What is the American Viticultural Area?

What is the American Viticultural Area?

When you tour a winery you may be wondering “Why does it say Napa Valley on the bottle?”. The reason is that in 1979 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms(ATF) decide they needed to standardize where wines were coming from. This was in no way to distinguish a specific area but to create boundaries that would help consumers and producers to differentiate the quality of wine. Think of it as the AOC (Appellation d’origine Controlee) in France

The system is called the AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREA (AVA). Each AVA is in place to designate wines that derive 85% or more of their content from within boundary of the set area. So if you see Napa Valley on the label it must come from the 225,280 acres that make up Napa County (though also parts of Los Caneros).

The very first AVA, approved in 1980 was Augusta, Missouri. Each established AVA is charged a $15,000 fee and must prove the geographical, climatic significances and historical precdent for the production of wine.

AVA range in sizes from 16.5 million-acre Ohio River Valley AVA that includes parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia to Cole Ranch in Mendocino which is only a quarter mile square.

Here is a short list of the most prominent AVA in the US.

Arizona
Sonita

Arkansas
Altus
Arkansas Mountain
Ozark Mountain (MO & OK)

California
Central Coast/Monterey
El Dorado County, California
Lake County, California
Livermore Valley
Mendocino County
Napa County (Napa Valley and part of Los Carneros AVA)
Ramona Valley
San Joaquin County
San Luis Obispo County (Paso Robles)
Santa Cruz Mountains
Sonoma County (Sonoma Valley, Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley and part of Los Carneros AVA)
Santa Ynez Valley
Temecula Valley

Colorado
Palisade/Grand Valley

Indiana
Ohio River Valley

Massachusetts
Martha’s Vineyard

Michigan
Leelanau Peninsula
Old Mission Peninsula
Lake Michigan Shore AVA
Missouri
Augusta
Hermann
Ozark Mountains also in Oklahoma and Arkansas
Ozark Highlands
Ste. Genevieve

Mississippi
Mississippi Delta

Missouri
Augusta
Herman
Ozark Highlands

New Mexico
Albuquerque
Deming
Las Cruces
La Union
Santa Fe
Taos

New York
Eastern Long Island
Finger Lakes
Hudson River Valley
Lake Erie Region
Niagara Escarpment AVA

North Carolina
Yadkin Valley AVA

Ohio
Grand River Valley
Isle St. George
Kanawha River Valley
Loramie Creek
Ohio River Valley

Oklahoma
Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees

Oregon
Applegate Valley
Hood River County
Willamette Valley
Columbia Valley (Oregon and Washington)
Umpqua Valley
Walla Walla Valley (Oregon and Washington)

Pennsylvania
Central Delaware Valley

Long Island Wines

Cumberland Valley
Erie County
Lancaster County
Lehigh County

Texas
Bell Mountain
Escondido Valley
Fredericksburg
Davis Mountains
High Plains
Texas Hill Country

Virginia
Monticello AVA
North Fork of Roanoke AVA
Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace AVA
Rocky Knob AVA
Shenandoah Valley
Virginia’s Eastern Shore AVA

Washington
Columbia Gorge AVA
Columbia Valley AVA
Horse Heaven Hills AVA
Rattlesnake Hills AVA
Red Mountain AVA
Wahluke Slope AVA
Walla Walla Valley AVA
Yakima Valley, WA
Puget Sound AVA

Wisconsin
Lake Wisconsin