20-589: Red Hills Lake County is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Lake County , California and was established by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on September 10, 2004. Part of the Mayacamas Range , the region lies along the southeastern shores of Clear Lake , separating Excelsior Valley to the east from Big Valley to the west. The hills lie at the foot of Mount Konocti ,
40-526: A volcano which last erupted 11,000 years ago, but which is still regarded as active. The terrain is rolling hills with elevations between 1,400 feet (430 m) and 3,000 feet (910 m) above sea level . Red Hills receives an average of 25 to 40 inches (635–1,016 mm) of rainfall annually. The petition submitted to the TTB in 2002 was on behalf of several winegrowers, notably Beckstoffer Vineyards, Beringer Blass Wine Estate and Kendall-Jackson . At
60-886: A broad range of statutory and compliance provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and the Federal Alcohol Administration Act . This act requires importers and bottlers of beverage alcohol to obtain certificates of label approval or certificates of exemption from label approval (COLAs) for most alcohol beverages prior to their introduction into interstate commerce. ALFD acts on these COLAs to ensure that products are labeled in accordance with federal laws and regulations. ALFD also examines formulas for wine and distilled spirits, statements of process, and pre-import applications filed by importers and proprietors of domestic distilleries, wineries, and breweries for proper tax classification and to ensure that
80-580: A petition is accepted as complete, the TTB may choose to seek public input on the proposal and at its sole discretion may approve the proposed AVA. Before the AVA system, wine appellations of origin in the United States were designated based on state or county boundaries. All of these appellations were grandfathered into federal regulations and may appear on wine labels as designated places of origin in lieu of an AVA, such as Sonoma County . In order for
100-401: A wine to be labeled with a state or county appellation, at least 75% of the grapes used to make the wine must have been grown within the boundary of the appellation, and the wine must be fully finished within the state in which the appellation is located. Some states have more stringent rules, such as California , which requires 100% of the grapes used to make the wine be from California and that
120-486: Is not always the case. See map on the right showing the outline of the Paso Robles AVA , California's largest in total area, and the eleven distinct AVAs contained within it. In 2018, the second session of the 115th Congress recognized the contribution of American Viticultural Areas to the economy. The Blunt-Merkley Resolution passed unanimously. It noted that an AVA allows vintners to describe more accurately
140-589: The Cole Ranch AVA in Mendocino County , California, at only 60 acres (24 ha). The Augusta AVA , which occupies the area around the town of Augusta, Missouri , was the first recognized AVA, gaining the status on June 20, 1980. There are currently 276 AVAs spread across 34 states, with over half (154) in California. An AVA may be located within one or more larger AVAs. For example,
160-660: The Santa Clara Valley AVA and Livermore Valley AVA are located within the boundaries of the San Francisco Bay AVA , which is itself located within the Central Coast AVA . In such cases, the wine may be labeled with any of the relevant AVAs, but winemakers generally label wines with the most specific AVA allowed for each wine. Smaller AVAs are often perceived to be associated with smaller production and higher quality wines, though this
180-750: The Tax and Trade Bureau and frequently shortened to TTB , is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury , which regulates and collects taxes on trade and imports of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms within the United States. TTB was created on January 24, 2003, when the Homeland Security Act of 2002 split the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) into two new organizations with separate functions. Specifically,
200-610: The Act transferred ATF and its law enforcement functions from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Justice . ATF's other functions, dealing with tax collection and regulation of legitimate trade, remained within the Treasury Department and became part of the new TTB. TTB's Field Operations are organized into five divisions: The Advertising, Labeling, and Formulation Division (ALFD) implements and enforces
220-534: The Red Hills AVA contains three bonded wineries: Gregory Graham Wines, Laujor Estate, and Boatique Winery. 38°55′02″N 122°45′21″W / 38.9173°N 122.7559°W / 38.9173; -122.7559 American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area ( AVA ) is a designated wine grape -growing region in the United States , providing an official appellation for
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#1732775579421240-494: The Red Hills include Beckstoffer Vineyards, which own 4,172 acres (1,688 ha) partially planted with principally Cabernet Sauvignon (as well as some Sauvignon blanc and Malbec ); E&J Gallo , which in 2014 acquired the 800 acres (320 ha) Snows Lake Vineyard; Shannon Family of Wines with their 236 acres (96 ha) Vigilance vineyard; and Obsidian Wine Company with their Obsidian Ridge vineyard. As of May 2024,
260-487: The condition the resulting wines use the AVA and their Amber Knolls or Crimson Ridge vineyards on their labels, and be marketed in the luxury wine segment. Participating winemakers included Spoto Wines 's Stuart Spoto and Lake County Brassfield Estate Winery 's Matt Hugues. The boundaries of the AVA were modified with the establishment of the Kelsey Bench-Lake County AVA in 2013, expanding it to
280-627: The grapes that make up the wine must have been grown in the AVA, and the wine must be fully finished within the state where the AVA is located. The boundaries of AVAs are defined by the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), a component of the United States Department of the Treasury . The TTB defines AVAs at the request of wineries and other petitioners . Prior to the TTB's creation in 2003, the Treasury’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) received and handled petitions for viticultural areas, wine production and labeling. Section 4.25(e)(2) of
300-408: The mutual benefit of wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know about the geographic pedigree of their wines, as wines from a particular area can possess distinctive characteristics. Consumers often seek out wines from specific AVAs, and certain wines of particular pedigrees can claim premium prices and loyal customers. If a wine is labeled with an AVA, at least 85% of
320-445: The northwest by 7 acres. In March 2024, following a petition on behalf of local vineyard owners, the AVA was officially expanded again, this time by 679 acres. The most planted (and lucrative) variety in the Red Hills is by far Cabernet Sauvignon , but Cabernet Franc , Malbec , Petit Verdot , Petite Sirah are also represented, as well as Sauvignon blanc , Grenache , Mourvèdre , Syrah and Zinfandel . Major vineyard holders in
340-411: The origin of their wine, while helping vintners to build and enhance the reputation and value of the wines produced. AVAs also allow consumers to attribute a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic to a wine made from grapes grown in an AVA. AVAs also help consumers identify what they purchase. Tax and Trade Bureau The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau , statutorily named
360-400: The regulations (27 C.F.R. § 4.25(e)(2)) outlines the procedure for proposing an AVA and provides that any interested party may petition the TTB to establish a grape-growing region as an AVA. Section 9.12 of the TTB regulations (27 C.F.R. § 9.12) prescribes the standards for petitions for the establishment or modification of AVAs. Petitions to establish an AVA must include the following: Once
380-510: The time, there were reportedly 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) of planted vineyards in the area. By the time of the AVA establishment in 2004, there were 3,100 planted acres (1,300 ha). In order to raise the profile of the appellation, David and Andy Beckstoffer launched in 2016 a program to incentivize reputed winemakers to use their Red Hills fruit (Beckstoffer acquired the 1,618 acres (655 ha) Amber Knolls vineyard in 1997). Each participant would receive 1 ton of Cabernet Sauvignon for free on
400-699: The wine be fully finished within the state. Washington requires 95% of the grapes in a Washington wine be grown in Washington, although notably the Columbia Valley AVA , Columbia Gorge AVA , and Walla Walla Valley AVA are shared with Oregon. AVAs vary widely in size, ranging from the Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA , at more than 19 million acres (29,900 square miles (77,000 km )) across four states ( Illinois , Iowa , Minnesota , and Wisconsin ), to
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