Abstract
American Viticultural Areas are officially recognized appellations for wine grapes (Vitis vinifera L.). They represent not only geographic identification for growers, but also economic significance through price premiums for grapes from desirable appellations and wines sourcing grapes from such appellations. Petitions for establishment and official descriptions of American Viticultural Areas in the inland Pacific Northwest have traditionally relied on general descriptions of physical attributes and data from point measurements, namely weather stations. Examination of spatial datasets in a geographic information system provides a more holistic means of assessing viticultural areas and a spatially continuous representation of an area. Comparison of spatial datasets to official appellation descriptions largely corroborate petitioners' claims, often with greater detail, but also highlight some shortcomings of official appellation descriptions. By focusing on spatial data representing environmental factors most important to wine grape production, viticultural areas can be described more thoroughly and accurately and appellations may be more appropriately delineated. We examined inland Pacific Northwest American Viticultural Areas with a geographic information system approach, illustrating the utility of spatial datasets in characterization and delineation of American Viticultural Areas.
Highlights
The inland Pacific Northwest (IPNW), the area east of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, Oregon and Idaho, has developed into a world-class wine grape (Vitis vinifera L.) producing region
The vast majority of wine grape production occurs in Washington state, which currently grows nearly 18,000 ha of wine grape vineyards, a 395% increase over the last 18 years [1]
Thematic maps were created from Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) databases using Soil Data Viewer 5.2 (NRCS, Lincoln, NE)
Summary
The inland Pacific Northwest (IPNW), the area east of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, Oregon and Idaho, has developed into a world-class wine grape (Vitis vinifera L.) producing region. The vast majority of wine grape production occurs in Washington state, which currently grows nearly 18,000 ha of wine grape vineyards, a 395% increase over the last 18 years [1]. The IPNW hosts thirteen American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) acknowledged by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on the basis of national or local name recognition, usage and distinguishing features (e.g., climate, geology, soils, physical features and elevation). Snake River Valley AVA, straddles the border of Oregon and Idaho. These thirteen AVAs comprise the major grape growing regions of the IPNW (Fig. 1). Burgeoning viticulture in the Snake River Valley is receiving proactive research in the form of cultivar trials [3]
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