Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay, Read more. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. By the mid-1990s, Opus One saw considerably longer macerations than was the case in the 1980s, and than is the case today. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. The 1996 Opus One reveals an intense and expressive bouquet of black cherries, plums, cassis and spices the prelude to a rich, textural and quite densely extracted palate impression with some firm tannins on the back end. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C.

With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world.

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