USA California Flashcards
California Wine Regions?
5
- North Coast AVA
- Central Coast AVA
- South Coast AVA
- San Francisco Bay AVA
- Sierra Foothills AVa
Agency that regulates the wine industry in the USA
and what it regulates
TTB Trade and Taxes Bureau (since 2002)
Before it was BATF
Defined as “delimited grape growing area”
No quality regulations or tasting panels
Refers only to geographic location/boundaries
Currently, there are 246 established AVAs throughout the U.S.– in 2019, the newest AVA became Eastern Connecticut Highlands
Regulates
1. Varietal Content
If the grape is listed on the label 75%
- Origin of grapes
Country, County and State 75%
AVA 85%
Single Vineyard 95% - Vintage
AVA 95%
State or County 85%
Estate bottle requirements
- Winery and vineyard in the same AVA
- Winery must own or control the vineyards where the grapes are grown.
— 100% of grapes must come from Estate Vineyard - Winery crushes, ferments, finishes, ages and bottles wine in a continuous process.
North Coast AVA
General
Climate
Mediterranean/maritime
Grapes
Red
Cabernet Sauvignon
Pinot Noir
White
Chardonnay
Sauvignon Blanc
AVA Napa Sonoma Mendocino Lake Marin Solano
Epicenter of fine wine production in the U.S.
Napa Valley
General
Mayacamas Mountains to the west, which mark the border with Sonoma County, and the Vaca Mountains on the east. It has a remarkable diversity of volcanic, alluvial, and maritime soil types, ranging from well-drained gravel loam, to dense clays, to the thin, rocky soils of the hillside vineyards.
Wide range of climates and micro-climates
Mediterranean climate with large diurnal shifts
San Pablo Bay*
Altitude influences temperature
Bordered by two mountain ranges—the Vaca on the east and the Mayacamas, bordering adjacent Sonoma County, to the west
Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot
16 sub-AVA’s and counting …
Napa Green
“Best practices” program
Focused on reducing energy and water use, waste & pollution
Napa Green Certified Land
Third-party certified
Restore, protect, and enhance natural watershed
Napa Green Certified
Third-party certified
Focus on water and energy conservation, pollution prevention, waste reduction and analysis of operations
Napa Valley AVAs
16
— Atlas Peak
— Calistoga (sturdiest Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel)
— Los Carneros (sparkling wine, pinot noir)
— Stag’s Leap District (elegant Cabernet Sauvignon)
— Mount Veeder
Chiles Valley District Coombsville Diamond Mountain District Howell Mountain (wettest and coolest of the mountain appellations) Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley Oakville (elegant Cabernet Sauvignon) Rutherford (it has a microclimate, "rusty Rutherford", top soil, firm tannins) (elegant Cabernet Sauvignon) Spring Mountain St. Helena (elegant Cabernet Sauvignon) Wild Horse Valley Yountville (elegant Cabernet Sauvignon)
NAPA’s Sauvignon Blanc Producers
Producers
- Peter Michael
- Dry Creek
- Grgich Hills
Sonoma
General
While red leads, the most planted grape is Chardonnay.
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and Rhone varieties (Merlot, Grenache, Mourvèdre)
To the north, Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, etc)
In 1849, the so-called “father of California wine,” Hungarian-born Ágoston Haraszthy, arrived in Sonoma.
Haraszthy founded Buena Vista Winery, and is credited with introducing more than 300 varieties to the state, collected as vine cuttings during his European travels.
Oldest continuously operated commercial winery in CA (Buena Vista Winery)
Larger area than Napa Valley with a greater range of meso-climates
Proximity to the Pacific*
Roughly 60,000 dedicated acres Sonoma County Sustainability Program Third-party certified Founded in 1997 Focused on integrating and restoring ecological, economic and social fabric “Local action moves the world”
Sonoma County AVAs
16 total
Alexander Valley (northern Sonoma, Cabernet Sauvignon)
Chalk Hill
Dry Creek Valley (ripe, powerful Zinfandel, aged in oak)
Los Carneros (shared with Napa) (windy, foggy, cool area)
Russian River Valley (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but more inland Rhone Varieties and Zinfandel)
Green Valley is a nested AVA within Russian River Valley, producers may label their wines “Green Valley” or “Russian River Valley”; they often choose the latter in warmer vintages.
Sonoma Coast (coolest temperatures, the most powerful zone. Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon are successful in the region)
Petaluma Gap is the country’s newest AVA
Russian River Producers
Coastal producers of note include: Hirsch, Marcassin, and Peay. Dehlinger, Joseph Swan, Rochioli, and Williams-Selyem are prominent names in Russian River Valley.
Kosta Browne, Freeman, and sparkling wine producer Iron Horse are all Green Valley-based estates.
Sonoma County’s Chardonnay Producers
- Peter Michael
- Far Niente
- Au Bon Climat
Mendocino AVA
General
Mendocino’s best winegrowing regions are centered at the confluence of the Russian and Navarro Rivers in the southern portion of the county.
North of Sonoma County
Wide range of micro-climates
Historically jug wine varieties planted in warmest areas
Cooler climate with an active sparkling wine industry
Roederer $15m investment in early 1980s
Best vineyard sites on the fork of the Navarro and Russian rivers
16 wineries in 1981; >100 wineries today
13 AVAs
Lake County – smallest wine-producing county in the North Coast
Cole Ranch, the smallest AVA in America, and McDowell Valley are essentially monopole AVAs of the Esterlina and McDowell Valley wineries, respectively.
Riesling and Gewürztraminer perform well here.
Mendocino County AVA and Top Viognier Producer
Anderson Valley
Mendocino
Producer
Central Coast AVA
General
Climate
Cool coastal climate vs. hot inland
Central Coast spans the entirety of California’s coastline from San Francisco Bay in the north to Santa Barbara County in the south
Wide range of varieties and wine styles
AVAs
Alameda
Contra Costa
Monterey
(most notable includes Salinas Valley (“lettuce capital of the world”), and Carmel Valleys) Chardonnay) other AVAs here as well. Cool coastal climate vs. hot inland regions. Wide range of varieties and wine styles
Chardonnay is the dominant grape
San Benito
Cool coastal climate vs. hot inland regions. Wide range of varieties and wine styles
San Francisco
Luis Obispo (includes Paso Robles AVA, one of the oldest growing regions in the US —Zinfandel has history here, but now also Cab Sauvignon and Rhone styles because of the climate).
San Mateo
Santa Barbara
(includes Santa Maria Valley AVA and the Santa Ynez Valley AVA) Longest growing season in California.
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Rhône varieties.
Cool coastal climate to warmer inland
Series of east-west valleys
Santa Clara
Santa Cruz (cool coastal climate, where high-altitude vineyards are interspersed between miles of redwood forest)
Santa Lucia
(Pinot Noir)
Livermore
inland & known for Sauvignon Blanc
Important history in 19th Century —Better known than Napa
Succumbed to Urban development in 60s, 70s and 80s
Runs east-west
Large wind tunnel with temps dropping at night,
but overall moderate climate
Identify 2 AVAs each in Monterey, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties
(Central Coast)
—Monterey Arroyo Seco Carmel Valley Chalone Hames Valley San Antonio Valley San Bernabe San Lucas Santa Lucia Highlands
—Santa Barbara
Santa Ynez Valley
Santa Rita Hills
Santa Maria Valley
—San Luis Obispo Edna Valley Arroyo Grande York Mountain Paso Robles
