Monticello AVA
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Monticello is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in the central
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region of the
Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on February 22, 1984, after six wine grape growers in the
Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...
area petitioned the ATF to designate a viticultural area to be known as “Monticello.” The name "
Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...
" is known nationally and locally as the historic home of
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
, located near the center of the area. Monticello AVA includes most of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Orange, and
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counties. The area is nestled along the eastern slopes of the
Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...
and encompasses the small ridge known as the Southwest Mountains. There are approximately 30 varieties of
grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...
grown in the Monticello AVA. However, the most notable grapes grown in the area include
Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...
,
Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...
and
Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu AOC, Condrieu in the Rhone Valley (wine), Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition, p. 754, Oxford Univers ...
. The
hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
is 7a except in some higher vineyards which are 6b. In 2019, the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) granted a petition to expand the AVA by approximately into Fluvanna County.


History

The earliest recorded attempts at winemaking in the area occurred in the 1770s, when
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
provided financial support to
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winemaker, Filippo Mazzei, who made a small quantity of wine from the native grapes, but without much success. Jefferson gave Mazzei significant acreage less than south of Monticello for the purpose of growing grapes. The area was planted in 1774. In 1776, with the advent of the Revolutionary war, Jefferson and George Washington dispatched Mazzei back to Italy to solicit war funding from the Duke of Tuscany. As was the practice at that time, Mazzei rented his home, in this instance to the Hessian cavalry officer Friedrich Adolf Riedesel, a prisoner of war who had been captured at Saratoga and was imprisoned in the Charlottesville barracks. Riedesel moved his entire staff up to Mazzei's home and turned their horses out to pasture in the infant vineyards. The vineyards were destroyed.


Terroir

The geographical features of gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east causes “rivers of cold air” to flow through corridors that converge east of the Monticello AVA. It is manifested by the tendency of the cool air to sink along the surrounding topography and drain to the surface of the valley floors. This atmospheric phenomenon draws warmer air closer to the ground and reduces the incidence of frost damage. As a result, the climate is favorable to viticulture in Monticello AVA where temperatures are warmer than the surrounding areas. The warmer weather produces a longer growing season and protection from vine-freeze which can be fatal to ripening grapes. The season is a minimum of 190-200
day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...
average in the AVA compared to areas further east and south that average 150 days and less. To maximize vine protection, vignerons selected sites with sunny, south-easterly exposure at and above between the mountain slopes.


See also

*
Virginia Wine Virginia wine refers to wine made primarily from grapes grown in the commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia has hot humid summers that can be challenging to viticulture, and only within the last twenty years has the industry developed beyond novelty ...
* List of wineries in Virginia


References


External links


Monticello Wine TrailCentral Virginia region
from the official Virginia Wine site.
TTB AVA Map
{{coord, 37.954613, N, 78.5055652, W, format=dms, region:US-VA_dim:27000, display=title Geography of Albemarle County, Virginia American Viticultural Areas of Virginia Geography of Greene County, Virginia Geography of Nelson County, Virginia Geography of Orange County, Virginia 1984 establishments in Virginia