On August 4, 2023, the Long Valley-Lake County American Viticultural Area (AVA) was born. California’s newest government-approved viticultural area was most decidedly a labor of love, but it ultimately earned AVA status thanks to its unique terroir and, specifically, its distinctive soils that include volcanic rock.
“Everyone in what became the AVA was all-in when we began the application process,” says Joy Merrilees, vice president of Shannon Family of Wines, one of the handful of wineries in the newly minted AVA. “We spent a lot of time collecting data on the weather, soil types, growing degree days, all in an effort to document what makes Long Valley-Lake County different than the other sub-AVAs around it and the larger Lake County AVA that it is set in.”
The area includes five commercial vineyards and three wineries situated along the long, narrow valley floor surrounded and protected by foothills. At the time of filing, Long Valley claimed 149 acres under vine, but the region’s growers have been aggressively scaling up ever since.
“The majority of Lake County features volcanic soils, and then there’s the Big Valley District AVA, with heavier clay soil,” explains Merrilees. “Ours is a mix of silt and gravel, thanks to the Long Valley creek running through the center of it.” Further, she notes, the area is a transverse valley, running east to west, which is surprisingly rare. “There are only eight valleys like that in the U.S.”
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This Article was originally published on Wine Enthusiast
