Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Calistoga AVA?

The Wine Spectator Online is reporting on a push for a new Calistoga AVA:

Napa Valley is already divided into 13 subappellations, but the Calistoga area -- although as well-known nowadays for its Cabernets as for its hot springs -- is not among them. Chateau Montelena co-owner and winemaker Bo Barrett is trying to change that. ...

The proposed appellation would encompass about 7 square miles of land on the valley floor and in the adjacent mountains, with elevations ranging from 300 to 1,200 feet. The area is bordered on the west by the Mayacamas mountain range (which separates Napa from Sonoma) and on the east by the Vaca range. The appellation would be north of the St. Helena district, west of the Howell Mountain AVA, east of the Diamond Mountain AVA and just below Napa County's northern border.

AVAs do not yet have the viticultural significance of French AOCs, mainly because the rules governing the former are far more lax:An AVA is defined strictly by a geographic area, whereas in France the parameters are much more precise. A French AOC identifies the grape varieties that may be grown in a geographic area, the maximum production per acre, the minimum level of alcohol required for wines produced in the area, and so forth.Over time, however, market forces are accomplishing for the AVA system what regulation did not. Certain AVAs, perhaps most notably the sub-Napa Valley AVAs of Rutherford and Oakville, are becoming increasingly monocultural (Cabernet in both cases). To be sure, neither has achieved the singlemindness imposed by the French AOC system, as this list of the wildly diverse varieties grown in Rutherford demonstrates. Yet, markets work and thse AVAs are best-known for their fabulous Cabs, which creates incentives for growers to shift towards that variety. We see similar developments in parts of the Central Coast, where some of the AVAs around Santa Barbara are becoming known as Pinot Noir specialists. What about the proposed Calistoga AVA? Viticulturally, Calistoga does have some unique characteristics. On our annual visits to the Napa Valley, Calistoga is always the warmest of the main wine towns (it is the furthest inland and thus least subject to maritime influences). The proposed AVA would cover vineyards that mostly specialize in warm climate varieties, especially Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. The better wines from this area have a distinctive fruitiness that easily tips to jammy in warm years. Chateau Montelena's Estate is probably the best example (very pricey, but their Calistoga Cuvee is more affordable, although still not cheap). IMHO, the poposed AVA would produce wines sufficiently distinctive from the generic Napa Valley type to warrant its own appellation.

Posted on Monday, September 29 2003 | Permalink