Document text
Applegate Valley now a viticultural area By Cleve Twitchell Just about everybody�s heard of the Napa Valley. Soon the Applegate Valley may be earning some special recognition among wine fanciers. That�s because the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has decided to designate the Applegate Valley as an American Viticultural Area. "The AVA designation, also known as an appellation of origin, recognizes the special nature of a specific geographic area as a winegrowing region," says Barney Smith, president of the Academy of Wine of Oregon, a winery near the town of Applegate. Smith applied for the designation. In the future, wines made with Applegate Valley grapes can bear labels displaying the district�s name. The Applegate joins regions like the Napa Valley of California as an AVA. The Rogue District of Southern Oregon already enjoys the designation. The Applegate becomes the sixth appellation in Oregon. Besides the Rogue, the others are the Umpqua, Willamette Valley, Columbia Valley and Walla Walla, the latter two shared with Washington state. Smith says he actually considers the Applegate more of a subregion of the Rogue, since it is already a part of it. But the federal recognition doesn�t get that specific. The new designation recognizes the contribution of the Applegate Valley to Oregon�s expanding wine industry, now up to 160 wineries statewide and more than 10,000 acres in production. Many wineries elsewhere in Oregon, like Hinman of Eugene, buy Applegate Valley grapes. The Applegate Valley AVA is home to four wineries and 26 vineyards with more than 235 acres planted in grapes. Besides the Academy, the wineries are Valley View, Troon and John Michael Champagne Cellars. Grapes have been grown in the Applegate since the 1870s, Smith says. Smith announced the action this week. It was published in the Federal Register in mid-December. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has given the designation an effective date of Feb. 12. "Use of viticultural area names ... in wine labeling and advertising allows wineries to designate the specific areas where the grapes used to make the wine were grown," says the bureau, "and enables consumers to better identify the wines they purchase." On the Web, to see the federal notice of final action: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=00-31595-filed Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.