Napa County; Napa Valley AVA

The Napa Valley is the most famous wine region in California and the United States. Its wine-making history started in 1838 when MISSION grapes were planted by George C. Yount, who made his first wines in the early 1840s. The earliest commercial winery was established by Charles Krug in 1861. This was followed by Schramsberg (1862), Beringer (1876), Inglenook (1879) And Beaulieu Vineyard (1900). After growing to over 160 wineries in the 1880s, the Napa Valley was devastated by PHYLLOXERA, which had attacked vineyards in Europe and now began to ravage the Napa vineyards. Napa’s next major setback was PROHIBITION, instituted from 1920 to 1933, which severely curtailed the growth of the wine-making industry. A few wineries survived Prohibition by making sacramental wines and selling grapes to home winemakers. By the end of the 1950s, only a dozen or so wineries had survived the dual devastation of phylloxera and Prohibition. Viticultural activity began to revive in the 1960s when Joe Heitz started Heitz Wine Cellars in 1961, the Davies’ reestablished Schramsberg in 1966, and Robert Mondavi left the family winery (Charles Krug Winery) and established his own winery in 1966. Others were getting the same idea, and wineries began appearing in quick succession all over the Napa Valley. Today there are over 240 wineries and over 40,000 acres of vineyards. The terms Napa County and Napa Valley are almost synonymous because the Napa Valley APPELLATION includes all Napa County except for a small portion northeast of Lake Berryessa. The Napa Valley AVA, approved in 1983, is located northeast of San Francisco, beginning on the south end at San Pablo Bay, which is connected to and just north of San Francisco Bay. The Napa Valley ranges in width from about 1 to 5 miles and extends north and slightly west for just over 30 miles to Mount St. Helena. From south to north, it encompasses the towns of Napa, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Calistoga. The Napa Valley AVA climate ranges from a cool Region I (see CLIMATE REGIONS OF CALIFORNIA) in the south to a warm Region III in the north. This VITICULTURAL AREA encompasses numerous smaller subzones that, although they have their own AVA status, must use “Napa Valley” on the label. Wines from the CARNEROS AVA, which is partly in the Napa Valley and partly in SONOMA COUNTY, are not required to label their wines “Napa Valley.” Within the large Napa Valley AVA there are many notable and distinct growing areas. At this writing, fourteen AVAs have been approved: ATLAS PEAK, CARNEROS, CHILES VALLEY DISTRICT, DIAMOND MOUNTAIN DISTRICT, HOWELL MOUNTAIN, MOUNT VEEDER, OAK KNOLL DISTRICT, OAKVILLE, RUTHERFORD, SPRING MOUNTAIN DISTRICT, ST. HELENA, STAGS LEAP DISTRICT, WILD HORSE VALLEY, and YOUNTVILLE. Only about 30 percent of the Napa acreage is planted to white-grape varieties, over 70 percent of which are CHARDONNAY. Other white varieties in order of popularity include SAUVIGNON BLANC, RIESLING, SÉMILLON, CHENIN BLANC, and VIOGNIER. The dominant red variety is CABERNET SAUVIGNON, with just under 50 percent of the vineyard acreage. Other red varieties include MERLOT, PINOT NOIR, ZINFANDEL, CABERNET FRANC, SANGIOVESE, SYRAH, and PETITE SIRAH.

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