AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREA

An 'American Viticultural Area (AVA)' is a delimited grape-growing region distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the United States government's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The TTB defines these areas at the request of wineries and other petitioners. There are 235 AVAs in 50 states, with 97(+) of them in California. They range in size from the Ohio River Valley AVA at 26,000 square miles (67,300 km²) across four states, to the Cole Ranch AVA in Mendocino County, California, at only 62 acres (25 hectares). The Augusta AVA in Augusta, Missouri was the first recognized AVA, gaining the status on June 20, 1980.Code of Federal Regulations Title 27, Volume 1 ALCOHOL, TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND FIREARMS
Unlike most European appellations, an AVA specifies only a location; it is loosely equivalent to the Italian Indicazione Geografica Tipica in that regard. It does not limit the type of grapes grown, the method of vinification, or the yield, for example. Some of those factors may, however, be used by the petitioner when defining an AVA's boundaries.

Contents

Requirements

Current areas

List of California AVAs

List of Pacific Northwest AVAs

List of East Coast AVAs

List of Central US AVAs

See also

External links

Requirements

Current regulations impose the following additional requirements on an AVA:

★ Evidence that the name of the proposed new AVA is locally or nationally known as referring to the area;

★ Historical or current evidence that the boundaries are legitimate;

★ Evidence that growing conditions such as climate, soil, elevation, and physical features are distinctive;
Petitioners are required to provide such information when applying for a new AVA, and are also required to use USGS maps to both describe (using terms from the map) and depict the boundaries.
Once an AVA is established, at least 85% of the grapes used to make a wine must be grown in the specified area if an AVA is referenced on its label.
State or county boundaries — such as for Oregon or Napa County — are not AVAs, even though they are used to identify the source of a wine. AVAs are reserved for situations where a geographically defined area has been using the name and it has come to be identified with that area.
A vineyard may be in more than one AVA. For example, the Santa Clara Valley and Livermore Valley AVAs are located within the territory of the San Francisco Bay AVA, which is itself located within the Central Coast AVA.

Current areas

The following is a listing of AVAs, broken down by region:

List of California AVAs

A list of American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in the state of California: of the AVAs registered and approved by the United States government's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, 97 out of the 173 are in California.


★ Alexander Valley

★ Anderson Valley

★ Arroyo Grande Valley

★ Arroyo Seco

★ Atlas Peak

★ Ben Lomond Mountain

★ Benmore Valley

★ Bennett Valley

★ California Shenandoah Valley

★ Capay Valley

★ Carmel Valley

★ Central Coast

★ Chalk Hill

★ Chalone AVA

★ Chiles Valley

★ Cienega Valley

★ Clarksburg

★ Clear Lake

★ Cole Ranch

★ Covelo

★ Cucamonga Valley

★ Diablo Grande

★ Diamond Mountain District

★ Dos Rios

★ Dry Creek Valley

★ Dunnigan Hills

★ Edna Valley

★ El Dorado

★ Fair Play

★ Fiddletown

★ Guenoc Valley

★ Hames Valley

★ High Valley

★ Howell Mountain

★ Knights Valley

★ Lime Kiln Valley

★ Livermore Valley

★ Lodi

★ Los Carneros

★ Madera

★ Malibu-Newton Canyon

★ McDowell Valley

★ Mendocino

★ Mendocino Ridge

★ Merritt Island

★ Monterey

★ Mt. Harlan

★ Mt. Veeder

★ Napa Valley

★ North Coast

★ North Yuba

★ Northern Sonoma

★ Oak Knoll District

★ Oakville

★ Pacheco Pass

★ Paicines

★ Paso Robles

★ Potter Valley

★ Ramona Valley

★ Red Hills Lake County

★ Redwood Valley

★ River Junction

★ Ribbon Ridge

★ Rockpile

★ Russian River Valley

★ Rutherford

★ Salado Creek

★ San Benito

★ San Antonio Valley

★ San Bernabe

★ San Francisco Bay

★ San Lucas

★ San Pasqual Valley

★ San Ysidro District

★ Santa Clara Valley

★ Santa Cruz Mountains

★ Santa Lucia Highlands

★ Santa Maria Valley

★ Santa Ynez Valley

★ Seiad Valley

★ Sierra Foothills

★ Snake River Valley

★ Solano County Green Valley

★ Sonoma Coast

★ Sonoma County Green Valley

★ Sonoma Mountain

★ Sonoma Valley

★ South Coast

★ Spring Mountain District

★ St. Helena

★ Sta. Rita Hills

★ Stags Leap

★ Suisun Valley

★ Temecula Valley

★ Tracy Hills (new 11/06)

★ Trinity Lakes

★ Wild Horse Valley

★ Willow Creek

★ York Mountain

★ Yorkville Highlands

★ Yountville

List of Pacific Northwest AVAs

A list of American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho:


★ Applegate Valley AVA, Oregon

★ Columbia Gorge AVA, Oregon and Washington

★ Columbia Valley AVA, Washington and Oregon

★ Dundee Hills AVA, Oregon

★ Horse Heaven Hills, Washington

★ McMinnville AVA, Oregon

★ Puget Sound AVA, Washington

★ Rattlesnake Hills AVA, Washington

★ Red Hill Douglas County AVA, Oregon

★ Red Mountain AVA, Washington

★ Ribbon Ridge AVA, Oregon

★ Rogue Valley AVA, Oregon

★ Snake River Valley AVA, Idaho

★ Southern Oregon AVA, Oregon

★ Umpqua Valley AVA, Oregon

★ Wahluke Slope AVA, Washington

★ Walla Walla Valley AVA, Oregon and Washington

★ Willamette Valley AVA, Oregon

★ Yakima Valley AVA, Washington

★ Yamhill-Carlton District AVA, Oregon

List of East Coast AVAs

A list of American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) on the East Coast of the United States:


★ Catoctin, Maryland

★ Cayuga Lake, New York

★ Central Delaware Valley, New Jersey & Pennsylvania

★ Cumberland Valley, Maryland & Pennsylvania

★ Finger Lakes, New York

★ The Hamptons, Long Island, New York

★ Hudson River Region, New York

★ Lake Erie, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania

★ Lancaster Valley, Pennsylvania

★ Linganore, Maryland

★ Long Island, New York

★ Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

★ Monticello, Virginia

★ Niagara Escarpment, New York

★ North Fork of Long Island, New York

★ North Fork of Roanoke, Virginia

★ Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace, Virginia

★ Outer Coastal Plain, New Jersey

★ Rocky Knob, Virginia

★ Seneca Lake, New York

★ Shenandoah Valley, Virginia and West Virginia

★ Southeastern New England, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island

★ Virginia's Eastern Shore, Virginia

★ Warren Hills, New Jersey

★ Western Connecticut Highlands, Connecticut

★ Yadkin Valley, North Carolina

List of Central US AVAs

A list of the remaining American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), not on the West or East Coasts:


★ Alexandria Lakes, Minnesota

★ Altus, Arkansas

★ Arkansas Mountain, Arkansas

★ Augusta, Missouri

★ Bell Mountain, Texas

★ Escondido Valley, Texas

★ Fennville, Michigan

★ Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country, Texas

★ Grand River Valley, Ohio

★ Grand Valley, Colorado

★ Hermann, Missouri

★ Isle St. George, Ohio

★ Kanawha River Valley, Ohio and West Virginia

★ Lake Michigan Shore, Michigan

★ Lake Wisconsin, Wisconsin

★ Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan

★ Loramie Creek, Ohio

★ Mesilla Valley, New Mexico and Texas

★ Middle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

★ Mimbres Valley, New Mexico

★ Mississippi Delta, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee

★ Ohio River Valley, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia

★ Old Mission Peninsula, Michigan

★ Ozark Highlands, Missouri

★ Ozark Mountain, Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma

★ Shawnee Hills, Illinois

★ Shenandoah Valley, Virginia and West Virginia

★ Sonoita, Arizona

★ Texas Davis Mountains, Texas

★ Texas High Plains, Texas

★ Texas Hill Country, Texas

★ Texoma, Texas and Oklahoma

★ West Elks, Colorado

See also

★ Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

★ Indicazione Geografica Tipica

★ American wine

External links

★ Appellations of Origin from the TTB website

★ AVAs with links to detailed descriptions, from the Code of Federal Regulations located at a Cornell website

★ Listing of AVAs from a wine lover's website