Lamorinda AVA

an ava is not an easy thing to establish...

Getting one approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is a laborious path lined with paperwork and red tape that can take years to complete. In the case of Lamorinda AVA, it took five years. Approval was finally granted in February 2016 following the efforts of Susan Captain and others within the 18-member Lamorinda Wine Growers Association. Former president of the organization and viticulturalist at Captain Vineyards, Susan needed to prove to the TTB that Lamorinda was a distinctive enough winegrowing region to merit AVA status. Previously, wines made from grapes grown in that area had the option of being labeled as belinging to either the Contra Costa County AVA or the San Francisco Bay AVA, but the Lamorinda Wine Growers Association knew that this smaller section of land had something special to offer.

Two UC Davis geologists and several geographers collected data to convince the TTB of Lamorinda’s unique physical features and their importance in terms of quality wine production. The Lamorinda Wine Growers Association argued that the clay loam soil, ubiquitous throughout the region, is perfect for water retention in a climate in which drought is a constant concern. They explained that the warm weather, with long sunny days followed by cooler foggy nights, is ideal for winegrowing, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and evenly while maintaining their natural acidity. They described how the hilly terrain offers a variety of options for planting orientation in order to provide more or less sunlight exposure depending on the needs of each individual grape variety. These facts were submitted in a painstakingly detailed petition. Paul Coletta of Humblebee Farm/Coletta Wine was able to help move the application process along by leveraging his connections as a founding board member of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Food and Wine Science at UC Davis. Ultimately, the TTB determined that Lamorinda has a sufficiently distinct sense of place to merit its own AVA.

While there are approximately 100 vineyards in Lamorinda, only a handful of them are tended by growers who also make wine. Most sell their grapes to one of the six bonded wineries in the AVA. The wines can be found in some East Bay restaurants and bottle shops, though the best way to try the wines of Lamorinda is to visit the tasting rooms (by appointment only), where you have the opportunity to meet the growers and winemakers in their own homes.

Written By Nikki Scott for Edible East Bay