American Viticultural Area

An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know about the geographic pedigree of their wines, as wines from a particular area can possess distinctive characteristics. Consumers often seek out wines from specific AVAs, and certain wines of particular pedigrees can claim premium prices and loyal customers. If a wine is labeled with an AVA, at least 85% of the grapes that make up the wine must have been grown in the AVA, and the wine must be fully finished within the state where the AVA is located.[1]

Regulations

Since 1980, the boundaries of AVAs were defined by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that received and handled petitions for viticultural areas, wine production and labeling. In January 2003, under the provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the ATF was extensively reorganized and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) was created to oversee viticultural areas and wine production and labeling.[1][2]

Section 4.25(e)(2) of the regulations (27 C.F.R. § 4.25(e)(2)) outlines the procedure for proposing an AVA and provides that any interested party may petition the TTB to establish a grape-growing region as an AVA. Section 9.12 of the TTB regulations (27 C.F.R. § 9.12) prescribes the standards for petitions for the establishment or modification of AVAs. Petitions to establish an AVA must include the following: Once a petition is accepted as complete, the TTB may choose to seek public input on the proposal and at its sole discretion may approve the proposed AVA.

Before the AVA system, wine appellations of origin in the United States were designated based on state or county boundaries. All of these appellations were grandfathered into federal regulations and may appear on wine labels as designated places of origin in lieu of an AVA, such as Sonoma County. In order for a wine to be labeled with a state or county appellation, at least 75% of the grapes used to make the wine must have been grown within the boundary of the appellation, and the wine must be fully finished within the state in which the appellation is located.

Around the country

AVAs vary widely in size,[4] ranging from the Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA, at more than 19 million acres (29900 sqmi) across four states (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin),[5] to the Cole Ranch AVA in Mendocino County, California, at only 60 acre.[6]

The Augusta AVA, which occupies the area around the town of Augusta, Missouri, was the first recognized AVA, gaining the status on June 20, 1980.[7] There are currently 279 AVAs spread across 34 states, with over half (154) in California.[8]

See also

• Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
• Denominazione di origine controllata
• Denominación de origen
• Indicazione Geografica Tipica
• American wine

External links

• Appellations of Origin TTBGov
• Established American Viticultural Areas TTBGov
• Interactive AVA map TTBGov
• Pending AVA Approval TTBGov