The Lancaster Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Lancaster and Chester counties of southeastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, centered on the city of Lancaster. The wine region includes in a valley that is roughly long and wide, although only are planted to

grapevine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, ...

s. The Lancaster Valley area is one of the most fertile agricultural areas in Pennsylvania, and features rich topsoil over

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

bedrock. It has a hot-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Dfa'') and is located in hardiness zones 6b and 7a.

References

American Viticultural Areas Geography of Chester County, Pennsylvania Geography of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania wine 1984 establishments in Pennsylvania {{wine-region-stub