No , AVA is not the name of a woman who loves her wine. Chances are you have driven through a few, without even knowing that you did. When a US winery wants to tell you the geographic pedigree of its wine, it uses a term on its label called Appellation of Origin. This term must meet certain federal and state legal requirements. However, the term appellation of origin is not the same as viticultural area.

 AVA stands for American Viticulture Area. This is an American system that was implemented in 1978 to help identify U.S. Wines in a fashion that is similar to the French system which is known as the Applellation D’Origine Controlee (also known as AOC or AC). This American system is very lax compared to the French system.  In France, the AOC identifies the grape varieties that must be grown in a specific area, they determine the maximum fruit that will can be produced per acre and the minimum amount of alcohol that is required for wines produced in the area. In America, the only real requirement for a wine with an AVA designation on the label is that 85 % of the grapes must be grown in that viticultural area.

However, an AVA is not an AVA until the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms says that is. Growers must petition the Tax and Trade Bureau to obtain an AVA designation for a region.  This entire process can take years to complete. In a nutshell, the Petitioners are required to provide evidence that growing conditions such as climate, soil, elevation and physical features are distinctive.

 AVA’s come in all shapes and sizes. They range in size from several hundred acres to several million; some reside within other larger AVAs. For example, Washington’s Columbia Valley is an AVA that stretches from much of central and southern Washington State, with a small section crossing into the state of Oregon. This huge AVA encompasses seven smaller AVAs designated to unique growing areas of special distinction. These are Yakima Valley AVA, the Red Mountain AVA, the Walla Walla Valley AVA, the Horse Heaven Hills AVA, the Rattlesnake Hills AVA, Snipes Mountain AVA and the Wahluke Slope AVA.  A vineyard can be in more than one AVA and often is.

Some feel that AVA status adds value to the wine. For many wine consumers, brand name recognition is the most important purchase factor. But for some, the AVA is a major quality tag for a wine product. For many wineries and wine growers, they believe that the viticultural area denotes quality grapes and quality wines from a quality area known for good grapes and good wine of specific varietals.  AVAs add premium to the grapes, allowing a grower to command higher prices for his or her crop, permitting a winery to command more of a price for its products. AVA recognition is valuable and wineries try very hard to develop that value.     

Northwest Wine Quest understands that varietals grown in different areas have very unique and subtle differences. For example, a Chardonnay grown in Washington’s Columbia Valley AVA will have different characteristics from a Chardonnay grown in the Chehalem Mountain AVA of Oregon.  We want to educate our customers on those differences and broaden their tasting experience by offering wines from all Northwest AVA’s.