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Section 7 – The United States of America
Overview of the Regions, Wines & Grapes of the USA
 
Introduction
Although the United States now haswineries in 50 of its 50 states – themajor regions being the PacificNorthwest, California and New YorkState – winemaking here has beenthrough numberless ups and downs.For the past two decades, however,the US has been a dominant force inthe world wine market, both in termsof influence and production. The USis now the fourth wine-producer byvolume, trailing only France, Italyand Spain. But more so than its grapes, it’s the demand created for its style ofwines that has made a great impact on wine worldwide; America more than anyother country is seen as the champion of the ‘new world’ style.Aside from availing itself from the newest technology, the US has a myriad of
terroirs 
suitable to quality viticulture, and the freedom allowed to producers withessentially no traditions to bind them up, has made the US into the powerhousethat it is in record time. Unlike the laws of Europe, US appellation laws are muchless restrictive (see below), and virtually any grape can be grown and vinified inthe country. The west coast is dominated by
vitis vinifera 
grapes, while the eastcoast and the mid-west tend to rely more on local hybrids and other members ofthe
vitis 
family.Wine laws, the areas of California, the Pacific Northwest and New York State willbe discussed below.
Wine Laws
AVAs
American wine laws are organized around the concept of the AmericanViticultural Area or AVA. An AVA is a demarcated growing region that isdistinguished or united by specific geographical features (at least in theory – some AVA choices have been very controversial). The AVA is the ‘smallest’appellation level (Napa Valley, or Walla Walla Valley); wines may also be labeledby county (Monterrey County), state (California Wine) or country (AmericanWine). Just like in Europe, the smaller the appellation, the more ‘individual’ thewine tends to be, and generally the higher the price, but AVA’s are not intended
 
as an indication of quality. All they are intended to do is to inform the consumerof where the grapes came from.
American Labeling Laws
Labeling laws are intended to give the consumer an accurate picture of what’s inthe bottle. Compliance with these laws is regulated by the Alcohol and TobaccoTax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Below are some of the of label items commonlylisted with an explanation of the exact requirements.
•
Wine Type: A wine may be labeled by a grape name such as Chardonnayor Cabernet Sauvignon, or it may be given a generic name such as "RedTable Wine." Wines listing specific grape names must contain at least75% of the named grape variety by volume.
•
Provenance: If an AVA appears on the label at least 85% of the wine mustbe made from grapes from the named AVA. The requirement is 75% forcounty appellations; requirements for wines bearing a state appellationvary by state.
•
Vintage: The vintage year designates the year in which the grapes wereharvested. The law requires that at least 95% of the grapes be from thestated vintage.
•
Vineyard of Origin: If a specific vineyard is mentioned at least 95% of thegrapes have to be from the named vineyard.
•
Producer and Bottler: This part of the label gives a great deal ofinformation about the production of the wine. The label must indicate thebottler and its location. The specific language used is a clue as to theinvolvement of the bottler in the finished wine.
•
Estate Bottled: This term means that 100% of the grapes were grown onland either owned or managed by the winery and that the wineryperformed the whole vinification process all the way to bottling. Anotherrequirement is that the vineyard and the winery must be within the sameAVA.
•
Alcohol Content: This statement on a table wine indicates the alcoholcontent by volume, with a tolerance of plus or minus 1.5%. However, thetolerance cannot be used to label as a table wine a wine containing morethan 14% alcohol. Dessert wines contain more than 14% but no more than21% alcohol and are permitted a plus or minus margin of 1%.
Declaration of Sulfites
Mandatory. Beginning in 1988, wines which have a level of 10 parts per million orgreater of sulfur dioxide must be labeled with a sulfite declaration.
 
California
History
California’s wine industry, like that of much of the newworld, started with the missionaries. Franciscanmissionary Junipero Serra, who established the firstfull-fledged vineyards in the California coast in mid tolate 1700’s, is considered by some to be the father ofthe California wine industry. The grape used by themissionaries, the mission grape, is believed to be thesame as the Criolla Chica of Argentina, a hardy varietythat responds well in almost any climate. This was thedominant grape in the region until the early 1800’s.In 1833 Jean-Louis Vignes planted a vineyard using exclusively European grapevarieties. Soon after, in the mid-1800’s, a Hungarian, Agoston Haraszthy broughthundreds of vine cuttings from Europe’s premier vineyards and is considered inmany ways to be the father of the modern California industry. He saw thepotential for producing wine just as good as the wine of the old world. The wineindustry continued to improve and strengthen getting an initial boost from thegold rush. It seemed as though California was on its way to becoming animportant member of the wine scene.But Phylloxera Vastatrix had other plans. Phylloxera is a root louse (an insectthat feeds on vine roots) that was fairly contained to the east coast of the US.The wild vines that inhabited the American continent for millennia had grownresistant to Phylloxera, but it proved deadly to the European
vinifera 
varieties.The pest was brought over to Europe in plant samples sent to England and soonspread, devastating almost all the vineyards of the old continent. No cure wasfound for a long time. Some tried crossing American vines with European vines inan attempt to build resistance, but the resulting vines tasted nothing like theoriginal grapes of Europe. Then someone had a stroke of genius; an Americanroot stock (the root part of an American plant) was grafted with the scion (the topof the plant) of a European vine; and this was the solution, the root was resistantto Phylloxera, while the vine that grew tasted like the European grape variety.Almost all the vineyards of the world are planted on American rootstock to thisday, since no cure has been found.After Phylloxera, Prohibition struck the American wine industry from 1919 until1933. The industry was severely weakened and didn’t really start to recover untilthe mid 60’s. In 1976 a tasting between the wines of France and those ofCalifornia was organized in London. It wasn’t meant to be a big event, but luckilyfor the US, one reporter was there to cover it. The wines were tasted blind and allthe judges were French. The wines to be tasted were Bordeaux wines vs.California Cabernets, and White Burgundies vs. California Chardonnays. TheFrench judges (unknowingly) chose the American wines over the French…and
of 00

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