St. Helena is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located within

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

, centered in and around the town of

St. Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constit ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on October 11, 1995, after the ATF received a petition from Mr. Charles A. Carpy, Chairman of the St. Helena Appellation Committee, proposing to establish a new viticultural area in Napa County to be known as "St. Helena."

Geography

The

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

covers along the flat narrow land towards the northern end of the valley between the Vaca and

Mayacamas Mountains The Mayacamas Mountains are located in northwestern California in the United States. The mountain range is part of the Northern Inner Coast Ranges, of the California Coast Ranges System. Geography The Mayacamas Mountains are located south of the ...

. Its soil is mostly loam with good water retention and varying amounts of gravel.

Climate

The area has a

Warm-summer Mediterranean A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

climate, and is somewhat hotter than nearby wine growing regions with summer temperatures that often reach the mid 90s

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined hi ...

. It receives approximately 40 inches of rainfall per year.

History

In 1860, George Belden Crane planted

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

vines in St. Helena, and the vineyard produced its first wine in 1862. By 1874, the vineyard had produced 500,000 gallons of wine annually.

Charles Krug Charles Krug (1825–1892) was among the pioneers of winemaking in the Napa Valley, California, and was the founder of the Charles Krug Winery. Biography Charles Krug visited the United States from Prussia in 1847, and became a citizen in 1852. I ...

, one of the pioneers of Napa Valley winemaking, founded his winery in 1861 in the St. Helena district. Krug also established the St. Helena Viticultural Club in 1876. On October 11, 1995, St. Helena AVA was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). The AVA hosts more than 93 wineries with about cultivated.

Viticulture

The region is known for its red wines, including Zinfandel,

Petite Sirah Durif is a variety of red wine grape primarily grown in Australia, California, France, and Israel. Since the end of the 20th century, wineries located in Washington's Yakima River Valley, Maryland, Arizona, Texas, West Virginia, Chile, Mexico ...

and Pinot Noir, although white wines are also produced there such as Chardonnay. Its terroir is particularly well suited to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, particularly Sauvignon Blanc. St. Helena's Cabernet Sauvignon is noted for its quality.

References

External links

*
TTB AVA Map
{{Authority control American Viticultural Areas of the San Francisco Bay Area Napa Valley St. Helena, California Geography of Napa County, California 1995 establishments in California American Viticultural Areas