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22-619: 38°0′N 78°25′W  /  38.000°N 78.417°W  / 38.000; -78.417 Monticello is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in the central Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia . It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on February 22, 1984, after six wine grape growers in the Charlottesville area petitioned the ATF to designate

44-467: A viticultural area to be known as “Monticello.” The name " Monticello " is known nationally and locally as the historic home of Thomas Jefferson , located near the center of the area. Monticello AVA includes most of Albemarle , Fluvanna , Greene , Orange , and Nelson counties. The area is nestled along the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains and encompasses the small ridge known as

66-622: 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 state where the AVA is located. The boundaries of AVAs are defined by the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), a component of the United States Department of the Treasury . The TTB defines AVAs at the request of wineries and other petitioners . Prior to

88-401: A wine to be labeled with a state or county appellation, at least 75% of the grapes used to make the wine must have been grown within the boundary of the appellation, and the wine must be fully finished within the state in which the appellation is located. Some states have more stringent rules, such as California , which requires 100% of the grapes used to make the wine be from California and that

110-462: A winemaker who is also involved as an owner or manager as opposed to a person who is employed only to make wine, who is generally referred to as a winemaker. It is also used when referring to a winemaker from France. Vincent of Saragossa is the patron saint of vignerons. Négociant is the French term for a wine merchant who assembles the produce of smaller growers and winemakers and sells

132-587: Is favorable to viticulture in Monticello AVA where temperatures are 4 to 5 °F (−16 to −15 °C) warmer than the surrounding areas. The warmer weather produces a longer growing season and protection from vine-freeze which can be fatal to ripening grapes. The season is a minimum of 190-200 day average in the AVA compared to areas further east and south that average 150 days and less. To maximize vine protection, vignerons selected sites with sunny, south-easterly exposure at 800 feet (244 m) and above between

154-479: Is not always the case. See map on the right showing the outline of the Paso Robles AVA , California's largest in total area, and the eleven distinct AVAs contained within it. In 2018, the second session of the 115th Congress recognized the contribution of American Viticultural Areas to the economy. The Blunt-Merkley Resolution passed unanimously. It noted that an AVA allows vintners to describe more accurately

176-458: Is sold under the name of the négociant , not the name of the original grape or wine producer. Some négociants have a recognizable house style. Négociants , who are also called wine merchants/traders, were the dominant force in the wine trade until the last 25 years for various reasons: Many négociants are also vineyard owners in their own right. In Burgundy for instance, négociants such as Bouchard Père et Fils and Faiveley are among

198-568: The Cole Ranch AVA in Mendocino County , California, at only 60 acres (24 ha). The Augusta AVA , which occupies the area around the town of Augusta, Missouri , was the first recognized AVA, gaining the status on June 20, 1980. There are currently 276 AVAs spread across 34 states, with over half (154) in California. An AVA may be located within one or more larger AVAs. For example,

220-633: The Santa Clara Valley AVA and Livermore Valley AVA are located within the boundaries of the San Francisco Bay AVA , which is itself located within the Central Coast AVA . In such cases, the wine may be labeled with any of the relevant AVAs, but winemakers generally label wines with the most specific AVA allowed for each wine. Smaller AVAs are often perceived to be associated with smaller production and higher quality wines, though this

242-550: The Southwest Mountains . There are approximately 30 varieties of grapes grown in the Monticello AVA. However, the most notable grapes grown in the area include Cabernet Franc , Chardonnay and Viognier . The hardiness zone is 7a except in some higher vineyards which are 6b. In 2019, the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) granted a petition to expand the AVA by approximately 106,240 acres (166 sq mi) into Fluvanna County. The earliest recorded attempts at winemaking in

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264-468: The Blue Ridge Mountains to the east causes “rivers of cold air” to flow through corridors that converge east of the Monticello AVA. It is manifested by the tendency of the cool air to sink along the surrounding topography and drain to the surface of the valley floors. This atmospheric phenomenon draws warmer air closer to the ground and reduces the incidence of frost damage. As a result, the climate

286-603: The Duke of Tuscany. As was the practice at that time, Mazzei rented his home, in this instance to the Hessian cavalry officer Friedrich Adolf Riedesel , a prisoner of war who had been captured at Saratoga and was imprisoned in the Charlottesville barracks. Riedesel moved his entire staff up to Mazzei's home and turned their horses out to pasture in the infant vineyards. The vineyards were destroyed. The geographical features of gaps in

308-762: The TTB regulations (27 C.F.R. § 9.12) prescribes the standards for petitions for the establishment or modification of AVAs. Petitions to establish an AVA must include the following: Once a petition is accepted as complete, the TTB may choose to seek public input on the proposal and at its sole discretion may approve the proposed AVA. Before the AVA system, wine appellations of origin in the United States were designated based on state or county boundaries. All of these appellations were grandfathered into federal regulations and may appear on wine labels as designated places of origin in lieu of an AVA, such as Sonoma County . In order for

330-468: The TTB's creation in 2003, the Treasury’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) received and handled petitions for viticultural areas, wine production and labeling. Section 4.25(e)(2) of the regulations (27 C.F.R. § 4.25(e)(2)) outlines the procedure for proposing an AVA and provides that any interested party may petition the TTB to establish a grape-growing region as an AVA. Section 9.12 of

352-568: The area occurred in the 1770s, when Thomas Jefferson provided financial support to Italian winemaker, Filippo Mazzei , who made a small quantity of wine from the native grapes, but without much success. Jefferson gave Mazzei significant acreage less than 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Monticello for the purpose of growing grapes. The area was planted in 1774. In 1776, with the advent of the Revolutionary war, Jefferson and George Washington dispatched Mazzei back to Italy to solicit war funding from

374-534: The city under the reign of Edward II . The Worshipful Company of Vintners is one of the oldest livery companies in London. A vigneron is someone who cultivates a vineyard for winemaking. The word connotes or emphasizes the critical role that vineyard placement and maintenance has in the production of high-quality wine. The term, French for someone who grows grapes or makes wine, is often used in Australia to describe

396-626: The mountain slopes. 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 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

418-571: The origin of their wine, while helping vintners to build and enhance the reputation and value of the wines produced. AVAs also allow consumers to attribute a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic to a wine made from grapes grown in an AVA. AVAs also help consumers identify what they purchase. Winemakers Today, these duties require an increasing amount of scientific knowledge, since laboratory tests are gradually supplementing or replacing traditional methods. Winemakers can also be referred to as oenologists as they study oenology –

440-408: The result under its own name. Négociants buy everything from grapes to grape must to wines in various states of completion. In the case of grapes or must, the négociant performs virtually all the winemaking . If he buys already fermented wine in barrels or en-vrac —basically in bulk containers, he may age the wine further, blend in other wines or simply bottle and sell it as is. The result

462-629: The science of wine. A vintner is a wine merchant . In some modern use, particularly in American English , the term is also used as a synonym for "winemaker". The term started in Middle English , superseding the earlier term vinter . Due to the close political and commercial ties between Bordeaux and England during the 14th and early 15th centuries, vintners were among the more important people in London with winemakers being four times mayor of

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484-670: The wine be fully finished within the state. Washington requires 95% of the grapes in a Washington wine be grown in Washington, although notably the Columbia Valley AVA , Columbia Gorge AVA , and Walla Walla Valley AVA are shared with Oregon. AVAs vary widely in size, ranging from the Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA , at more than 19 million acres (29,900 square miles (77,000 km )) across four states ( Illinois , Iowa , Minnesota , and Wisconsin ), to

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