California's proposed new AVA's - an overview
Eight additional American Viticultural Areas (AVA’s) have been proposed in California in the past few years, which will give producers new ways to differentiate their wine from others in the state’s huge wine growing areas.
Should they be approved by the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, this will allow the unique terroirs within existing regions to be promoted.
Sevenfifty.com writer Sophia Mcdonald wrote an overview of the different AVA's, and here's what you need to know about California's new appellations.
Alisos Canyon, renowned for its high quality fruit and its Syrah. The region is located in Santa Barbara County and covers 5,775 acres south of the Santa Maria Valley AVA. Most of the vineyards are about 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean, which is an important factor in distinguishing the proposed AVA.
"The marine influence gives the area an excellent diurnal shift and helps the grapes extend their hang time, develop excellent flavour, and maintain strong acidity," says Wes Hagen, the winemaker and brand ambassador for J Wilkes Wines in Santa Maria.
Long Valley-Lake County AVA
The proposed Long Valley AVA covers 7,605 acres in Northern California's Lake County, which is already divided into seven AVAs. This new AVA will be the easternmost viticultural area and one of the lowest-elevation growing areas. The main grape grown here is Cabernet Sauvignon, though Petite Syrah and Syrah are also produced in some quantity.
"Long Valley has a fair amount of diversity, partly because of the nature of being in a canyon," said Derek Holstein, the winemaker for Cache Creek Vineyards in Clearlake Oaks. Holstein added that the lower benchland, which is closer to the creek, is flatter and yields grapes that are leaner and drier in tannin. These grapes, he said, "have plenty of colour and provide a beautiful array of flavours to produce a solid and more interesting wine to blend with that from the steeper-sloped area." "I think of the Cabernets as more like red wines from the Saint-Émilion area of Bordeaux [than] the very dense wines from Médoc."
White wines made from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are also part of the proposed Long Valley-Lake County AVA.
Palos Verdes Peninsula AVA
The Palos Verdes Peninsula, which covers about 30,000 acres, sits entirely in Los Angeles County, and contains mostly large estates. Key grapes grown along the coast include Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, while further inland growers on the Palos Verdes Peninsula produce warmer climate varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Local producers are excited at the prospect of labelling their wines with their region rather than the larger South Coast AVA. "People refer to the Palos Verdes Peninsula as The Hill," said Jim York, the vintner at Catalina View Wines in Rancho Palos Verdes. "We have relatively steep slopes. There's no flat land available. Because of that, everything has to be done by hand."
"The area is pretty unique in that you have a cool Mediterranean climate, but you don't get as much fog as you would in Santa Barbara," says Alicia Ajolo, the wine director for Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes said the area is “pretty unique” down to the cool Mediterranean climate with less fog than Santa Barbara typically gets.
Paulsell Valley AVA
The proposed 34,155-acre Paulsell Valley AVA is an emerging wine growing area and is located in Stanislaus County. Distinguishing this wine-growing region from others around it are interesting topographical formations that create a "mound-intermound relief" landscape.
The topography rises above the floor of the San Joaquin Valley, putting the vines at elevations between 350 and 400 feet. Conditions in the area tend to be slightly warmer and wetter than those in the San Joaquin Valley as well. The area has proven perfect for growing Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Petite Verdot, and Teroldego, an Italian grape.
San Luis Obispo Coast AVA
The wines from Arroyo Grande Valley and Edna Valley-the two other AVAs in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County-are relatively well known, but many of the vineyards stretching between Pismo Beach and Cambria are fairly new. That led a group of county residents- notably Aaron Jackson, the owner and winemaker of Aaron Wines in Paso Robles, and Brian Talley, the owner and winegrower at Talley Vineyards in Arroyo Grande-to seek recognition for grapes grown between a quarter of a mile and 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean which has a big influence on the grapes.
"We see a lot of heavy coastal fog pretty much year-round because we're so close to the coast," said Heather Muran, the executive director of San Luis Obispo Wine Country in Pismo Beach. The marine layer of air keeps the climate cool, while the mixed soils play a big influence on the wines, with everything from sandy loam and clay to rich volcanic deposits.
Rhône varieties such as Syrah and Grenache are popular, while the region also produces the largest volume of Albarino in California.
Tehachapi AVA
The Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County is perhaps the furthest from other recognized wine-growing regions, and is situated at an elevation of 4,000 feet. The key red grape varietals grown here include Zinfandel, Primitivo, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon which are characterised by deep colours and high tannin levels. Viognier, Rieseling and Chardonnay comprise the main white varietals.
Jim Arnold, the owner of Triassic Vineyards in Tehachapi said he was unaware of another AVA that's above 3,300 feet in the state. “Normally at this elevation, you have frost that prevents a long-enough growing season,” he said. Arnold explained that the proposed AVA is in a mountain pass with the Antelope Valley-characterized by a desert climate-to the east, and the San Joaquin-with a temperate climate-to the west.
"We get warm breezes that cut down on the frost, which allows us to have a long-enough season to grow grapes," he says, adding that "at 4,000 feet, we have stronger ultraviolet rays, which thickens the skins on the grapes."
Upper Lake Valley AVA
The area north of Clear Lake in Northern California is sometimes referred to as the citrus belt because it has a warmer climate than the rest of Lake County. Budbreak happens about two weeks earlier, which means more hang time for the Sauvignon Blanc that's widely grown in the 17,360-acre region. Warm days in the region give way to cool nights, and that diurnal shift benefits the grapes.
"It leads to slower fruit ripening, allowing the development of more complex flavours," said Lake County consulting winemaker Mark Burch. The area also gets more rainfall than other parts of the county, and the soils tend to be clay loam or silty loam, both of which hold high levels of nutrients.
West Sonoma Coast AVA
The proposed 141,846-acre West Sonoma Coast AVA falls entirely within the existing Sonoma Coast AVA. "The common characteristic that's shared by all of the areas in the West Sonoma Coast [region], is that they're on the edge of acceptability for being able to grow Pinot Noir in Sonoma County." " said Patrick Shabram, the consulting geographer who wrote the AVA application at the request of local vineyard owners.
As with the SLO Coast area, regular fog banks keep the vineyards here cool. However, many vineyards are planted at higher elevations, so while the fog keeps the temperature relatively moderate, the grapes are still exposed to plenty of sun. That helps increase sugar accumulation in the fruit.