What does it mean when someone says there are "wine countries" in California?

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winespy | 2 years, 8 months ago

Oh dear. I fear this question is a result of my having used the expression “wine countries” recently while answering another Mahalo question. I was trying not to get all wine-geeky by saying “AVA” (or even worse, “American Viticultural Area”). But I ended up “geeking-out anyway!
A wine country may also be referred to as a wine region. These are very convenient terms for both marketing and conversational purposes. After all, we go to foreign countries for an exciting change of pace and a little something exotic. Why not go to wine countries – for the lifestyle, cuisine, the scenery…and the wine.

An AVA or American Viticultual Area is a legal term which has consequences in terms of what goes in your bottle and how it is labeled.
“An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is an officially recognized "delimited grape growing region distinguishable by geographical features, the boundaries of which have been recognized and defined" through a petition process (Code of Federal Regulations).” ref

source(s):
http://www.napavintners.com/
Professional expertise

An [[AVA]] or [[American Viticultual Area]] is a legal term which has consequences in terms of what goes in your bottle and how it is labeled.  
“An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is an officially recognized "delimited grape growing region distinguishable by geographical features, the boundaries of which have been recognized and defined" through a petition process (Code of Federal Regulations).” ref<http://txwineregions.tamu.edu/ava.htm>ref

Often when one speaks of a particular wine country one is really speaking about an AVA.  Sonoma is an AVA; so are Napa and [[Paso Roble]]s, among many others.  To make this more confusing, there are smaller AVA’s within an AVA.  For example: within Sonoma you’ll find AVAs such as [[Russian River]] and [[Alexander Valley]] among others.  [[Napa]] has 14 sub-AVA’s!  One of these, [[Carneros]] AVA, lies partly in Napa AVA and partly in Sonoma AVA.

Just in case you aren’t totally confused there is a term “wine region” used when speaking of California wines. There are several regions: North Coast, Central Coast, South Coast, [[Central Valley]] and [[Sierra Foothills]].  (On the web you’ll see sites with fewer regions listed.  For example: [[Wikipedia]] needs to be updated to add Sierra Foothills – which used to be included under the Central Valley and before that, along with the Central Valley, under the Central Coast).

The next time you are buying wine, look closely at the label to see where it is from.  The more specific the label reads as to place, the higher the quality of the grapes (and presumably the wine) generally speaking.  For example:  [[Wine labels]] that say [[California]] on them can have wine produced from grapes from all over the state.  These wines can be inexpensive but are not generally a good value.  Grapes in a Sonoma wine can come from a wide area – but at this level you are going to start seeing value, quality for the money.  Grapes from Alexander Valley are from a smaller and better grape growing area.  If there is a specific vineyard name on the bottle, better still.  If you aren’t sure if a name is a region or an AVA, ask someone in the store or ask a friend who might know. Or come back here and ask all of us.

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bunnyphuphu | 2 years, 8 months ago

There are multiple growing regions for wine in California.

The two largest and most popular are the Sonoma and Napa Valleys.
They are next door to each other, but each have a slightly different climate from each other, giving the grapes grown their own flavors.

source(s):
http://www.sonoma.com/
http://napavalley.winecountry.com/

images:

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drmatt | 2 years, 8 months ago Report

Let's not forget Livermore valley! Great wines here, too!

http://www.lvwine.org/amass/skins/default/images/areaMap.jpg

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