california appellations
When you visit the wineries on our tours, you will be in areas that have been designated official grape-growing regions called American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). This page offers a number of ideas that will help you understand the meaning behind their designations.
AVAs are official grape-growing regions that have been specified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) as geographic locations that feature the climate, soil, elevation, and similar properties that can give a wine a certain characteristic. These designations can be geographic (county) as well as viticultural (AVA), and they can represent terroir, a French term often used to denote the special characteristics that geography bestows upon a vineyard.
An AVA is considered a type of appellation. Though the term appellation is often used, AVA is the more correct term in the United States. Not all appellations are designated an AVA by the BATF. Nevertheless, any region in the United States can petition to become an AVA. In fact, some growers are currently in petition status.
There can be sub-AVAs, too, meaning that there can be several AVAs designated within a larger AVA. For example, the Napa Valley is an AVA, but there are smaller areas located within the Napa Valley that have an AVA. The Rutherford AVA, with its own microclimate, volcanic deposits, and Franciscan marine sediments, is a smaller geographic area located within the Napa AVA.
The three major California AVAs are listed below. Click any one of them to see a list of their sub-appellations, grapes grown within them, and a select list of local wineries.
what an AVA can mean to you
When an AVA is designated on the label of a wine bottle, U.S. law states that 85% of the wine must come from that particular AVA. However, the AVA that a wine is produced from does not indicate anything about the quality of the wine.
The purpose of an AVA is to establish the use of viticultural area names as appellations of origin in wine labeling and advertising to assist consumers toward better identifying the wines that they purchase. The use of a viticultural area as an appellation of origin also helps winemakers distinguish their products from wines made in other areas.
Since an AVA is based on geographic regions, about all you can determine are the varietals that are best suited for growing in a particular AVA.
There is an abundance of online information about California wine appellations. When it comes down to it, a true lover of wine is advised to read about, study, and taste the wines they wish to know better rather than rely solely on the fact that a wine comes from a certain AVA. Alternately, in an effort to streamline one’s learning process, it helps immensely to learn from a knowledgeable guide.
Therefore, it is best to develop your own knowledge by exposing yourself to focused wine-tasting experiences. That’s where a wine tasting guide can really be of value. On our tours — and especially on our multi-day tours, which offer formal “blind comparison” tastings — we can help you engage in the fun aspects of learning more about wine. There’s something tangible — even paradigm-shifting — about taking your level of experience from “I like this wine” to “why do I like this wine?” or even “Why don’t I like this wine?”
On these tours, we help you break wine down to its sensory components of appearance, aroma, balance, texture, flavor, and finish. And it’s more than merely interesting to determine how those results stack up — not only for each individual, but for the group as a whole. Until you try this method of learning, it’s almost difficult to imagine how much fun a learning tool it is! You have only to examine the testimonials on our site (see the sidebar to your right) to see how others have gained value — and determined wines’ quality — from this type of tasting experience.
estate bottled wines
When you visit a winery, you may hear the winery staff talk about their estate bottled wine. Or, you may see the term on a wine label. When a wine’s label displays Estate Bottled, it must meet the requirements of the BATF. Therefore, the wine must come from grapes grown entirely on the premises of the winery, and the wine those grapes produce must be made and bottled at the winery.
reserve wines
You may also hear wine cognoscenti discuss reserve wines. The term Reserve has no legal meaning in the United States. Usually, but not always, a winery will use the term Reserve for the bottling of a wine they consider special. Typically, these wines are of higher quality and/or limited production. On the other hand, the term Reserve can be used as a marketing strategy and may not be special in any way.
california as an appellation
Wine arrived in California when the Spanish Missions were founded. By the second half of the 20th century, California became firmly established as one of the very best wine regions in the world. With over 500,000 vineyard acres and nearly 2000 wineries producing an amazing 650 million gallons of wine annually, California’s wine production is only exceed by Italy, France, and Spain.
Today, vineyards cover the state from north to south, and include just about every conceivable microclimate, with hospitable conditions for the cultivation of every classic wine varietal. With such diversity, California cannot be classified as a distinct region. Within the state, over 90 different American Viticultural Areas have been officially recognized by the BATF, and more are in petition status.
California vintners can produce every wine type and style imaginable, from dry to dessert, fortified, and sparkling. For the consumer, California boasts a wine for every palate. For this same reason, California, used as an appellation, can only be a guarantee of broad origin, and nothing more; wines carrying the California appellation are likely to be blends of fruit originating from a number of more distinct appellations within the state.
At this time, all of our tours focus on the following three major California wine-growing regions. Each AVA listed within these regions also lists a handful of the wineries we like to visit.
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tasting wine
There is more than one way to enjoy wine! Often, tasting wine can help you make a purchase decision or help you understand which wine is better with your favorite food. There is no right or wrong wine, just as there is no right or wrong opinion about wine. The only thing that matters is whether you like what you’ve tasted. The nose knows! If you like it, the winery staff will be very happy when you buy it.
The tastings you’ll enjoy on a California Wine Hikes tour can be either formal or informal. Tastings that occur at most wineries are often informal when visiting the tasting room. They are often more social experiences, only requiring you to decide if you like the wine or not. When one of our venues can facilitate a private group, we schedule formal (blind) tastings. It is at these blind tastings (more details below) where you will compare a number of wines of the same varietal grape. With the assistance of your tour guide, you’ll also broaden your understanding of wine, taking it from “I like this wine!” to “Now I know why I like this wine!” There’s a lot wrapped up in that statement, but if you glance through the testimonials we’ve received from our tour guests (see the column to your right; refresh the page to randomly cycle these testimonials), you may begin to see the value of comparative blind tastings. In a nutshell, blind tastings are educational, but they’re also quite fun to do.
If you prefer to understand a bit more about why your palate responds as it does to wine, we have developed a wine scoring sheet that is appropriate for blind tastings. In a blind tasting, a panel of tasters cannot see the labels of the wines they are tasting, and therefore cannot form subjective opinions or influence the collective judgment of the group. Using this 20-point scoring sheet will allow you to compare and score each wine, breaking each into its components – appearance, aroma, balance, body, flavor, finish, and overall quality.
After comparing a number of wines (usually six), it’s fun to compare results together as a group. The reverse side of the scoring sheet allows the group to make a final comparison and emerge with the group’s favorite wine. The scoring sheet also serves as a way to keep your tasting notes for future reference.
You don’t have to wait for your next California Wine Hikes adventure to begin using the scoring sheet; you can download your own copy (144KB; requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print).
We’ve listed a few sites below that offer more detail about wine tasting and wine education. Some discuss how to conduct a tasting, others discuss wine history, and still others delve into examining the whys and hows of the wine-tasting experience. Through these sites, you will find many further resources that will help you expand your knowledge of and love for wine.
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