Word: avase
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So you know what your favorite California wine tastes like. But where is it made? And what does the countryside look like? For answers, consider one of two new coffee-table atlases of West Coast wineland. The Wine Atlas of California (Viking; $50) by James Halliday is organized according to...
The Wine Atlas of California and the Pacific Northwest (Simon & Schuster; $45) is also organized by AVAS. Its military-precise maps are much better than those in Halliday's atlas, which are mostly in murky shades of camouflage green. But author Bob Thompson's prose is pedestrian, and his assessments...
Most winemakers favor AVAs in theory. Top-of-the-line varietals (wines named for the specific grapes used to make them) reap the industry's biggest profits these days. But Napa vineyards can cost $50,000 an acre, and prime grapes go for as much as $1,800 a ton...
Under AVA rules, growers first petition BATF to declare an appellation; then the bureau conducts public hearings on such matters as the area's grape- growing history and distinguishing topography. When the bureau approves an AVA, it sets the appellation's boundaries. Critics charge that some BATF decisions seem motivated...
Meanwhile, some vintners are searching for distinction in a different way by assigning their top wines proprietary names (the Clos du Bois vineyard's Marlstone, for example). Despite Heitz's Napa Valley pride, his lush, minty Cabernet Sauvignons (typical price: $40) are best known by the names of two farms...