AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREA (AVA)

an American Viticultural Area (AVA) is an officially designated wine grape-growing region. AVAs were established for the purpose of providing wine-grape growers and consumers with a means to accurately identify the origin of wines, attributing characteristics and qualities of a particular region of origin’s wines, and reputation.  The designation is granted by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  To meet the standards and requirements of an AVA designation, a region must have distinguishing features such as soil, environment, elevation and climate particular to the location of the region, a substantive and historic name, and a unique, documented, and delineated boundary. To bear the AVA designation on its label, a bottle of wine must contain 85% of the listed AVA’s wine and like the appellation system in France, an AVA designation, however, is not necessarily an indication of quality.  An AVA is a type of appellation.

Country:  United States