ability to retain a good acid structure through intense ripeness.
What is valley fruit in Napa known for?
Producing more elegant and supple style of Cabernet, with less intensity of color.
What are the 5 mountain/hillside AVA’s of Napa?
From North to South in the West:
Diamond Mountain
Spring Mountain
Mount Veeder
From North to South in the East:
Howell Mountain
Atlas Peak
Where are the highest vineyards in Napa?
Atlas Peak
Where is Pritchard Hill?
Just north of Atlas Peak
What is the warmest AVA in Sonoma County?
Knights Valley
Generally speaking, how do Alexander Valley cabernets compare to those of Napa Valley?
Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon tends to show a more herbaceous character and less body than its Napa counterparts.
What is California’s most planted grape variety?
Chardonnay
Who is Charles Valentine Riley and what major contribution did he provide to the world of wine?
Missouri enologist who is credited as the first to understand the innate resistance of American grape species/rootstock to Phylloxera
Where is Tablas Creek winery? Who owns it? What kind of wines are produced there?
Paso Robles AVA
Owned by the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel
Wines from a wide range of Rhône varietals
Where is the Anderson Valley AVA and what is the climate like there?
It is in the North Coast of California, in the Southern portion of Mendocino County AVA.
The climate there is one of California’s coolest.
Name the four French Champagne houses that produce California sparkling wines, along with their corresponding house and its location.
Louis Roederer - Roederer Estate (North Coast, Mendocino County, Anderson Valley)
Moet et Chandon - Domaine Chandon (North Coast, Napa Valley, Yountville)
G. H. Mumm - Mumm Napa (North Coast, Napa Valley, Los Carneros)
Taittinger - Domaine Carneros (North Coast, Napa Valley, Los Carneros)
Which ‘County’ is California’s most northerly wine growing outpost?
Mendocino County
Which grows more grapes, Napa or Sonoma?
Sonoma, by far.
Name the 6 counties of the North Coast AVA
Napa Sonoma Mendocino Lake Solano Marin
California’s Central Coast is centered between _____ in the North and _____ in the South.
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Name the 6 main regions of California’s Central Coast from North to South.
San Francisco Bay Monterey San Benito Paso Robles San Luis Obispo Santa Barbara
Where is the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA?
Name one famous vineyard located there.
In California’s Central Coast, just south of the city of San Francisco.
It is home to Ridge’s Monte Bello vineyard.
Where is the Livermore Valley?
What grape is it known for?
From what famous winery are their first cuttings taken?
It is in the Northern part of California’s Central Coast, within the San Francisco Bay AVA, east of the city of San Francisco.
It is known for Sauvignon Blanc, the first vines being grown from cuttings taken at Château d’Yquem.
In which county is Paso Robles?
San Luis Obispo
Where is the Sta. Rita Hills AVA?
Why is it abbreviated?
It is located in the Southern portion of California’s Central Coast, in Santa Barbara county.
It is abbreviated as a result of a legal dispute with a Chilean winery of the same name.
Where is the bulk of California wine produced?
The Central Valley
Where is Arroyo Seco AVA?
It is known for wines from what grapes?
Styles?
It is in California’s Central Coast, in Monterey County.
Gewurztraminer and Riesling, made in dry and off-dry styles.
Who makes Les Pavots, where is it located, and what is its style?
Peter Michael in California’s North Coast, Sonoma County, Knights Valley AVA
Style is massive and extracted, super ripe with volcanic minerality.
What is the name of the “Rhone Ranger” whose original estate in Santa Cruz was overtaken by Pierce’s Disease?
What is the name of his winery?
Randal Graham
Bonny Doon
Which University supplied the rootstock that was culpable for Phylloxera’s 1980 resurgence in California?
What was the name of that rootstock?
U.C. Davis
AXR-1
What is Gloria Ferrer famous for?
Pioneering sparkling wine in Carneros.
What is the Petaluma Gap and why is it significant?
It is an opening in the Coastal Ranges around the town of Petaluma (North Coast, California) that allows for the influx of cool air and mists from the Pacific Ocean.
This, combined with the cool air and mists off the San Pablo bay, create the cool vineyard sites of Southern Sonoma County.
What is the Rutherford Bench?
Famous deposit of alluvial gravels at the foot of the Mayacamas in Napa Valley.
Which AVA has been called California’s treasure chest of old-vine Zinfandel? Why are there so many old-vine Zin plantings here?
Sierra Foothills AVA
During prohibition much of the vineyard was abandoned, but because the land was so low-value the vines weren’t ripped out. After Prohibition, the vines were reclaimed and thus the area has some of the oldest zin plantings in the state.
From what famous Château did suitcase clippings come from that would become the Cabernet Sauvignon vines at Diamond Creek Winery (North Coast, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain)?
Chateau Haut-Brion
Who founded the AVA system, when was this, and who is responsible for overseeing it now?
Founded in the 1970s by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF)
Today the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) oversees it and started to in 2002
What two mountain ranges form the eastern and western boundaries of Napa Valley?
Mayacamas to the west forming the border with Sonoma and the Vaca mountains to the east.
When was Prohibition in the U.S.?
1920-1933
Most vineyards in Mendocino are in the south of the county around the confluence of what two rivers?
Russian and Navarro
What is generally true about the climate of Sonoma compared to that of Napa Valley? Why is this so?
Generally cooler than Napa due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean
If a wine is labeled “estate-bottled” what does this mean?
100% of the wine comes from grapes grown on land owned or controlled by the winery and the winery itself including all the vineyards used in the production must be located within the same AVA
In U.S. wine law, if a grape name is listed on the label, what percentage of the stated variety must be used in the production of the wine?
What is the exception to this rule?
75%
The exception is for Vitis Labrusca grapes (like Concord), where the minimum is 51%.
What percent of all American wine is grown in California?
90%
What are the northern and southern boundaries of Napa Valley?
Calistoga in the North and the San Pablo Bay in the South.
What is the major grape of Lodi?
Old-Vine Zinfandel
What are the fundamental differences between AOP and AVA?
AVA is only an indication of geographic origin and does not, like the AOP, require producers to adhere to any additional guidelines in the vineyard or winery.
What is the general climate and soil type of Eastern Washington State?
The climate is a true continental, with dryness caused by the rainshadow effect of the Cascade mountains. Hot summers, and cold, sometimes frosty winters.
The bedrock is invariably basalt, overlaid by sediments deposited by the Missoula Floods.
Vineyards in eastern Washington are thus generally planted on sandy or silty loam soils from these flood-borne sediments.
What were the Missoula Floods?
A catastrophic cycle of massive floods that occurred repeatedly at the end of the last ice age, some 12,000 to 18,000 years ago, affecting Eastern Washington.
What is the largest AVA in Washington and how large is it? (acres) What three AVAs are nested within it?
Columbia Valley (11 million acres)
Nested AVAs include:
Yakima Valley
Walla Walla Valley
Horse Heaven Hills
What is the name of Washington’s warmest growing region which is also the smallest and most densely-planted?
What is the star grape here?
Red Mountain
Cabernet Sauvignon is the star grape here.
Which AVA is south of Yakima Valley and Red Mountain AVA along the Oregon border?
What is the AVA nested within it?
What is peculiar in regards to the soil of this nested AVA?
Walla Walla Valley
Rocks of Milton-Freewater (2015) is the nested AVA here, it is entirely located in Oregon.
The soil is of basalt cobblestones that draw comparisons to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
What two mountain ranges is Willamette Valley located between?
Cascade Mountains and the Coastal Range
Name six nested AVAs within the Willamette Valley.
Dundee Hills Eola-Amity Hills Ribbon Ridge McMinnville Yamhill-Carlton District Chehalem Mountains
What is the name of the gap in the Coastal Mountains that separates the Willamette Valley from the Pacific Ocean?
Van Duzer Corridor
What are the two major soil types of the Willamette Valley?
Name an AVA where they are commonly found.
Jory - well-drained volcanic soils, commonly found in the “red hills” of Dundee Hills AVA
Willakenzie - Marine sedimentary soils commonly found on the valley’s westernmost slopes, like Ribbon Ridge AVA
What is the name of David Lett’s Pinot Noir that achieved outstanding results in French competitions and brought vindication to the efforts of early trailblazers? (vintage, wine name, and producer name)
1975 Eyrie Vineyards “South Block Reserve”
Which Burgundian negociant is producing high quality Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley?
What is the name of the estate and what AVA is the property situated in?
Joseph Drouhin
Domaine Drouhin situated in Dundee Hills
Which three AVAs are shared between both Washington and Oregon?
Columbia Gorge
Columbia Valley
Walla Walla Valley
Which AVA of Oregon is mostly located in Idaho?
Snake River Valley AVA
Varietal wines form Oregon, excluding those from white and red Bordeaux varietals, major Rhône grapes, Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Tannat, and Tempranillo, must contain a minimum of what % of the stated grape rather than the standard 75%? Name two grapes that must abide by this law.
90%
Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir
Which state is the second largest producer of wine in the U.S.
New York
Who is largely responsible for the introduction of Vitis vinifera varieties to New York? When was this (decade)?
Dr. Konstantin Frank in the 1960s
What are the sub-AVAs of Long Island AVA (2) What grapes are largely planted in these areas (generally-speaking)?
North Fork of Long Island AVA
The Hamptons AVA
Bordeaux Varieties
Name the 7 main AVAs of New York
Long Island Finger Lakes Hudson Valley Cayuga Lake Seneca Lake Lake Erie Niagara Escarpment
What American cross grape is still popular in the finger lakes?
What is it a cross of?
Niagara
Concord x Cassady
Which three major AVAs of New York are located near the Great Lakes?
Finger Lakes AVA
Niagara Escarpment AVA
Lake Erie AVA
Which U.S. state is gaining steam for quality Nebbiolo?
Virginia
What is the name of the world’s largest demarcated appellation?
Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA
What is the name of the most important viticultural region in Mexico?
What grapes are grown there?
What are the 4 subzones of this region?
Baja Peninsula
Zin, Merlot, Cab
Guadalupe Valley
Ojos Negros Valley
San Vicente Valley
Santo Tomas Valley
What is Inniskillin most famous for?
Where is it located?
What two international grapes are used in the production of this style?
Canadian Icewine
Canada, Ontario, Niagara Peninsula
Riesling and Cabernet Franc are used.
What is the only French hybrid allowed for VQA ice wine?
Vidal
What are the two main, broad regions of Canadian viticulture?
Ontario
British Columbia
What does VQA stand for and when was it launched?
Where was it launched?
Vintners Quality Alliance (1988)
Launched in Ontario
If a VQA wine is labeled by variety, what % minimum of the stated variety must be used to produce the wine?
85%
What is the name of the largest viticultural area in Ontario?
What are the two regional appellations within it?
Niagara Peninsula
Regional appellations within it:
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara Escarpment
_________ founded the legendary Inglenook Winery in _____.
Gustav Niebaum
1880
Who was dubbed the “father of California wine,” having introduced more than 300 varieties to the state, collected as vine cuttings during his European travels.
“Count” Agoston Haraszthy
Who founded Beaulieu Vineyards?
George de Latour
Napa Valley is best described as a _____ climate.
Maritime
For what AVA do the Blue Mountains provide a rainshadow effect?
Walla Walla Valley
Name 3 producers in Pritchard Hill.
Bryant Chappellet Continuum Ovid Colgin
Where is Shea Vineyards?
Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton District
