American Vocational Association

AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREA. A delimited, geographical grape-growing area that has officially been given appellation status by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Two examples are Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley.

American Viticultural Area: an officially designated grape-growing region in the United States. In general, when AVA is stated on the label, at least 85% of the grapes must have originated in that AVA.

American Viticultural Area. An official geographical grape-growing area that has been recognized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for its geographic distinctiveness.

System of appellations established for American wines defining a distinct grape growing area with details of geographic features such as soil, climate and elevation.

American Viticultural Area. Implemented in 1983, it is the American equivalent to the French AOC system. For varietal wines, 75% of grapes must come from the AVA on the label.

This stands for American Viticultural Area, this country's answer to the appellation systems used in Europe. Often simply called, appellations, AVA's are designated geographic areas recognized as named places for growing grapes. It is important to realize that AVAs (or appellations) do not in any way indicate wine quality, and the systems in Europe often do. As administered by the US Alchohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau (TTB), AVA's only designate geographic boundaries as grape growing areas. When the grapes in a wine have been grown within the boundaries of an AVA, the name of that AVA can be used on the bottle's label as an indicator to the consumer of the source of the wine - NOT the quality of the wine.

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AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREA. A particular geographical location, such as Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, that has been officially designated a grape-growing area in the United States by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. See also: viticultural area.

AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREA. An grape-growing area that has officially been given appellation status by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Examples are Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, yet many AVA's are considerably smaller in size. The AVA's are largely determined by geography, although politics plays a hefty role as well.