By Ari Lockspeiser  

How do
you choose a wine? You might walk in to the store looking for a red or a white,
perhaps for a medium dry or a sweet wine with a fruity finish.  A good wine is a complex experience and we’re
blessed to have many producers of high quality kosher wines. 

But what do you do when you’re standing at
the wine display and cannot recall which wines you enjoyed last week, or there
don’t seem to be any more bottles of that wine? After all, part of the
experience of wine is the ebb and flow of vintages as one season passes and the
next season’s crop comes along.

You could
start reading the descriptions on the back of the bottle, but trying to compare
a number of wines by these descriptions may not help much. You could choose
your wines by brand and the varietal (such as Cabernet, Merlot or Chardonnay), but
your favorite brand may offer a number of wines for each varietal they produce.

What if
there was a way to narrow down your choices without having to wade through the
tasting notes? Even better, what if that information was just a few words, and
not too hard to remember?

That
short cut to choosing a wine is the “Appellation of Origin”.  It’s well known that the same grapes, when grown
in a different region, will produce a very different wine. The features of the
area, specifically the soil and climate, are often referred to as the
“terroir”, and when a winery wants to tell you the geographic pedigree of its
wine, it uses a tag on its label: the appellation. 

Appellations
are sometimes defined by political boundaries such as the county, state or
county, and in the U.S. there are federally recognized regions called American
Viticultural Areas (AVAs).  “Viniculture”
is the cultivation of grapes (especially for use in making wine), and there are
currently 240 AVAs designated by the U.S. government.  An AVA is an area with similar climate, soil
types, elevation and physical features like mountains or bodies of water.

Some
people focus on the countries or states where a wine was produced, but today,
the quality of the wine is not defined by it being from France or Northern
California. There’s a discernable difference in wines produced in AVAs that are
only a few miles apart. This is because the features of a region have a
significant impact on the growing of wine grapes. For example, rocky soil and
warm temperatures are excellent for growing Cabernets, while cooler
microclimates and sandier soil provide great growing conditions for grapes like
Sauvignon Blanc.

There are
currently 107 AVAs in California alone, and most have picturesque (and easily
remembered) names like the “Russian River Valley”, “Suisun Valley” and “Red
Hills Lake County”.  In order for a wine
to be labeled with the name of an AVA, a minimum of 85% of the grapes must be
from that region. Some AVAs have sub-regions, which develop reputations of
their own for consistently producing high quality wines. One such sub-region in
northern California is called “Lake County”.  To get a sense of the effect of different AVAs
on wine-making, we will explore the history and terroir of Lake County.

Lake
County has deep roots in wine making. The first vineyards were planted in the
1870’s and by 1900 the region had produced a number of internationally
recognized wines.  As in many regions,
Prohibition stopped wine grape production in the 1920s. It didn’t reemerge
until the 1960s, when families who had grown crops like pears and walnuts began
to plant vineyards. In 1965 there were less than 100 acres of vineyards, but
today the acreage has grown to nearly 10,000 acres. Because of the outstanding
quality of the grapes from the region, the acreage is expected to double in the
next few years.

The
quality comes from the elevation, microclimates, soil types, and nearby Clear
Lake, which is the largest inland body of water in the state of California. The
Mayacamas Mountain Range, sometimes referred to as the “Axis of Cab” runs
through Lake County, and Lake County vintners have moved beyond Cabernet Sauvignon
and begun growing numerous other varietals like Petite Sirah, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet
franc, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Riesling.

With
the majority of the vineyards planted above 1,500 feet and some of the best air
quality in the state, the higher and drier growing environment reduces the
threat of mildew and pest pressure, resulting in lower pesticide use. Lake
County is fast becoming a leader in high-altitude wine grape production and has
hosted international symposia on the topic. Lake County wines have been winning
awards and receiving critical acclaim.

In
2017, Herzog Wine Cellars whose operations are based in Oxnard, CA, purchased a
vineyard in Lake County. Many great wines are expected to be released within
the coming years from the grapes that are being grown there.

There are
already three excellent wines that truly showcase the capabilities of this
region and which happen to be kosher, as well.

We
mentioned the rich history of Cabernet grapes in Lake County, and the Herzog
Special Reserve Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 was the first Herzog Cabernet
Sauvignon harvested from the Lake County region. Herzog Wine Cellars are
already up to the 2016 vintage now. It follows in the footsteps of the
award-winning Herzog Reserves from Alexander and Napa Valley, opening with rich
aromas of blackberry jam, cassis and mocha with hints of sandalwood and
vanilla. On the palate, concentrated favors of cherry and spice combine with
velvety tannins and subtle notes of leather over a lasting finish.  This is a wine that can comfortably age for
the next 8-10 years. But it’s not just the reds that flourish in this very
special wine county. 

Herzog
just released this summer its Lineage Sauvignon Blanc Musqué Clone. The Musqué clone is a rare type of Sauvignon
Blanc which has gained its prestige in the great white wines of Bordeaux. The
appellation of Pessac-Léognan there is well-known for producing great,
age-worthy white wines from the Musqué clone, wines that are even more expensive
than their red counterparts! The Herzog Lineage Sauvignon Blanc is wine that
offers notes of lime, honeydew and freshly cut grass with vibrant acidity and a
refreshing finish.

On the
other end of the spectrum is the Hagafen Lake County Riesling.  Riesling grapes are known for their high
acidity and flowery aromas and tend to thrive in cooler wine growing regions.
This varietal originated in Germany, and new-world plantings now rank in
complexity with their old-world wine region ancestors. Because the Riesling grape
is known to express the terroir of where it’s grown, the region’s cool climate is
perfect for the long-ripening necessary to produce the tropical bouquet and
feel this wine displays.

The
Hagafen Lake County White Riesling is light yellow in color, but clear and
clean. The aroma has tropical scents like pineapple, citrus, lime and apple
peel. The wine has a very new-world smell with good fruit aromas. The wine is
light bodied with a fair amount of sweetness, but the sweetness is not overpowering,
and it allows the acidity to come on soft in the mid-palate and stays soft the
whole time through to the finish. The finish is light with more pineapple and
citrus flavors.

Now
that you are familiar with the concept of regions and AVAs, the next time you
enjoy a great bottle of wine, you can note the Appellation of Origin and keep
an eye out for the next year’s harvest.
You may want to sample other wines from that region and enjoy the
effects of the terroir on different vintages.  

And
the next time you are faced with what may seem like too many choices of wine at
a store display or online, you can look for wines produced in your favorite
regions as you continue to develop your knowledge of the amazing and
ever-changing world of wine.  L’chaim!

Ari
Lockspeiser is a wine consultant for Kosherwine.com and Jwines.com.