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Lehigh Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) area located in the
Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...
region of southeastern
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
encompasses portions of Lehigh,
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
, Berks, Schuylkill,
Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
, and
Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...
Counties, the towns between
Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...
to Easton, the
landforms A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement i ...
of Schuylkill River Valley and the Brodhead and
Swatara Creek Swatara Creek (nicknamed the Swatty) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in east-central Pennsylvania in the United S ...
watersheds to the west. It was established on March 10, 2008 by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB),
Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...
after reviewing the petition submitted by John Skrip III, chairman of the Lehigh Wine Trail Appellation Committee, proposing the viticultural area named "Lehigh Valley."
The viticultural area is a long valley bordered by Second Mountain to the north and a loose range of mountains known as South Mountain to the south. Measuring approximately in length on the northern border by about in length on the southern front. The eastern border measures nearly and the western border equates to approximately . The area is bounded by the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...
in the east and the Berks-Lebanon county line in the west located approximately north-northwest of
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and does not overlap any other viticultural area. The wine region cultivates of
vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
s, planted with several ''
Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...
'' and French-American hybrid
grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimportant to agriculture, see ''V ...
. Lehigh Valley climate is said to be comparable to the cool climates of Central and
Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
, favoring the production of French-American hybrid grapes, namely
Chambourcin Chambourcin () is a variety of grapevine belonging to the ''Vitis'' genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. It is a French- American interspecific hybrid grape variety used for making wine. Its parentage is uncertain, but genetic studies ...
. Between fifteen and twenty percent of the wine produced in Pennsylvania is made from grapes grown in the Lehigh Valley region. The region has a
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(''Dfa-Dfb'' in higher areas) and the
hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
is 7a or 6b.


History

Lehigh Valley derives its name from the
Lehigh River The Lehigh River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward ...
, which flows through the viticultural area and into the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...
at Easton, Pennsylvania. The word "Lehigh" originated with the Lenapes in the 1600s, who named the area "Lechauwekink," meaning an area with "river forks." The petitioner notes that through a series of translations of the original Lenape name, the name "Lehigh" now identifies the area.


Terroir


Topography

The topography of the Lehigh Valley viticultural area largely consists of rolling hills with elevations generally between , according to the petitioner and the provided
USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...
maps. Creeks and several rivers flow through the region, while lakes dot the landscape, as shown on the USGS maps of the region. Also, a small portion of the northeastern boundary area, along the foothills of the Blue Mountain range, rises to the contour line. The
Appalachian National Scenic Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian T ...
meanders through the area's higher elevations, as shown on the USGS maps. Beyond the northern boundary of the viticultural area, the terrain transitions from the lower, rolling hills of the Lehigh Valley to higher foothills and mountains with elevations ranging from . While the region southeast of the viticultural area begins on the heights of South Mountain, the region quickly falls to the lower and flatter elevations of the Delaware River valley. These features contrast with the regions to the north and south of the viticultural area, according to the petitioner. To document these differences, the petitioner uses data collected from 1961 to 1996 by the
United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...
(USDA) and its
Natural Resources Conservation Service Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and ...
(NRCS). In addition, the petitioner submitted maps of Pennsylvania with information on soil moisture, soil temperature, frost-free periods, and agro-climatic regions.


Geology

The geology of the Lehigh Valley viticultural area, as depicted on the Geologic Map of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey, revised in 2000, includes
Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...
features in the south and
Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...
features in the north. The Ordovician geology, predominantly consisting of
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
,
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
, dolomite, and
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
, dates back 430 million to 500 million years. The Permian geology, dating back 250 million to 290 million years, consists of
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
, in addition to the sandstone, shale, and
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
that is similar to that found in the Ordovician geology to the south of the viticultural area.


Soils

The soils within the Lehigh Valley viticultural area are mainly based on shale, sandstone, and siltstone. A 1972 Soil Conservation Service publication, ''General Soil Map-Pennsylvania'', verifies that the area contains shale, sandstone, and siltstone. Soils to the south of the area, according to the petitioner, are based on
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...
,
gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...
, and porcelanite, rather than shale,
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
, and sandstone. According to data submitted by the petitioner, a lack of soil moisture during the growing season puts the Lehigh Valley viticultural area in the Typic Udic moisture regime (less than 90 days of drying), as determined by USGS and NRCS data and shown on the ''Soil Moistures Regimes of Pennsylvania Landscapes'' map. The petitioner explains that the region typically has a June through August dry season when the grape vines rely on stored moisture rather than rain. The estimated annual mean soil temperature of the viticultural area is Typic Mesic, ranging from . This information is based on temperatures at below the soil surface and shown on the ''Soil Moistures Regimes of Pennsylvania Landscapes'' map.


Climate

The agricultural-climatic features of the Lehigh Valley viticultural area include heat accumulation measurements of 2,601 to 3,000 annual degree days and an annual moisture surplus of of water, as shown on the ''Agro-Climate Regions of Pennsylvania'' map submitted with the petition. As a measurement of heat accumulation during the growing season, one degree day accumulates for each degree Fahrenheit that a day’s mean temperature is above 50 degrees, which is the minimum temperature required for grapevine growth. The USGS and the NRCS integrate degree-days and annual moisture surplus data to identify regions of relatively homogeneous heat and moisture characteristics related to crop production.


Viticulture

The appellation encompasses an area of approximately 1888 square miles, 1.2 million acres, of which 70% is suitable for premium winegrapes. Commercial grape growing started in the Lehigh Valley viticultural area in 1974, the petition notes, when Vynecrest Winery and Clover Hill Winery started planting grapes. Two years later, Franklin Hill Winery planted grapes Bangor in Northampton County. As of 2024, there are eleven licensed wineries and 13 vineyards growing a total of at least of grapes. The list of wineries within the AVA, i.e., Amoré Vineyards, Big Creek Vineyard, Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars, Cherry Valley Vineyards, Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery, Franklin Hill Vineyards, Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Pinnacle Ridge Winery, Sorrenti Family Cherry Valley Vineyard, Tolino Vineyards, Vynecrest Winery and Weathered Vineyards. Together, the wineries comprised the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail. The closest vineyard and winery outside of the region lies in the town of Manatawny, Pennsylvania and is about south of the AVA in Berks county. The region houses similar agro-climatic conditions, geology, soil types, and topography. Conditions that make this area unique to grape growing and separate it from the surrounding land.


References


External links


Lehigh Valley American Viticultural Area

TTB AVA Map
American Viticultural Areas of Pennsylvania Geography of Berks County, Pennsylvania Geography of Carbon County, Pennsylvania Geography of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Geography of the Lehigh Valley Geography of Monroe County, Pennsylvania Geography of Northampton County, Pennsylvania Geography of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania 2008 establishments in Pennsylvania