HILARIE LARSON CSW, FWS
The vineyards of Buttonwood Farm
Winery express the distinctive
character of the Santa Ynez
Valley AVA, California.
Wine & Spirits
What is an AVA and Why Should You Care?
W
ine should not be confusing. Most people simply want
to enjoy a glass with friends or choose something tasty
to complement their meal, not analyze the bottle as if
they are training to become a Master Sommelier.
That being said, there is never any harm in arming yourself
with a bit of basic knowledge to help guide you through the
gauntlet of choices.
If you’re perusing the wine shop shelves and looking at American wines, you’ll find a lot of information on the label that can
give you hints about the contents and aid in narrowing down your
selection.
For example, every label shows a place where the grapes came
from, a ‘place of origin.’ Known as an ‘American Viticultural Area’
(or AVA for short),this information is a key to understanding
more about the quality and character of the wine.
So what exactly is an AVA? In simple terms, it’s a delineated,
geographic area for growing wine grapes. To become an AVA , the
petitioners who want their little corner of their vineyard world
to be recognized need to go through a rather long and arduous
process of proving why their region is special. It could be the soils,
the climate, a special geographic formation such as a hillside slope
or ancient riverbed. Whatever the reason, it must be something
that sets the land apart from the area around it and, most importantly, influences the character of the grapes grown upon it.
An AVA can be tiny like Cole Ranch in Mendocino County, California at only 62 acres, or as vast as the largest AVA, the
26,000 acre Ohio River Valley. Often, an AVA will sit inside a
larger region, like Southern Oregon’s Applegate Valley, which is
surrounded by the Rogue Valley AVA. There are currently over
200 of these specialized growing regions with more on the drawing board.
By law, wine labels have to tell us where the grapes came from.
The more specific the location, the more we know about those
grapes and the land on which the vineyards are planted. Here’s an
example:
Robert Mondavi Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, Napa
Valley
From reading this label, we know that the grapes come from
the Oakville AVA, which is in the famous Napa Valley AVA. Do
a quick ‘Google’ search and we learn that this area is near the
town of Oakville and the vineyards are planted on gravel soil in a
small valley between the Vaca and Mayacamas mountain ranges.
Oakville is acclaimed for its Bordeaux varieties that have really
good tannins and a distinctive herbaceous, minty note.
As you can see, just this little nugget of information on the
label can tell you much about what lurks inside the bottle and can
enhance your wine experience. Santé.
Hilarie Larson CSW, FWS
Hilarie’s passion for wine began in the1970’s while in the European hospitality industry.
In 2003 she began her wine career in earnest in
her native British Columbia, Canada, working at
several Okanagan Valley wineries where she was
able to assist in the vineyard and cellar as well as the
tasting rooms.
Along the way, she acquired her certificate from the Court of
Master Sommelier, worked for an international wine broker and
as ‘Resident Sommelier’ for wineries in Washington State and
California.
Hilarie’s greatest joy is spreading the gospel of wine, food and
travel. For a full author biography and profile, please visit:
http://ifwtwa.org/author/hilarie-larson
FALL 2016
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