St. Helena is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located within Napa Valley, centered in and around the town of St. Helena, California. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on October 11, 1995, after the ATF received a petition from Mr. Charles A. Carpy, Chairman of the St. Helena Appellation Committee, proposing to establish a new viticultural area in Napa County to be known as "St. Helena."

Geography

The appellation covers along the flat narrow land towards the northern end of the valley between the

Vaca Vaca, is an abbreviation of "vacation". Vaca also may refer to: Geography *Vaca Mountains, a mountain range in Napa County, California *Vaca Díez Province, Bolivia *Vaca Mare River, a tributary of the Siriu River in Romania *Vaca Mică River, a ...

and Mayacamas Mountains. Its soil is mostly

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

with good water retention and varying amounts of gravel.

Climate

The area has a Warm-summer Mediterranean climate, and is somewhat hotter than nearby wine growing regions with summer temperatures that often reach the mid 90s Fahrenheit. It receives approximately 40 inches of rainfall per year.

History

In 1860, George Belden Crane planted Mission vines in St. Helena, and the vineyard produced its first wine in 1862. By 1874, the vineyard had produced 500,000 gallons of wine annually. Charles Krug, one of the pioneers of Napa Valley winemaking, founded his winery in 1861 in the St. Helena district. Krug also established the St. Helena Viticultural Club in 1876. On October 11, 1995, St. Helena AVA was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). The AVA hosts more than 93 wineries with about cultivated.

Viticulture

The region is known for its red wines, including

Zinfandel Zinfandel (also known as Primitivo) is a variety of black-skinned wine grape. The variety is grown in over 10 percent of California vineyards. DNA analysis has revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grapes Crljenak Kaštel ...

, Petite Sirah and

Pinot Noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

, although white wines are also produced there such as

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 French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

. Its terroir is particularly well suited to Bordeaux, particularly

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

. St. Helena's

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' ...

is noted for its quality.

References

External links

*
TTB AVA Map
{{Authority control American Viticultural Areas of the San Francisco Bay Area Napa Valley St. Helena, California Geography of Napa County, California 1995 establishments in California American Viticultural Areas