AVA’s-This may amaze you…
AVA’s–need to know?
Background: The shot (figuratively) heard round the world in 1976 was the Paris Tasting, the event sponsored, of all things, by an Englishman. I have always used this date as a benchmark date for great wines in America.
So, the red and white wines that were winners at the Paris tasting came from Sonoma/Napa, CA (the white wine winner’s grapes came from Sonoma County hence why Sonoma is included here). So we know CA has been at wine making for a long time and it is possible because of a great climate and soil for wine.
As of the start of 2010 there were approximately 200 AVA’s in America.
Question: Where was the first designated AVA in the US? Be mindful that wine has been in California since 1683. But the real start was in 1779 at a mission called San Juan Capistrano (S. CA). But California’s first commercial winery was in Sonoma, CA in late 1850′s. Then, in 1861, the Charles Krug Winery was started in Napa.
Calibrating all this information, did you guess Missouri?
Answer: The first AVA to be designated as a viticulture area by the TTB under the Dept. of the Treasury is near St. Louis, Missouri; Augusta, Missouri to be exact. That designation was in the ancient past of June 20, 1980. Yes, 1980!