Rick Evans Chinatown August 20th, 2024
A brief discussion of AVAs and what what contributes to their originality. I believe Sonoma County has 14 AVAs.
By Jess Lander, Wine reporter Oct 16, 2024 - San Francisco Chronicle
For the first time in 13 years, Napa Valley has a new subregion for wine.
Crystal Springs of Napa Valley joins 16 other American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) — the government-designated boundaries for wine regions — in Napa Valley. Located near the border of St. Helena and Calistoga and in the foothills below Howell Mountain, Crystal Springs covers roughly 230 acres and is home to mostly vineyards, but also a handful of wineries, like Bremer, Viader and race car driver Danica Patrick’s estate, Somnium.
It took the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) over four years to approve the petition for the new AVA, which Steven Burgess, the proposal’s author, said he’s been working on since 2005. The last AVA approved within Napa Valley was Coombsville in 2011.
Until now, wineries in this area have had to label their wines with the Napa Valley AVA, which encompasses over 120,000 acres. “If a wine bottled just says ‘Napa Valley’ on it, you have no idea what it’s going to taste and feel like,” said Burgess, the former owner of Burgess Cellars. “It could be red fruit, black fruit, soft tannins, brutal tannins — you have no idea.”
Vineyards here are also often mistaken for being located within the Howell Mountain AVA, but that region begins at 1,400 feet altitude. Howell Mountain vineyards sit above the fog, whereas Crystal Springs vineyards are often shrouded in it, which makes a crucial difference in the taste of the wines. “They’re two totally different growing regions,” said Burgess.
The new region, which was the origin of the 2020 Glass Fire, can finally help consumers understand what distinguishes Crystal Springs wines from others in Napa Valley, Burgess said. It could also command higher bottle prices. Burgess described the Crystal Springs wines, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, as having “extremely dark, complex flavors and rich aromatics.”
Napa Valley just got its first new official wine region in 13 years
Greg