The French, from whom we’ve inherited much of our wine sensibilities, use the term Appellation to define a wine producing region that has distinct differences in soil types and microclimates, from it’s neighbor.

In this country, we’ve coined the term, American Viticultural Area or AVA to delineate the subtle differences within our wine producing regions. Having petitioned the federal government(bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms) with soil and climatological data to substantiate their uniqueness, as it stands now, both Napa and Sonoma have 16 AVAs, with the Carneros, being the only one to straddle the county line.

The Appellation Tour, is for those that want to delve deeply into a specific AVA( or grape varietal). Choose either Napa or Sonoma and we’ll build a custom itinerary designed to deepen your understanding of region or variety. Learn how terrior and microclimate influence what goes into the bottle.

Example, want to go to school on Pinot, let’s spend the day in Sonoma, tasting the Pinots of the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast AVA’s Curious about Zinfandel, the Dry Creek Valley, is Zin central. If, Cabernet is at the top of your list, Napa is the place for you. Explore the specific cab producing AVA’s Napa is known for. Stags Leap, Oakville, Rutherford, what are your favorites?

On the Appellation tour, we’ll get to three or four wineries in a five to seven hour period and picnic at one of them.