03/14/05 - Monday`s question - Appellation

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and today we are answering your email questions. Recently a listener wrote to ask "Could you please explain what appellation means and why it is important?" After this message from our sponsor we will explore the meaning of appellation. A wine's appellation is its place of origin and its badge of authenticity. Printed somewhere on a wine's label you may notice a reference to where the wine is from; for example a specific valley such as Willamette Valley in Oregon, Napa Valley in California or Red Mountain in Washington. Ideally the location identifies a place where the property has attributes that result in the production of grapes with special character. Those attributes would include such things as soil type and structure, sunshine, rainfall and elevation. If a particular place is well suited to growing grapes and if that is well done and the place begins to produce wines of notoriety - the place is identified and the lines are drawn and it is named. With a good deal of legal validation the process is completed and an appellation is born. Then the question of who is entitled to use the name of the area to identify their wine becomes an important financial matter. Once that is determined, the pressure is on the winemakers, to show us just what this land and place have that is so unique and special from other places. The importance of this identification can not be under estimated. It gives the wine an authenticity and a pedigree over any other beverage. Look for the appellation on your next bottle of wine and remember to send your email questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.