USA COPY Flashcards
Steven Spurrier
1941-
British wine merchant who organised the 1976 tasting that would become historic
Pierre Brejoux
French head of the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine, and Chief judge at the Paris tasting
Warren Winiarski
1928-
Californian owner and winemaker at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, whose Cabernet Sauvignon triumphed in Paris
What mountain range forms the Southeast- East border of the Walla Walla valley?
The Blue Mountains
What is considered the second wine of Dominus Estate?
Napanook
Missouris- and America’s first AVA, awarded in 1980
Augusta
What AVAs are located wholly within the larger Lodi AVA?
Sloughouse, Clements Hills, Jahant, Mokelumne River, Cosumnes River, Borden Ranch, Alta Mesa
Sub AVAs of Sierra Foothills
California Shenandoah Valley El Dorado Fair Play Fiddletown North Yuba
List AVAs of Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains, Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill- Carlton, Dundee Hills, McMinnville, Eola- Amity Hills
List AVAs of Southern Oregon
Red Hills Douglas County
Umpqua Valley
Applegate Valley
Rouge Valley
List Oregon’s shared AVAs
Columbia Valley- Washington
Columbia Gorge- Washington
Walla Walla Valley- Washington
Snake River Valley- Idaho
AVAs of Washington State
Puget Sound, Columbia Valley, Columbia Gorge- shared with Oregon, Walhuke Slope, Lake Chelan, Horse Heaven Hills, Walla Walla Valley- shared with Oregon, Yakima Valley: Rattlesnake Hills, Red Mountain, Snipes Mountain
AVAs of New York
Long Island: North fork of Long Island, The Hamptons, Hudson River Region Finger Lakes: Canmuga Lake, Seneca Lake, Lake Erie (shared with Penn/ Ohio) Niagara Escapement
What is the world’s largest wine region?
Upper Mississipi River Valley- Includes 30,000 sq miles (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illnois)
For a wine that lists an AVA as a place of origin, what is the minimum content that must be from that AVA?
85%
On a varietally labeled US wine, what is the minimum content of that varietal in the wine? One state has a higher standard: What is the state and the standard?
US 100%, State or County 75%, CA 100%, AVA 85%, Specific Vineyard 95%
Name two countries in the Sierra Foothills AVA
Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, Yuba, Tuolumme, Mariposa
Name the five large, regional AVAs in California
North Coast, Sierra Foothills, San Francisco Bay, Central Coast, South Coast
What restrictions are placed on a US wine by the TTB in order to use the term reserve on the label?
The term “Reserve” is not legally defined and its therefore up to the discretion and integrity of the winery, but it generally used to denote something extraordinary from the general lot of wine
Name the Southernmost AVA in Oregon
Rogue Valley
Central Valley AVAs
Clarksberg Dinnigan Hills Madera Lodi Merrett Island
Sierra Foothills AVAs
Shenandoah Valley El Dorado Fiddletown North Yuba Fair Play
Lodi AVAs- Sub Districts
Mokelumne River, Cosumnes River, Jahant, Borden Ranch, Altamesa, Sloughhouse, Clements Hills
What is a semi- generic wine?
A term used to describe a style if wine. There is a federal requirement that states the use of an appellation of origin must be used in conjunction with all semi generic terms. Ex: Chablis, Burgundy, Port, Champagne, or American Chablis
What is the most widely planted red grape in Washington?
Cabernet Sauvignon
What is the allowable variation from the stated alcohol content on a US wine label?
Plus or minus 1- 5% for wines not greater than 14% for higher than 14%, plus or minus 1%
What cool climate AVA stretches across Southern Napa and Sonoma Counties?
Los Carneros AVA
Where is Clement Hills AVA?
California, Lodi AVA, San Joaquin County
A vineyard in Oakville, California, is in what AVAs?
Napa Valley, North Coast, California, America
What AVA has the warmest climate within the Central Coast AVA?
Paso Robles AVA
What is the primary US government agency with responsibility over the wine trade?
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
In what county is the Santa Ynez AVA
San Luis Obispo
How are Oregon’s Gamays different from Beaujolais?
Oregon’s are bigger and fleshier. Made in a similar style and quality as Pinot.
Name the major grapes planted in OR
Pinot Noir Dominates:
Chardonnay, Syrah, Pinot Gris
Riesling and Gewürztraminer
Climate type for the majority of Washington’s growing regions:
Continental. Eastern Washington is in the raw shadow of Cascade Mountains
Weather of Washington:
Hot, very dry summers, Arctic winters
Napa Valley AVAs
Los Carneros, Stag’s Leap, Howell Mtns, Diamond Mtn District, Spring Mtn District, Mt Veeder, Atlas Peak, Calistoga, Rutherford, Oakville, Yountville, Chiles Valley, Wildhorse Valley, St Helena, Oak Knoll,
Sub District: Pope Valley
History- USA
Early Norse settlers called America Vinland due to the proliferation of vines.
British, Dutch and French immigrants planted vineyards on the eastern seaboard with little success.
First successful wine industry started in the early 19th century by German immigrants in Ohio using native vines.
Now vines planted in all 50 states.
Most vineyards with grafted European vines on American rootstock. Some local vines and hybrids planted.
California, Pacific Northwest and New York State are the main viticulture areas.
California- History
In California, vines were first planted by Spanish missionaries in San Diego in 1769. First commercial wine produced in 1824. The gold rush in 1849 lead to an expansion in the Sierra foothills, close to the miners. During 1851- 61. Agustin Haraszthy introduced over 300 European grape varieties, beginning the modern Californian wine industry.
1920’s prohibition led to a decline in production of wine, but sales of grapes for ‘home use’ increased. From 1933- mid 1960’s winemaking concentrated in the Central and San Joaquin Valleys, producing liqueur and jug wines. Since the 1960’s vineyard area has trebled. Many boutique wineries with high quality Bordeaux blend wines. Small number if very large wineries. Huge price range, from ‘2 buck chuck’ to upwards of $150. Recent move to increased quality. Small wineries concentrate on producing within their AVA, large wineries will blend across larger areas.
Wine Laws- USA
Two distinct levels; Federal Law and State Law.
Federal Law- In 1978 American Viticultural Areas (AVA’s) set up to create an appellation system that is still evolving. AVA’s guarantee source but not quality or production methods. Anyone can petition to get an AVA created of any size meaning some AVAs cover just one winery. 85% of the grapes for wine must come from within the AVA
State Law- Varies from sase to state. Oregon states a wine must contain 95% of the variety as written on the label and 100% of fruit must be sourced from within the stated AVA. Washington State requires 85% and California and all other states 75% of stated variety, AVA and vintage. New York State allows up to 35% addition of sugar and water (for climatic reasons).
Generic names such as Burgundy and Chablis are being phased out, through a small number of historic brand names have been permitted to survive.
California- USA
1100km from north to south with vineyards along entire length leads to a large range of climates. Irrigation used to counter lack of rain in the growing season. UC Davis created a zonal classification for California based on degree days. Cooling mists and fog in from the Pacific Ocean provide temperature contrast and humidity. Where there is no influence from the fog vineyards are often planted at altitude, as lower down the temperature can reach up to 40 degrees.
North Coast Region (California)- USA
North of San Francisco Bay. Wide range of Climates, ranging from warm Mediterranean through to cool where spring frosts are a problem.
Napa Valley AVA. Expensive vineyard land and prestigious wineries. Morning mist rolls in from the bay, cooling the climate.
Carneros AVA runs along the bottom of the Napa and Sonoma AVA’s. Specialist Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producer, particularly sparkling wine production.
Sonoma County with Russian river Valley for quality Pinot Noir and Dry Creek Valley for Zinfandel.
Mendocino county in the North includes Anderson Valley, a cool climate region producing quality Pinot Noir and quality aromatic whites such as Riesling and Gewurztraminer.
North Central Coast (California)- USA
Monterey County, cool dry climate producing Chardonnay with crisp, citrus character and rich dark Merlot with firm tannins.
Santa Cruz Mountains, cool (Zone 1) locations of poor soil producing some of California’s greatest wines.
South Central Coast (California)- USA
Mountain range lies east/west rather than north/ south facilitating the flow of cool ocean breezes. Much recent planting as the regions potential has been recognised. Well known areas are Santa Ynez Valley and Paso Robles producing fine Zinfandel.
Central Valley (California)- USA
80% of total production. Quantity is the focus of production in this hot (Zones 4 and 5) region. Experimentation at UC Davis has created varieties to deal with the heats such as Ruby Cabernet and Rubired. Wine coolers and brandies also produced to use excess production.
Lodi, situated at the northern end of the valley produces better wines in a cooler climate.
Sierra Foothills (California)- USA
Foothills of the Rockies, hot days and cool nights ensures good fruit concentration. Old vine Zinfandel, and Italian varieties such as Sangiovese.
Southern California- USA
Vineyards around Los Angeles and San Diego
Future Developments (California)- USA
Increasing wine market in America means California is struggling with demand.
Disease is also a current problem. Poor research at UC Davis lead to planting on rootstock AXR1 not tolerant to Phylloxera, meaning half of Napa vineyards needed to be replanted. Pierce’s Disease, carried by Sharp Shooters, and is incurable and fatal, is a problem in Southern California.
Oregon- USA
Climate influenced by the Pacific Ocean and warm North Pacific Drift, maritime climate. Willamette Valley (south of Portland); mild winters and warm summers. Successful Burgundian styled Pinot Noir produced; also Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. High quality wine, constantly improving with clonal selection. Umpqua Valley and Rogue Valley (south of Willamette); Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominant due to warmer climate. Mostly boutique wineries.
Washington State- USA
Second biggest vinifera based wine producing state in the USA. Mostly Bordeaux varieties, especially Merlot, Chardonnay and Syrah also planted. Columbia Valley (including Yakima Valley and Walla Walla). Inland regions with dry, almost desert- like conditions mean irrigation with river water is essential. Extreme continental climate. Severe winter frost a threat. One major winery group with small independent growers.
New York State- USA
Third most important state for grape growing (wine, table, jams, etc). Farm Wineries act 1976 increased vinifera plantings, a move away from the American varieties that had dominated. Three main vineyard areas: Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley and Long Island. The lakes and ocean provide a warm, moderating effect on the climate. Finger Lakes area has annual frost risk.
Grape Varieties- USA
Large number of different grapes planted. Large yields for cheap blends from Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Thomson Seedless, Carignan, Ruby Cabernet and Barbera in the California Central Valley using irrigation.
Zinfandel (Primitivo)- USA
California’s ‘own’ grape, used for blends, varietally and for blush (rose). Old vine Zinfandel produces rich full bodied wines. Blended with other varieties for bulk wines. Uneven ripening leads to some raisining at full ripeness. Wine has concentrated red berry flavours, high alcohol levels and some level of residual sugar.
Cabernet Sauvignon- USA
Many produced in the Central Valley. Soft, juicy black cherry with light tannin. Famous Napa sites rival Bordeaux for quality. Fruit is left until complete phenolic ripeness creating an expressive wine with powerful toasty flavours from American Oak. Sometimes unbalanced with high alcohol. Very high quality examples also made in Washington State.
Merlot- USA
Fashionable, often cheap with soft tannins and little character. Quality Merlot with blackberry and plum flavours, velvety tannins and high alcohol is found in Monterey and Napa. Very important, due to high quality potential, in Washington State.
Pinot Noir- USA
Early plantings in hotter sites led to baked wines with little character. Also planted for sparkling production that didn’t develop rapidly as hoped. Now high quality Pinot Noir produced from cooler sites such as Russian River, Carneros, Santa Barbera and Willamette Valley. Styles range from elegant, structured gamey styles through to rich, fun red fruit wines.
Chardonnay- USA
Generally full bodied, high alcohol, obvious oak, hazelnut and butter characters with exotic fruit flavours. Many more restrained styles found in cooler regions.
Sauvignon Blanc- USA
Most Sauvignon Blanc is produced in the Bordeaux style, with partial or full fermentation and ageing in oak. Sometimes sold as Fume Blanc which usually indicates ageing in oak. Cheap Sauvignon Blanc often shows very little varietal fruit.
Rhone Varieties- USA
Recent plantings of Syrah, Viognier and Maranne are to answer the current fashion and market led trend of drinking Rhone style wines.
Canandaigua
Based in Fairport in the Finger Lakes region of new york State, is a subsidiary of (and was the original name of) what is now constellation brands.
Constellation Brands
Holding company of Constellation Wines, previously known as Canandaigua (still the name of its new york wine subsidiary). Based in Fairport, New York, Constellation Brands is a leading international producer and marketer of virtually all forms of alcoholic beverage. Thanks to consistent acquisition, it became the world’s largest wine business in 2004. In 2006 it acquired Canada’s biggest wine company Vincor and remains the dominant player there. But in 2011 it refocused on its American roots and sold off all of the Australian, South African, and UK interests it had so recently acquired, including hardys, to what would become accolade. Constellation claims carefully to be ‘the world’s leader in premium wine’ whose 100 brands, in 2014, included Robert mondavi, Clos du Bois, Rex Goliath, Ravenswood, Black Box, Simi, Wild Horse, Mark West, Franciscan Estate, Toasted Head, and Mount Veeder in California; Manischewitz (America’s best-selling kosher wine) in New York; Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin in Canada; Kim Crawford and Nobilo in New Zealand; and Ruffino in central Italy.
Diageo
The world’s largest drinks company, is very much more interested in spirits than wine, and brands above all else. It owns Piat d’Or, Blossom Hill, Beaulieu Vineyard (now singular), and Sterling in California. It acquired the premium California-based Chalone Wine Group from Ch lafite-Rothschild in 2004 but has no obvious wine strategy. Its London fine wine merchant Justerini & Brooks is somewhat anomalous but earns a Royal Warrant.
Kendall- Jackson
Original brand name of the winery and vineyard empire begun by Jess Jackson (Kendall was his former wife’s maiden name) in Lake county, California, during the mid 1970s. By the early 1990s, expansion and acquisition had resulted in such a proliferation of brand names that the Artisans & Estates division was created to differentiate other labels, many of them of the highest quality, from the Kendall-Jackson labels. Now all the brands are under the Jackson Family Wines banner, but in US trade jargon ‘K-J’ is still used for the whole collection, as well as for the Kendall-Jackson labels specifically. In many ways, Jess Jackson exemplifies the entrepreneurial nature of the california wine industry as well as the go-go climate of the 1980s. Most prominent players in the world of wine started with a significant viticultural or financial inheritance. Jackson did not, which adds grist to popular conjecture about his personality. Born in 1930, Jackson grew up poor and put himself through college and law school at UC Berkeley working as a police officer and a longshoreman. He made his own financial stake over thirty years as an attorney in San Francisco. He entered the wine industry almost accidentally in 1974 when he purchased a small pear and walnut ranch on the western side of Clear Lake as a weekend retreat. He planted grapes, but had trouble selling them for a decent return, so he began to investigate converting them to wine. By 2009, estimates had his family-owned wine venture selling 3.5 million cases a year. In 2013, Jackson Family Wines owned 11,000 acres/4,450 ha of vineyards in California alone, in Santa Barbara, Monterey, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, and Lake counties. There are three dozen brands in the stable (and several thoroughbred racehorses, too), with a particular proclivity for mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon and coastal Pinot Noir. Villa Arceno wine estate in Tuscany, Viña Calina in Chile, and a cooperage in France are also among the holdings, along with a project in South Africa. In 2013, Jackson Family Wines made a major play in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, purchasing two planted vineyards, a parcel of land suitable for Pinot Noir, and Solena Estate Winery, totalling nearly 1,000 acres/404 ha. Yet back in the 1980s, Kendall-Jackson happily disregarded the California industry’s movement toward vineyard designations, concentrating instead on blending from various regions to achieve certain taste characteristics. To say this strategy worked would be a grave understatement. Jackson’s first wines were put together under the auspices of consultant Ric Forman in 1982, then continually improved under the hand of winemaker Jed Steele, who arrived in 1983. The hallmarks of K-J’s blended Chardonnays were refreshingly strong acidity, creamy oak vanillins (see oak flavour), exotic pineapple fruit flavour, and softness and immediate drinkability from just-perceptible residual sugar. Classically inclined show judges put up token resistance to the residual sugar, but consumers had no such reservations. Speculation is that a dollop of Muscat-based sweet reserve is the mystery ingredient driving this successful recipe. Verification is not available because Jackson went to court in 1992 to prevent Jed Steele from revealing what he claimed were ‘trade secrets’, on his departure from K-J. Despite a noteworthy historical precedent in the California wine industry of shared information, Jackson prevailed. In 1987, Jackson and his second wife, Barbara Banke acquired 1,000 acres in Santa Barbara county and Cambria Winery and Vineyard, with Banke the listed owner. Since that time, acquisitions have been so frequent that any book is obsolete on the subject long before publication. Particularly notable was the Napa Valley 1995 purchase of the 1,800-acre Gauer Estate vineyard in Alexander Valley which supplies Stonestreet Wines. Matanzas Creek was added later along with Arrowood. The flagships, in addition to Stonestreet (Jess Jackson’s middle name), include Hartford Court (Russian River Pinot Noir and Zinfandel), La Crema (Pinot Noir from California and Oregon), Cabernet-centric Lokoya and La Jota in Napa Valley, and Cardinale, a proprietary red blend from Napa. Jess Jackson died in 2011 after a long bout with cancer, at age 81. Barbara Banke is now at the controls, and this land-use lawyer has made many moves since his death, including a march into Oregon.
AVA
The acronym for American Viticultural Area and the united states’ relatively rudimentary answer to France’s appellation contrôlée system of permitted geographical designations. The US federal government began developing this system in the early 1980s through its Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF; see ttb). Under existing regulations, AVAs are theoretically defined by geographic and climatic boundaries and historic authenticity, rather than pre-existing political boundaries, although this is not invariably true and there is some overlap of borders. The system requires no limitations on varieties planted, yields, or other specifics familiar to those who know France’s AC or Italy’s doc laws. The only requirement for their use is that 85% of the grapes in a wine labelled with an AVA come from that region; if the wine is a varietal, the legal minimum of 75% of the named variety must come from the named AVA. (Unlike the AC, or DOC system, however, neither the expression ‘AVA’ nor ‘American Viticultural Area’ appears on wine labels.) Between 1983 and 1991, BATF approved more than 100 AVAs in the country at large, more than 60 of those in California, but applications slowed to a trickle in the 1990s as producers were discouraged by the bureaucracy involved without any obvious commercial gain. Yet the 2000s saw a new rush of AVA applications and approvals, as winery marketers realized that Americans were beginning to care about where the grapes were grown, and that labels from specific areas commanded more respect (and higher prices) than generic blends. San Francisco Bay is an example of a relatively new AVA devised primarily for commercial rather than geographical reasons. But other AVAs make perfect sense, such as the 2011-approved Fort-Ross Seaview AVA, a cold, foggy, ocean-hugging region carved out of the impossibly large and nonspecific sonoma coast ava.
TTB
Acronym for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the US regulatory body responsible for AVA approvals, federal taxation, and label approvals and winemaking protocols (although states are permitted to enact more stringent rules than those applied nationally). TTB is an offshoot of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, which previously was the overseer of alcohol beverage regulation.
Blush
Wine is a very pale pink popular American speciality made, rather like France’s vin gris, by using black-skinned grapes as if to make white wine. A marketing triumph emanating from California in the late 1980s (the name was originally coined by Mill Creek winery but the style was promulgated by Bob Trinchero of Sutter Home), it differs from rosé mainly in ethos rather than substance, having become fashionable just when and where rosé was losing its market appeal (although a blush wine is likely to be perceptibly paler than a rosé). white zinfandel was initially the dominant type in this class, but it spawned many other pinks-from-reds such as varietals labelled White Grenache, Cabernet Blanc, and Merlot Blanc, as well as generics and wines made from hybrid grapes such as maréchal foch and chambourcin. Most are sweet, vaguely aromatic, and faintly fizzy. Blush wines’ share of all wine consumed in the US was 22% in the late 1990s but by 2014 many consumers had graduated to drier, smarter rosés.
Meritage
(rhymes with heritage), name coined in 1981, by the winner of a competition in the Los Angeles Times, for American wines made in the image of a bordeaux blend, devised to distinguish these wines from varietal Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc., most usefully on wine lists. This trade-marked name is legally available on labels only to American wineries that agree to join the Meritage Alliance (previously Association) and for wines that are made exclusively from two or more of the varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot grapes for red wines (the less widely planted St-Macaire, Gros Verdot, and Carmenère are also allowed), and Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle for whites. Nearly but not all of the members are in california. The term is now relatively rarely used in California but is common in other US states such as virginia.
Carneros
Also known as Los Carneros, a moderately cool, windy california wine region, an ava that spans the extreme south of both napa and sonoma Counties. Carneros sprang to public notice in and outside California in the mid 1980s, partly on the strength of some impressive Pinot Noirs and as much or more because of traditionally made sparkling wines blended from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grown in Carneros. Acacia, Buena Vista, Carneros Creek, and Saintsbury were important producers of still wines throughout the 1980s; Gloria Ferrer, Domaine Carneros, and Codorníu Napa were the pioneer sparkling wine producers following the lead of Domaine Chandon of Yountville (see moët & chandon), which first sourced grapes here. In fact this is one of the state’s older wine districts. Agoston haraszthy planted grapes in it before 1870. A property originally called Stanly Ranch was famous as a vineyard by 1880. However, persistent fog and wind made vine-growing difficult and, when phylloxera struck hard in the 1880s, there began a swift slide into a long night. The Stanly Ranch was bought and replanted in 1942 by Louis M. Martini, but the push that brought Carneros both fame and more than 8,000 acres/3,200 ha of vineyard in 2013 did not begin until the 1970s. Los Carneros (’the rams’ in Spanish) sprawls across the last, low hills of the Mayacamas Range before it slips beneath San Francisco Bay. The larger part of the AVA lies within Sonoma County; grapes from that portion can also use the Sonoma Valley AVA. The smaller segment, in Napa County, is equally entitled to use Napa Valley as an AVA. In addition to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Carneros is gaining a reputation for Merlot and, to a limited extent, Syrah. Many wineries further north in Napa Valley either own vineyards or buy grapes, particularly Chardonnay, in the Carneros district in order to have a cooler climate blending component. Growers and wineries within the AVA have banded together in a promotional body called the Carneros Quality Alliance
North Coast
General california umbrella region and ava implying north of San Francisco although it also extends north east from San Francisco into a portion of Solano county. It includes all vineyards in lake, marin, mendocino, napa, and sonoma counties and has rather more homogeneous growing conditions than many suspect. The name appears on some relatively prestigious wines assembled from, especially, Napa and Sonoma and also on some pretty ordinary blends.
Mendocino
One of california’s largest and climatically most diverse counties. All of its 17,000 acres/6,900 ha of vineyards are in the southern half. Even there, the meteorological range between the coastal Anderson Valley ava and the interior McDowell Valley AVA (barely used) is extraordinary. Isolation from San Francisco kept its 19th-century vineyards small, and delayed their impact outside the county. The same isolation kept wine for surreptitious resale there throughout prohibition. Most of the plantings flank the town of Ukiah, near the headwaters of the Russian River. Redwood Valley was the first to have its own AVA, later joined by tiny Cole Ranch, Mendocino Ridge, Covelo, Dos Rios, McDowell Valley, Potter Valley, Yorkville Highlands, and Anderson Valley.
Mendocino AVA
The coverall AVA in Mendocino county includes the more specific Anderson Valley, Yorkville Highlands, Mendocino Ridge, McDowell Valley, and Potter Valley AVAs, as well as the county’s most substantial vineyard plantings along the Russian River course from Redwood valley southward through Ukiah to Hopland and on south into Sonoma county’s Alexander Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc have been reliable in the large zone along the Russian River. Zinfandel and Petite Sirah from third-generation Italian–American growers on the benchlands can reach great heights in the hands of an artisan wine maker. Fetzer and its sibling Bonterra, whose grapes are grown organically, are the dominant wineries by size; Frey is notable as a producer of organic wine, from grape to bottle.
Anderson Valley AVA
Scouts for Louis roederer of Champagne say they hunted in California until they found somewhere with weather as bleak as Roederer’s home in north-eastern France, and that Mendocino county’s coast-hugging Anderson Valley fitted their requirement perfectly. Visually, scores of scenes sluiced out by a short, swift river, the Navarro, make landscape painters lunge for canvas and brushes. Close framed by steep hills, the valley has only a couple of patches that might pass for floor and, unusually for California’s valley vineyards, only one or two of the 20 or so are flat. Anderson Valley is hardly 10 miles end to end, but a steady rise in elevation from 800 to 1,300 feet combines with a rising wall of hills to make the inland end at Boonville warmer and sunnier than the oft-befogged area between Philo and Navarro, where most of the vines grow. Redwood logging, sheep and apples reigned here until grapes came, a little wave of them in the 1970s, a bigger one in the 1980s, and then a spate of celebrity weekend homes in the 1990s. A couple of extraordinary Gewürztraminers have come from Anderson Valley AVA. Some of its Rieslings and Chardonnays have been memorable. Ridgetops to the west have yielded a succession of wonderfully oak-ribbed Zinfandels from a scattering of tiny patches. Greenwood Ridge, Handley, and Navarro vineyards are the mainstay wineries for table wine production, with Roederer Estate and its sister winery, Scharffenberger, producing admirable traditional method sparkling wines. Pinot Noir now looms large in Anderson Valley, with Duckhorn’s Goldeneye operation leading the way. The chilly Pacific breezes that channel through the valley are conducive to the growing of crisp, aromatic, elegant Pinot Noirs, and respected producers from outside the region such as Littorai, Williams Selyem, and Siduri have long sought grapes from the valley. Local producers are finally realizing what they have, and retaining more and more of their grapes.
Anderson Valley
Cool California wine region and ava on the western slope of the coastal mountain range 80 miles north of San Francisco.
Sonoma
Northern california town, valley, and one of the state’s most important wine counties. Sonoma county is one of the larger of northern California’s coastal counties, and one of its most historic. Sonoma Valley is a very small portion of Sonoma county but it rivals and occasionally beats nearby napa Valley for réclame. Vineyards are everywhere in the county, and have been since the last third of the 19th century. Sprawling, geologically and climatically diverse, it is the most resolutely amoebic of all the fine wine regions, having divided and redivided itself into avas and sub-AVAs until they run three layers deep in several places, four in a few, and eight in one. Growing conditions are a little more homogeneous than the welter of names suggests, but Sonoma still gives would-be gurus some of their most engaging opportunities to define subtle boundaries by taste and taste alone. The full roster follows.
Alexander Valley and Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak AVAs
The largest and most fully planted of Sonoma county’s many vineyard valleys, Alexander Valley takes in the Russian River watershed upstream of Healdsburg north all the way to the Sonoma–Mendocino county line north of Cloverdale. In 2011, the Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak AVA was created within Alexander Valley at its northernmost edge and spilling into mendocino county. If the general history of the area is long, with vines dating back to the 1850s, the particular history of superior varieties is—a few rare plantings excepted—as short here as almost everywhere else in California. Before prohibition, hops and prunes blanketed the Alexander Valley and remained the major crops, along with some plantings of mixed black grapes for bulk red, into the late 1960s and early 1970s. Simi winery started the renaissance in 1970, when a new owner breathed life into a moribund cellar. Chateau Souverain picked up the traces in 1973 and then Jordan Vineyards added a stamp of elegance in 1976. Growth has been steady since then and by 2013 there were more than 50 wineries and 15,000 acres/6,070 ha of vines. kendall-jackson’s 1996 purchase of the mountain vineyards on Gauer Ranch, renamed Alexander Mountain Estate, represented another step forward for Sonoma, while gallo’s acquisition of nearly 1,500 acres/600 ha since 1988 in Alexander Valley alone signalled a new era for both Gallo and Alexander Valley, and encouraged others to follow suit. Alexander Valley is noteworthy among other Sonoma county appellations for the fleshy voluptuousness of its wines. A wide range of grape varieties is grown at least passably well, which has distracted from the question of what the district does best. Accessibility is much more likely to be a general descriptor than longevity, however. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have gained a certain currency, with a signature note of chocolate warmth and agreeable mouthfeel. Chardonnays also tend to bold statement and ample girth, although some grown close to the Russian River can have an unexpectedly stony character. These varieties, market driven, dominate plantings. Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel succeed often enough to make one wonder if they are not suited best to these particular suns and soils. Most of its substantial plantings are on a broad and nearly flat valley floor very nearly bisected by the river, but some significant ones creep into the east hills. Kendall-Jackson’s Alexander Mountain Estate plantings reach as high as 2,400 ft, and other daring growers seeking more complexity and structure in their wines are moving to mountain-grown grapes. Jordan boldly moved away from its valley floor plantings to hillside vineyards for Cabernet and the Russian River Valley for Chardonnay, with excellent results. Other wineries that have drawn attention to Alexander Valley include Geyser Peak, Clos du Bois, and Stuhlmuller—and ridge and Seghesio for Zinfandel. Wineries outside the area whose significant reputations have been based primarily on grapes grown in Alexander Valley include Rodney Strong, Silver Oak, and Chateau St Jean.
Bennett Valley AVA
With just four wineries and 650 acres of wine grapes, Bennett Valley is not especially important but it does contribute significantly to the quality of Sonoma county Merlot. Its volcanic-laced, clay soils and moderately cool climate encourages the extended hang time ideal for the variety. The long growing season helps maximize flavours and increase concentration, while the cooler temperatures preserve the grape’s natural acidity. Matanzas Creek, sold to Jackson Family Wines (see kendall-jackson) in 2000, is the pioneer here. Sauvignon Blanc, Grenache, and Syrah also show promise, although spring frost is a perennial concern.
Chalk Hill AVA
Small sub-AVA within the Russian River Valley AVA in the foothills on the far eastern boundary of the district near the town of Windsor. Some objected to its inclusion in the Russian River Valley AVA, arguing that its location on the western slope of the Mayacamas range and its volcanic soils mean that it has little in common with the gravel and sandy loams more common in the valley below. Yet studies of the daily Pacific fog incursions that define Russian River showed that they reached into Chalk Hill, and it remains in the larger AVA. Chalk Hill Estate is the dominant winery, and growers have had success with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Cabernet Sauvignon
Dry Creek Valley and Rockpile AVAs
For years a sparsely settled tributary of the Russian River drainage, Dry Creek Valley has emerged as one of Sonoma county’s most intriguing appellations. Among white varieties, Sauvignon Blanc stands head and shoulders above Chardonnay, although smatterings of Viognier and Italian white varieties, including Arneis and Fiano, are grown. Among reds, the race is more even between Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. The sad thing, from the point of view of Zinfandel fanciers, is that nowhere else is that grape nearly so voluptuous, while Cabernet does at least as well and perhaps better in several other zones in California. Still, until the mid 1990s, economic considerations favoured Cabernet to a degree that no farmer could ignore, and plantings shifted accordingly. Since 1995, however, (red) Zinfandel has been resurgent and an undersupply has made these highly regarded vineyards tantalizing to second careerist refugees from San Francisco as well as local farmers wanting to diversify their crops and to cash in on the wine bonanza. Vines aged 35 to 100-plus years, on phylloxera-resistant St George rootstock, produce Dry Creek’s most acclaimed Zinfandels, with Petite Sirah and sometimes Carignane joining the blend. The valley heads north and west from Healdsburg, where Dry Creek trickles into the Russian River. For many years plantings stopped at Warm Springs dam which created Lake Sonoma. The reservoir drowned some good patches of Zinfandel; but now the area north west of the lake has been planted and christened Rockpile AVA, parts of which are within the Dry Creek Valley AVA. Although there are no wineries in the rugged Rockpile district, vines contribute Zinfandel grapes to the likes of Carol Shelton, J. C. Cellars, Mauritson, Rosenblum, and Seghesio. Italian immigrants planted the early vineyards, and their names remain common among vineyard and winery owners, including A. Rafanelli and Pedroncelli. But they are far from having a monopoly in the modern era. Dry Creek’s most prominent wineries in 2014 included Bella, Dry Creek Vineyard (a Sauvignon Blanc trailblazer), Ferrari-Carano, Lambert Bridge, Nalle, and ridge vineyards’ Zinfandel outpost at Lytton Springs.
Fort Ross- Seaview AVA
From the confounding mass that is the Sonoma Coast AVA the admirably focused Fort Ross sub-AVA emerged in 2012. Vineyards are sited on rounded ridges with summits exceeding 1,800 ft, above the fog line yet within the path of Pacific winds that ensure a cool climate. Yet these summits receive longer periods of sunlight and are warmer than the land below, allowing for the maturation of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah grapes with high acidity and lean, angular character—a style gaining increasing acceptance. Hirsch, Flowers, Wild Hog, Fort Ross, and Peay are among the well-known producer-growers; Marcassin, Pahlmeyer, and Peter Michael have vineyards here, too.
Green Valley of Russian Valley AVA
A sub-AVA of California’s Russian River Valley AVA described above, this cool corner began life in 1983 as Sonoma County-Green Valley AVA, but later changed to its present name. It lies at the south western edge of the larger region, bordered by the towns of Sebastopol, Forestville, and Occidental, and is the coldest, foggiest wedge of Russian River Valley, prized for its Goldridge soils. Its best-known estate is Iron Horse, yet recent years have seen Littorai, Dutton-Goldfield, Marimar Estate, and Hartford Family Winery emerge as stars, their wines focused and crisp.
Knights Valley AVA
A small, handsome, upland valley in Sonoma county separates the upper end of the Napa Valley from the lower end of the Alexander Valley. It was originally developed by Beringer Vineyards, and has since been joined by several growers and a prominent winery owned by British businessman Sir Peter Michael. The most impressive grape variety to date has been Cabernet Sauvignon, which embraces the heat that is trapped in the valley during the day, with the vines being cooled by refreshing breezes overnight.
Moon Mountain District Sonoma County AVA
This was approved in 2013 on the western slopes of the Mayacamas and encompasses some 17,000 acres, with just 1,500 planted to grapevines. It has yet to establish its viticultural significance.
Northern Sonoma AVA
This oddity of an AVA encompasses all of Sonoma that drains into the Pacific, which is to say all but Sonoma Valley and some of the Petaluma river watershed; it was proposed and is mainly used by E. & J. gallo, but has proven useful to a few others with scattered vineyards.
Russian River Valley
Most of the Russian River’s course is through other AVAs in mendocino and Sonoma counties. Only when the river escapes from Alexander Valley through a narrow gorge in the mountains at Healdsburg, then flows on, first south, then west, in its journey to the Pacific do the watercourse and the Russian River Valley AVA become one and the same. Cool, often foggy, the AVA blossomed as a wine-producing region in the 1970s when new winery owners in the area began bottling locally grown grapes under Sonoma county labels. It took the district fewer than 20 years to prove itself eminently well adapted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. In a few hillside locations such as Martinelli’s Jackass Vineyard, Zinfandel does amazingly well. Joe Swan was an early pioneer. Dehlinger, Sonoma-Cutrer, Rochioli, Gary Farrell, Merry Edwards, Kosta Browne, Paul Hobbs, and Williams & Selyem are among the region’s best-known producers, and dozens more emerged in rapid fire in the early 2000s—some without vineyards of their own, some without production facilities, and a few with neither, creating brands first, and finding the grapes and labour as they went along. The boom was ignited by interest in the region’s Pinot Noir that surged from the late 1990s, with total vineyard acreage ballooning from around 4,000 acres then to over 18,000 acres/7,287 ha in 2013. Chardonnay remains the most-planted variety, but Pinot Noir is not far behind; this one—two Burgundian punch countering Napa’s mastery of Bordeaux varieties. Such is the cachet of Russian River Valley that various interested parties have twice successfully petitioned to have the AVA expanded, in 2003 and 2011, thereby blurring the lines of authenticity, and contributing to the rapid increase in vine acreage totals since 2003. Russian River Valley is widely thought of as being chilly during the growing season, yet some vineyard sites on the eastern side of the AVA can be as warm as alexander valley.
Sonoma Coast AVA
This misleadingly named AVA stands out as a purely artificial construction. Its sponsors (including Sonoma-Cutrer) drew boundaries to include widely scattered vineyards so they could continue to describe their wines as estate bottled after tightened federal regulations began requiring that both winery and vineyard be within the same AVA to qualify. The AVA stretches all the way from San Pablo Bay to the border with Mendocino county, encompassing vast inland tracts including parts of the Carneros, Russian River Valley, and Sonoma Valley AVAs. The fringe vineyards along Sonoma county’s shore that hug the Pacific have emerged as statement makers for what is regarded by many to be the ‘real’ Sonoma Coast, where the ocean is actually in sight. The marine soils, temperatures, and breezes yield wines that are very much less ripe, more structured, and higher-acid wines than could ever be produced in the much warmer carneros. Much-needed fragmentation of the Sonoma Coast AVA began in 2011 with the establishment of the Fort Ross-Seaview sub-AVA (see above). More segmentation is expected in the future as winemakers seek more specificity within the broader appellation. One prime area is the so-called Petaluma Gap, a break in the coastal mountains near Petaluma through which ocean fog and wind intrudes on a daily basis, making optimum conditions for fine-boned Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and cool-climate Syrah.
Sonoma Mountain AVA
A sub-AVA of Sonoma Valley best known for Cabernet Sauvignon, it occupies the east-facing slopes of the 2,400-ft/730-m mountain from which it draws its name and which separates Sonoma Valley from the Petaluma River watershed to the west. The AVA sits above the towns of Glen Ellen and Kenwood. Its most prestigious winery is Laurel Glen, its most characteristic Benziger Family. The Richard Dinner Vineyard is an outstanding Chardonnay source for Paul Hobbs.
Sonoma Valley AVA
For history, especially romantic history, no other AVA in California compares with Sonoma Valley. In addition to being the site of the ragtag 1846 Bear Flag revolt, which eventually secured Alta California for the US rather than Mexico, it had the last of the Franciscan missionary vineyards, one of the earliest commercial vineyards north of San Francisco (General Mariano Vallejo appropriated the Franciscan plantings), and, courtesy of public relations master Agoston haraszthy, the first great winery name of northern California, Buena Vista (now owned by boisset). In more modern times, its Hanzell Vineyard started the rush to using French oak barrels to age California wines and thereby revolutionized their style, most especially Chardonnay’s. The valley runs parallel to the Napa Valley to the east, its southern extremity doubling as the Sonoma portion of carneros. A long, thin comma of a trough in the coast ranges, it warms markedly from south to north because San Francisco Bay’s influence dwindles mile by mile. Steep mountains on each side make it geologically as well as climatically complex. Some of its memorable wines portray that diversity: Zinfandel, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Sonoma Mountain (see above) is a sub-AVA. The Monte Rosso Vineyard, planted in 1838 by Louis M. Martini, looms large over the valley, with views of San Francisco on clear days, and produces Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel fruit for several producers, including gallo’s Louis M. Martini Winery in Napa. Above all else, Sonoma Valley is known for its ancient Zinfandel vines, many well over 100 years old (see historic vineyard society) and continuing to pump out small yields of intensely flavoured, spicy grapes. Many old vineyards were planted to field blends of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, and other ‘mixed blacks’, and there is a growing appreciation in the valley for such vineyard-specific blends. Sebastiani and Gundlach-Bundschu are the old-timers of the valley. Others of note include Chateau St Jean, Arrowood, Kenwood, Cline, St Francis, Kunde, and Ravenswood which specializes in old-vine Zinfandel and is now part of constellation.
Alexander Valley
California wine region and ava in northern Sonoma County north east of Healdsburg and south of Cloverdale.
Dry Creek Valley
California wine region and ava north west of Healdsburg.
Russian River Valley
High-quality California wine region and ava west of Healdsburg and centred in Sebastopol along that portion of the river that meanders through the hills of northern Sonoma county toward its mouth.
Howell Mountain
California wine region and ava east of St Helena, defined by elevation of about 1,400 ft/425 m.
Rutherford
Important centre of wine production in California’s napa Valley.
Cornell University
Has conducted viticultural research at its New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES) in Geneva, NY, since the 1880s. vine breeders have released 57 varieties of juice, table, and wine grapes since 1906. As part of the breeding programme, disease-resistant and winter-hardy american vine species are crossed with vinifera as well as with Asian species of the vitis genus. The USDA-ARS Plant Genetic Resources Unit at Geneva makes over 1, 300 genotypes of cold-hardy Vitis germplasm available for grape breeders around the world. The principles of sunlight utilization in grape canopies were elucidated by Dr Nelson shaulis leading to modern canopy management such as shoot positioning and the geneva double curtain training system. The modern mechanical grape harvester was also developed by Shaulis, E. S. Shepardson, and grower Roy Orton. Oenology studies at Cornell began in the 1960s. cayuga white, Cornell’s first wine grape variety, was released in 1972. More recent releases include chardonel (1990), traminette (1996), Valvin Muscat (2006), and Arandell (2013). Studies in microbiology, fermentation, flavour chemistry, and wine production are ongoing. Cornell’s plant pathologists, grape physiologists, entomologists, extension specialists, and others develop technologies to enhance the quality and terroir of New York’s grapes and wines and to sustainably control diseases and pests. Cornell recently instituted new undergraduate degrees in oenology and viticulture, with teaching at Geneva and on the main campus in Ithaca.
Northern California- 2015
In common with much of Europe, the harvest started early in California – as early as July for some growers of sparkling wine. Yields are almost universally down on 2014. Huge wildfires proved a challenge for many, causing damage to vineyards and property as well as threatening smoke taint, especially in Lake County.
Northern California- 2014
Drought made itself felt in Napa and Sonoma, but ample ripeness led to a relatively early harvest of grapes in good condition and with plenty of flavour. There is a general sense of positivity across most regions and varieties for the potential quality of 2014 in California.
Northern California- 2013
A very fine vintage on the West Coast with optimal weather conditions throughout the growing season. The second high-quality bumper crop in a row.
Northern California- 2012
A banner year, providing a useful exception to the short crops experienced so widely elsewhere. Ideal growing conditions seem likely to have produced the best vintage for decades. Virtually all varieties seem to have thrived. Quality with quantity at last.
Northern California- 2011
Miserable conditions made for a very challenging harvest, with mildew and botrytis rife in Napa and Sonoma. Volumes are therefore low for the second consecutive year, with the best quality only found where growers managed to pick ripe fruit before the rainstorms in October.
Northern California- 2010
A very cool start to the season, then sudden heat in August followed by torrential rain. The net result is greatly reduced yields, but some very good quality wines in a more restrained, higher acidity and lower alcohol style than the Californian norm.
Northern California- 2009
Good initial impressions of the fruit, with widespread reports of awesomeness, according to the winemakers, despite a very rainy end to the growing season giving rot problems to many.
Northern California- 2008
Sonoma’s earliest harvest, and very early throughout northern California.
Northern California- 2007
Harvest began early, mid August in the warmer regions, then a cool September slowed ripening to a crawl, allowing physiological maturity to catch up with sugars. October warmed up, and most had their grapes in before late-October rains. Elegant, balanced wines. Yields down 15 to 25%.
Northern California- 2006
An unusually cool, wet growing season forced growers to drop substantial quantities of rotten fruit and pushed the harvest back to November. Far from a banner year, though the fruits of strict selection may surprise us.
Northern California- 2005
The first of two cool, damp vintages, although sugars accumulated at an even pace, and there is some restraint and good acidity in the wines.
Northern California- 2004
A switchback vintage with a particularly cool spring and an unusually hot summer leading to an exceptionally early harvest. Very heterogeneous.
Northern California- 2003
Rushed vintage as everything ripened at the same time after heat spikes followed rain and a cool May. Reduced crop.
Northern California- 2002
Summer started cool and continued very dry - quite exceptionally dry - so that the ripening process simply stopped and growers had to bite their nails through September waiting for anything like ideal ripeness. As in Europe, a difficult vintage, but for very different reasons.
Northern California- 2001
A respite for growers plagued by unusual conditions in both 2000 and 2002 with most varieties ripening evenly when expected, although some Cabernet vines shut down in August. A coolish September was a boon.
Northern California- 2000
Long, late, ‘European’ vintage thanks to an unusually cool, wet summer. There were very real concerns that Cabernet Sauvignon would never ripen in some vineyards. A particularly good year for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Northern California- 1999
Very late, dry, cool growing season which depended crucially on ripeness being boosted by a late September heatwave. A late rush resulted in many varieties ripening simultaneously leading to a short, extremely pressurised harvest. Some luscious Cabernets were made as a result of the relatively new preoccupation with extended ‘hang time’.
Northern California- 1998
The cliffhanger vintage that was as late as 1997 was early. Wines tend to lack stuffing, although some Cabernets took on surprising charm after 10 years in bottle.
Northern California- 1997
Early, generous harvest of widely admired wines with all varieties ripening at once. To drink now.
Northern California- 1996
Small crop of relatively lightweight wines, most of which should probably have been drunk.
