California Wine Country Appellations
The word “appellation” is derived from the French verb “appeller” which simply means “to call” or “to name”. The tradition of naming distinct wine producing regions and identifying them on wine labels originated in France as a way to regulate product quality and consistency. The wine grape growers and winemakers in the California Wine Country began to push for a similar system of recognition in the United States in the mid-1970s.
Today, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) regulates appellations or “AVAs” (American Viticultural Areas) in the United States. In the wine country there are over 25 appellations and sub-appellations within Sonoma County and Napa County, each possessing a unique combination of microclimate, soil composition, topography and history.

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Taken together these contributing factors are summed up as “terroir” – the French word for soil - a somewhat elusive term that has come to embody the gestalt of each region. Federal regulations require that in order to carry the name of a specific California Wine Country appellation on its label, any given California wine must contain at least 85% wine grapes grown within that appellation. For larger viticultural areas such as “Sonoma County” the percentage need only be 75%. To simply identify a wine as a “California Wine” however, it is required that 100% of the wine grapes are grown in California vineyards.

Most of the appellations of the California Wine Country have wineries that offer winery tours and wine tasting tours. Wine Country tours from San Francisco are widely available, don’t miss out on your unforgettable wine country day trip.