Back in the classroom again. Today we had a whirlwind "tour" of the New World wines. I was surprised to hear that the wine industry is more heavily regulated that the pharmaceutical industry (some how I don't find that reassuring being a nurse).
In 1983, the American Viticultural Area (AVA) system was implemented. What this does is break each state into viticultural areas, the information which is then put on wine labels so consumers know where it is their wine comes from. There are more than 150 AVA's in the US. When this information is placed on a wine label, 85 percent of the grapes in that wine must be grown in that AVA. We then learned how to read wine labels. Each label must contain a health warning, the varietal, the AVA, whether or not it comes from a single vineyard, whether it is estate bottled and the vintage date.
At this point we had the "sulfite talk". Sulfites are naturally occurring in all fruits with seeds, therefore all wine contains sulfites (including European wine). There are more sulfites in a glass of orange juice than in a glass of wine. The reason most people don't get a headache when drinking wine in Europe is because the alcohol levels of their wines are lower than US wines.
California produces 90 percent of US wine although all 50 states have at least one bonded winery. California's "signature" grape is Zinfandel, although the Napa Valley is most famous for it's Cabernet Sauvignon. Oregon's signature grape is Pinot Noir. Washington state has two signature grapes/wine, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Next Debbie covered South African and South American wines. It is interesting to hear the history of wine in all these areas and to hear whether or not they were affected by the grape blight from the 1860s. Apparently in the 18th century, Americans sent grapevines back to France as they were not growing well in American soil. The vines were sent back to Europe (France), and soon French vineyards began drying out, then Italian vineyards as this blight (called Phylloxera-an aphid like infestation) spread across Europe. Apparently a mite the American vines were immune from, caused the European vines to die out. And this is the reason the French still hate us (long memories!).
Growing grapes seem to be all about terrior noir-altitude, climate, sun, and on and on......no wonder people study this for years!!
"Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with few tensions and more tolerance.". -Benjamin Franklin
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