NAPA VALLEY (WINE)

'Napa Valley' located in Napa County, California is widely considered one of the top wine regions in California, and all of the United States with a history dating back to the nineteenth century. The combination of Mediterranean climate, geography and geology of the valley are conducive to growing quality wine grapes. Several microclimates exist within the area due to various weather and geographical influences. The open southern end of the valley floor is cooler during the growing season due to the proximity of San Pablo Bay while the sheltered, closed northern end is often much warmer. The valley floor is flanked by the Mayacamas Mountain Range on the western and northern sides while the Vaca Mountain Range is on the eastern side. Several smaller valleys also exist within these two ranges. The floor of the main valley gradually rises from sea level at the southern end to 362 feet above sea level at the northern end in Calistoga at the foot of Mount Saint Helena. The Oakville and Rutherford American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) lie within a geographical area known as the Rutherford Bench in the center of the valley floor. The eastern side of the valley tends to be more arid due to the fact that winter storms tend to drop much more precipitation on the western mountains and hills. The soil in the southern end of the valley consists mainly of sediments deposited by earlier advances and retreats of San Pablo Bay while the soil at the northern end of the valley contains a large volume of volcanic lava and ash. Several of the small hills that emerge from the middle of the valley floor near Yountville are indicators of the region's volcanic past.

Contents

Early years

Phylloxera, Prohibition and The Great Depression

Modern era

American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) of Napa Valley

References

See also

External links

Early years

Early pioneer George C. Yount planted the first wine grapes in Napa Valley. In 1864 Yount's son-in-law Thomas Rutherford and his new bride Elizabeth received of land in the area now known as Rutherford as a wedding present from Elizabeth's father. Rutherford made a serious investment in grape production and winemaking from 1850 to 1880, and established himself as a grower and producer of high-quality wines.
John Patchett established the valley's first commercial vineyard in 1858. In 1861 Charles Krug established Napa Valley's first commercial winery in St. Helena. Captain Gustave Niebaum established Inglenook Winery in 1879 near the village of Rutherford. This was the first Bordeaux style winery in the USA. Inglenook wínes won gold medals at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris.
In 1868 H. W. Crabb bought land near Oakville close to the Napa River. Crabb established a vineyard and winery named To Kalon, and by 1877 had planted and was producing 50,000 US gallons of wine per year. Crabb experimented with over 400 grape varieties in a quest to find the types best suited for the area.
By the end of the nineteenth century there were more than one hundred and forty wineries in the area. Of those original wineries, several still exist in the valley today including Beaulieu, Beringer, Charles Krug, Chateau Montelena, Far Niente, Mayacamas, Markham Vineyards, and Schramsberg.

Phylloxera, Prohibition and The Great Depression

Viticulture in Napa suffered several setbacks in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Phylloxera root louse killed many of the vines throughout the valley. Prohibition was enacted across the country in 1920 and many wineries were shut down. A few remained open with agreements to produce sacramental wine. Growers who elected to keep their vines planted sold their crops to home winemakers. The Great Depression slowed the wine business further. These events stalled the growth of the wine industry in Napa County, California for years. Beaulieu founder Georges de Latour's knowledge about phylloxera and his decision to import a rootstock variety resistant to the pest along with the 1933 repeal of Prohibition helped put Napa Valley back on the map in the wine world.

Modern era

André Tchelistcheff is generally credited with ushering in the modern era of winemaking in California. Beaulieu hired Tchelisticheff in 1938. He introduced several new techniques and procedures to the region, such as aging wine in small French Oak barrels, cold fermentation, vineyard frost prevention, and malolactic fermentation.
Brother Timothy; a member of the Christian Brothers was also very instrumental in the creation of the modern wine industry in Napa. After an earlier career as a teacher, he transferred to the order's Mont La Salle located on Mount Veeder in the Mayacamas Mountains east of Napa in 1935 to become the wine chemist for the order's expanding wine operations. The Christian Brothers had grown grapes and made sacramental wine in Benicia, California during Prohibition, but decided to branch out into commercial production of wine and brandy after the repeal of Prohibition. The science teacher was a fast learner and soon established Christian Brothers as one of the leading brands in the state's budding wine industry; Brother Timothy's smiling face in advertisements and promotional materials became one of the most familiar images for wine consumers across the country. Following the Second World War, the wine industry in Napa began to thrive again.
In 1965, Napa Valley icon Robert Mondavi broke away from his family's Charles Krug estate to found his own winemaking operation in Oakville. It was the first new large scale winery to be established in the valley since before prohibition and included the original To Kalon land. Following the establishment of the Mondavi estate, the number of wineries in the valley grew rapidly, as did the region's reputation.
In 1976, the region got a boost from the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, which featured a Napa Valley Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon besting several famous French labels in a blind tasting format. The results of this tasting cemented the region's reputation of its ability to produce world class wines.
A modern outbreak of phylloxera was discovered in the valley in 1983 in a vineyard planted with AxR1 rootstock. Many growers seized upon this outbreak and used it as an opportunity to switch to varieties that were better suited to the climate and soil. By the late 1990s nearly 75% of the affected vineyards had been replanted with phylloxera resistant rootstock. The growers in the region are currently channeling their energy to battle the Glassy-winged sharpshooter, a non-native pest that carries Pierce's Disease.
Today Napa Valley features more than 340 wineries that grow many grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Zinfandel, and other popular varietals. While some winemakers produce wines from specific AVAs within the valley, the majority choose to blend or cuvée their wines using a mixture of wine from grapes grown on the valley floor and the surrounding hillsides.
Visitors to the Napa Valley total 4.7 million person trips a year, a person trip being one person staying for one night, making it the second most popular tourist destination in the state, second only to Disneyland.

American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) of Napa Valley

★ Atlas Peak

★ Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley

★ Oakville

★ Carneros

★ Rutherford

★ Chiles Valley

★ Spring Mountain District

★ Diamond Mountain District

★ St. Helena

★ Howell Mountain

★ Stags Leap District

★ Mount Veeder

★ Wild Horse Valley

★ Yountville

References

Snows Lake Vineyard

See also

★ COPIA

★ California wine

★ Cult wines

★ Napa Valley Wine Train

★ Geography of California

★ Coast Ranges (California)

External links

★ Napa Valley, California

★ NapaValley.com WineCountry portal for Napa Valley

★ Napa Valley Wineries

★ Napa Valley Vintners Association

★ Rutherford Dust Society Historical Information

★ Historical information about some of Napa Valley's early wineries