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Today we have a conference preview from David Glancy, MS, CWE, FWS, CSS. In this post, David tells us about his upcoming session—entitled “New and Pending California AVAs and Trends”—covering the latest news (and there is a lot) of the wines of California. David’s session will be offered as part SWE’s 43rd Annual Conference, to be held August 14 – 16 in Washington DC.
California wine is easy, the grape’s on the label, right? Wrong! The only constant is change and California wine country is more diverse and complex than most realize. Many of you studying for CWE, WSET, MS, MW and WSG programs spend far more time dissecting the minutiae of European wine regions than those in your own backyard.
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The basics of AOs versus AVAs is lost on many people and in fact I almost never hear anyone discussing AOs. I have heard very advanced wine industry people talking about counties that are AVAs. Well, there are none, they are separate things. A county, state or country can be an Appellation of Origin and an American Viticultural Area is a more specific type of AO with more strict labeling requirements. Some confusion has been created by the approval of the Mendocino AVA inside Mendocino County, Monterey AVA in Monterey County and San Benito AVA in San Benito County. But to be clear, these AVAs are all significantly smaller than the county lines (the AOs).
There have been a tremendous number of new AVAs approved in recent years. California has 139 AVAs and 26 of them were approved 2011-2018, a 23 percent increase. 5 regions have also mandated Conjunctive Labeling. Are all of these AVAs meaningful? What are the climates, soils, predominant grapes and most important wineries? Chances are most people have not seen a label with the AVA names Los Olivos District or Petaluma Gap on it.
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Is this AVA expansion slowing down? I don’t think so. There are also 9 pending AVAs in California alone. Who knows how many are being discussed but not yet submitted to the Tax & Trade Bureau? West Sonoma Coast is expected to be finalized any day, while San Luis Obispo Coast is in the back of the line. It will be interesting to conjecture about where the next AVAs might or should be.
At least AVAs are much simpler to understand than AOCs, DOCGs, DOs, DACs, etc.. Well, there are now a few California regions with Old World style rules with trademarked label terms that include strict regulations. We will discuss and taste selections from Coro Mendocino, Lodi Native and the Ballard Canyon Estate Syrah bottle mold.
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The launch of the CSWA Sustainable Wine logo is also new. We will see and taste an example of this, also. Well, we won’t actually taste the label. There are also perhaps a dozen new grape varieties in the ground over the last 20 years. This CA update will cover those and discuss where these and other new grapes are best suited. Climate change has to be part of the agenda and if there are any grapes that will likely decline. There have also been excise tax changes that might end up impacting labeling laws. Competition has also changed with commercial wineries in all 50 United States and a handful of them expanding at a faster rate than California. China has had a meteoric rise in its acreage and production and Trade wars have also impacted California’s foreign markets. This conference session is only 75 minutes long so register for conference, sign up for my session, and buckle up for a ride through what’s new and pending in California wine!
About the speaker: David Glancy, MS, CWE, FWS, CSS founded the San Francisco Wine School in 2011 to create the ideal educational setting from the ground up. He is one of only twelve people in the world to hold both the revered Master Sommelier diploma and Certified Wine Educator credential. A certified French Wine Scholar, Italian Wine Professional, and Certified Specialist of Spirits, Glancy has earned the credential for every program he teaches, and more. In 2012 he created the California Wine Appellation Specialist program and credential to fill a glaring void in the educational market. David’s session, “New and Pending California AVAs and Trends ” will be held on Friday, August 16 at 1:15 pm as part of the Society of Wine Educator’s 43rd Annual Conference, to be held in Washington DC.
Are you a conference speaker that would like to share a preview of your session? Contact Jane A. Nickles at jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org