Carmel Valley (AVA)
Carmel Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Monterey County, California, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea and it is one of the ten AVAs in the county. Approximately south of San Francisco, the AVA was recognized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury on January 13, 1983 after reviewing the petition submitted by Mr. David Armanasco, General Manager of Durney Vineyard, located in Carmel, to propose a viticultural area named “Carmel Valley.” The appellation is nestled about inland from the Pacific coast within the towering Santa Lucia Range encompassing over with of cultivated grapes on elevations ranging from above sea level. The AVA is resident to a number of wineries and some vineyards dating back to the 1870s, as well as the town of Carmel Valley Village. Vineyards are predominantly within Carmel Valley and Cacahgua Valley. Bordeaux varietals are popular with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot comprising more than 70% of th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Viticultural Area
An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know about the geographic pedigree of their wines, as wines from a particular area can possess distinctive characteristics. Consumers often seek out wines from specific AVAs, and certain wines of particular pedigrees can claim premium prices and loyal customers. If a wine is labeled with an AVA, at least 85% of the grapes that make up the wine must have been grown in the AVA, and the wine must be fully finished within the U.S. state, state where the AVA is located. Regulations Since 1980, the boundaries of AVAs were defined by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms , Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that received and handled petitions for viticultural ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Growing Degree-day
Growing degree days (GDD), also called growing degree units (GDUs), are a heuristic tool in phenology. GDD are a measure of heat accumulation used by horticulturists, gardeners, and farmers to predict plant and animal development rates such as the date that a flower will bloom, an insect will emerge from dormancy, or a crop will reach maturity. GDD is credited to be first defined by Reaumur in 1735. Introduction In the absence of extreme conditions such as unseasonal drought or disease, plants grow in a cumulative stepwise manner which is strongly influenced by the ambient temperature. Growing degree days take aspects of local weather into account and allow gardeners to predict (or, in greenhouses, even to control) the plants' pace toward maturity. Unless stressed by other environmental factors like moisture, the development rate from emergence to maturity for many plants depends upon the daily air temperature. Because many developmental events of plants and insects depend on the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Petite Sirah
Durif is a variety of red wine grape mainly grown in Australia, California, France, and Israel. Since the end of the 20th century, wineries located in Washington (state), Washington's Yakima River Valley, Maryland, Arizona, Texas, West Virginia, Chile, Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, and Ontario's Niagara Peninsula have also produced wines from Durif grapes. It is the primary grape known in the U.S. and Israel as Petite Sirah, with over 90% of the California plantings labeled "Petite Sirah" being Durif grapes. The United States, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recognizes "Durif" and "Petite Sirah" as synonyms.PS I Love YoPetite Sirah Timeline The grape produces tannin (wine), tannic wines with a spicy, plummy flavour. It originated from Syrah pollen germinating a Peloursin plant. On occasion, Peloursin and Syrah vines may both be called Petite Sirah, usually because the varieties are extremely difficult to distinguish in old age. History In ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Petit Verdot
Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, colour and flavour, in small amounts, to the blend. Petit verdot has attracted attention among winemakers in the New World, where it ripens more reliably and has been made into single varietal wine. It is also useful in 'stiffening' the mid palate of Cabernet Sauvignon blends. When young its aromas have been likened to banana and pencil shavings. Strong tones of violet and leather develop as it matures. History Petit Verdot probably predates Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux, but its origins are unclear. There are records of it in the eighteenth century, but its characteristics suggest an origin in much hotter climes than the Gironde. It is likely that it originates from the Pyrénées-Atlantiques where it was possibly domesticated from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Merlot
Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, make Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin. Along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, Merlot is one of the primary grapes used in Bordeaux wine, and it is the most widely planted grape in the Bordeaux wine regions. Merlot is also one of the most popular red wine varietals in many markets. This flexibility has helped to make it one of the world's most planted grape varieties. As of 2004, Merlot was estimated to be the third most grown variety at globally.J. Robinson (ed) ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'' Third Edition, Oxford University P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Malbec
Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in South West France, though the grape is grown worldwide. It is also available as an Argentine varietal. The grape became less popular in Bordeaux after 1956 when frost killed off 75% of the crop. Despite Cahors being hit by the same frost, which devastated the vineyards, Malbec was replanted and continued to be popular in that area. Winemakers in the region frequently mixed Malbec with Merlot and Tannat to make dark, full-bodied wines, but have ventured into 100% Malbec varietal wines more recently.J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 198 & 204 Mitchell Beazley 1986 A popular but unconfirmed theory claims that Malbec is named after a Hungarian peasant who first spread the grape variety throughou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grenache
Grenache (; ) or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditions such as those found in Spain, where the grape is believed to have originated. It is also grown in the Italian island of Sardinia, the south of France, Australia, and California's Monterey AVA, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara County and San Joaquin Valley. It is generally spicy, berry-flavored and soft on the palate and produces wine with a relatively high alcohol content, but it needs careful control of yields for best results. Characteristic flavor profiles on Grenache include red fruit flavors (raspberry and strawberry) with a subtle, white pepper spice note. Grenache wines are highly prone to oxidation, with even young examples having the potential to show browning (or "bricking") coloration that can be noticed around the rim when ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chenin Blanc
Chenin blanc (, ; known also as Pineau de la Loire among #Synonyms, other names) is a white wine grape variety from the Loire Valley (wine), Loire Valley of France (wine), France. Its high acidity (wine), acidity means it can be used to make varieties from sparkling wines to well-balanced dessert wines, although it can produce very bland, neutral wines if the vine's natural vigor is not controlled. Outside the Loire, it is found in most of the New World wine regions; it is the most widely planted variety in South African wine, South Africa, where it was historically also known as Steen ( ). The grape may have been one of the first to be grown in South Africa by Jan van Riebeeck in 1655, or it may have come to that country with Huguenots fleeing France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Chenin blanc was often misidentified in Australia, as well, so tracing its early history in the country is not easy. It may have been introduced in James Busby's collection of 1832 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chardonnay
Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new and developing wine regions, growing Chardonnay is seen as a 'rite of passage' and an easy entry into the international wine market. The Chardonnay grape itself is neutral, with many of the flavors commonly associated with the wine being derived from such influences as ''terroir'' and oak.Robinson, 2006, pp. 154–56. It is vinified in many different styles, from the lean, crisply mineral wines of Chablis, France, to New World wines with oak and tropical fruit flavors. In cool climates (such as Chablis and the Carneros AVA of California), Chardonnay wine tends to be medium to light body with noticeable acidity and flavors of green plum, apple, and pear. In warmer locations (such as the Adelaide Hills and Mornington Peninsula in Austral ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carignane
Carignan (; also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish (wine), Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterranean and around the globe. Along with Aramon (grape), Aramon, it was considered one of the main grapes responsible for France's wine lake and was a substantial producer in jug wine production in California (wine), California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley but in recent years, it has been reborn as a flagship wine for many cellars in the south of France as well as in Catalan wine, Catalonia.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 58 Harcourt Books 2001 Ampelographers believe that the grape likely originated in Cariñena, Aragon, Cariñena, Aragon and was later transplanted to Sardinia, elsewhere in Italy (wine), Italy, France, Algeria (wine), Algeria, and much of the New World (wine), New World. The variet ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley. This grape variety appeared in France in the 17th century as a result of natural crossbreeding. Its popularity is often attributed to its ease of cultivation—the grapes have thick skins and the vines are hardy and naturally low yielding, budding late to avoid frost and resistant to viticulture hazards. The classic profile of Cabernet Sauvignon tends to be full-bodied wines with high tannins and noticeable acidity that contributes to the wine's aging potential. In cool areas, it has flavors of blackcurrant and green pepper; in warmer places, it may taste like black cherry and olive; in very hot climates, it can have a jammy flavor. History and origins For many years, the origin of Cabernet Sauvignon was not cl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's Chinon wine, Chinon. In addition to being used in blends and produced as a varietal in Canada (wine), Canada, Lake Erie AVA, Lake Erie AVA in Pennsylvania, and across the United States (wine), United States and Argentina, it is sometimes made into ice wine in those regions. Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon, making a bright pale red wine that contributes finesse and lends a Black pepper, peppery perfume to blends with more robust grapes. Depending on the growing region and style of wine, additional Aromas (wine), aromas can include tobacco, raspberry, bell pepper, Blackcurrant, cassis, and Viola (plant), violets. Records of Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux go back to the end of the 18th century, although it was planted in Loire ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |