What is an American Viticultural Area (AVA)?
An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is recognized as an official grape growing region which has been certified and registered by the Federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax, and Trade Bureau (TTB). With the booming growth in the Wine Industry in the 1970’s, the Federal Government needed to regulate the numerous grape growing regions taking formation in the United States.

Each AVA encompasses unique growing climates, soil composition, etc. and must be included on the wine label. AVA’s allow consumers to make educated purchasing decisions on the origin of grapes in their wine. To date, there are over 170 AVA’s in the United States including Napa Valley, Paso Robles, Monterey, Lodi, and of course Livermore Valley. Visit www.iwineinstitute.com for a complete list of AVA’s.

The Livermore Valley AVA
The Livermore Valley AVA geography encompasses both the valley floor and the encircling hills of Alameda County and the southern part of Contra Costa County.

Just as Napa Valley’s AVA includes the cities of Oakville, Rutherford, Yountville, Calistoga and St. Helena, Livermore Valley has Danville, Diablo, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Dublin and the eastern boundaries of Castro Valley and Sunol.

Livermore Valley is one of California’s oldest wine regions as Robert Livermore planted the first commercial grapes in the 1840’s. In fact, California was put on the wine map because of Livermore Valley, which was the first American wine region to receive a Gold Medal Award at the Paris Exposition in 1889. Wente & Concannon survived Prohibition, making them two of the oldest wineries in California. Today, over 80% of California’s Chardonnay can be traced back to the Livermore Valley clone.