An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), United States Department of the Treasury.
AVA’s range in size from the Upper Mississippi Valley AVA at 29,900 square miles across four states, to the Cole Ranch AVA in Mendocino County, CA, at only 62 acres. The Augusta AVA near the town of Augusta, Missouri, was the first recognized AVA, in 1980.
Unlike most European wine appellations of origin, an AVA specifies only a geographical location from which at least 85% of the grapes used to make a wine must have been grown.
The first benefit is to the grape grower. An AVA defines the characteristics of an area. The grower within the AVA will have more of a story to tell. The AVA allows the grower to define his or her story and tie it to his property.
The second benefit is for the winery that uses grapes from the AVA.
With the winery, the message or story is increased and the winery can use it to distinguish itself from other wineries.
The consumer gets the third benefit: people like to know where the wine comes from not only from a safety and sustainability aspect, but also about the unique characteristics that define the grapes grown in a particular AVA.”
Finally, wine and grapes are about location, they speak of the soil from which they grew.
A petition was prepared and filed with the TTB to establish a New AVA to be named “Lamorinda”.
“Viticulture” is the science, production and study of grapes.
The area described (Lamorinda) includes nearly 139 acres (at application date) of planted vines and planned plantings.
The following Unique Characteristics of the area were cited:
Lamorinda Wine Growers Association Membership
Lamorinda AVA Founding Member Benefactors
Bullfrog Crook Vineyard / Tony De Venuta
Captain Vineyards / Salah and Susan Captain
Deer Hill Vineyards / Bill and Alissa Scanlin
Gerry Dzondzel and Jennifer Matthews
Last One Picked Winery / Tom Morehouse
Los Arabis Vineyards / Jim and Leslie Ward
Moraga Ranch Winery / Bruzzone Family
Packwood Ridge Vineyards / Andrea Wood
Painted Rock Vineyards and Performing Arts Center / Roger Poynts
Parkmon Vineyards / David Parker and Sharl Simon
Deva Rajan
Reliez Valley Vineyards / David Rey
Vincenza Ranch Vineyard / Tony and John Inzerillo
Paul and Tamara Attard
Stuart and Debra Kish-Bussey
Jose and Marcela Avelar
Jim Kurkjian
Vlatka Bathgate, Certified Master Sommelier
Jon and Megan Leuteneker
Mimi Liem
Bill and Christie Booth
Joao Magalhaes
Dennis Carleston
Latka Malkani and Raymond Cardozo
Brian and Sara Cherry
Keith McConnell
John and Kathryn Clark
Bob McKulla
Peter and Martha Clark
Hank and Bonnie Miler
Bill Davidson and Linda Borick
Mary Leigh Miller
Gerry Del Rio
Nazzi and Saied Nazeri
Bonneau Dickson
David and Diana Obrand
Suzanne and C.J. Doherty
Bimal Patel
Bob and Georganne Eddy
Cindy Pearson
Bill English
Bill Pence and Susan Rix
Dan and Dena Fishbein
Henry and Kathy Pinney
Ernie and Jeanne Gabiati
Jamie Rector
Joe Grillo and Lupita Suttor
Patricia Rose and Dave Waters
Carol and Larry Haag
Tony Sarsam
Diana and Mel Haas
Peter Scheirer
Joyce Hazard
Doug Spear and Isabele Ord
Jon Henderson
Larry and Esther Thal
Jeff Hocking
Gerald and Kathryn Van Steyn
Daniel Howsepian
Tomas Velken
Julie and Andrew Hurd
Tim Wediake
Robert Joakimson
Lin Wu
Don and Lisa Johnson
