Why the Proliferation of Appellations?

Definition

Wine grape-growing areas or appellations or American Viticultural Areas or AVAs (whew) are common in the premium wine market. It can be helpful to know where the grapes were grown.

Examples and Why They Exist

Your wine could be labeled as grown in California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley, or Green Valley. This example goes from largest area with a huge range of growing conditions to a very specific area of 30 square miles. This matters because micro-climate, soil, and topography all make a difference.

Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, and Willamette Valley are examples of well-known American appellations. California has about 140 so you probably haven't heard of most of them. Did you know Napa Valley has about 15 sub-appellations (meaning they reside within the Napa Valley appellation). Stags Leap, Rutherford, and Carneros are the best-known. Napa Valley isn't all valley floor land as the hills to the east and west are included so most of these sub-appellations are in the hills to distinguish them from the valley. Also, Napa Valley is warmer upvalley, but fairly cool to the south near the cool waters of the bay.

Sonoma County appellations -- click on to enlarge
from sonomawinegrape.org

The Other Reason AVAs Exist

Money. Yes, you can charge more. How much? An unscientific guess is at least 20%. It depends on the wine. For instance, if I see a Pinot Noir labeled Sonoma County I'm expecting it to be inexpensive. I wouldn't spend $45 buying it off the store shelf (without tasting it first). However, if I saw a $45 Pinot labeled as from Ft. Ross/Seaview (a 40 sq mi sub-appellation of Sonoma Coast) I would think, "Wow, what a bargain!" See, I've been trained to expect higher prices from certain areas for certain grape varieties.

Even at the lower end of the market an appellation on the label helps sell. If I see a $12 generic red at the store labeled as California for its growing region I'm much less likely to take a chance than if the label tells me the grapes are from Alexander Valley. When I see California as the growing area I think of the cheaper Central Valley grapes when it could actually mean multiple premium coastal regions.

Vineyard Designated Wine

There's a smaller breakdown that makes a wine even more valuable in the mind of many wine shoppers. This is the single vineyard wine or even better a block of one vineyard. Does this actually make a difference in wines when you get them from only one vineyard versus a blend of multiple vineyards? Can a single section of a vineyard actually make a different wine? Yes to both. Are the wines better because they're single vineyard or from vineyard blocks? Don't assume that. Are they going to be more expensive? You betcha.

Summing it Up

You can argue if a winemaker makes two versions of a particular wine that they will save their best grapes for the vineyard labeled one over the county labeled version, but there's no guarantee.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea to buy wine from small appellations or vineyard blocks. It's just buyer beware. I often buy these wines myself, but it's when I'm at a tasting room and I get to try their Pinots, Zins, or whatever from different areas to find what I like.