Sunday, Mar. 07, 2010

Oregon AVA seeks name change

By Andy Perdue, Wine Press Northwest

Wineries in the Yamhill-Carlton District are petitioning to change the name of the American Viticultural Area. They are looking to drop "District" from the official title, leaving the appellation name as simply "Yamhill-Carlton."

In the original 2002 petition to create the AVA (approved in 2005), the use of the word "District" was to enforce the idea of the region being a distinct area for growing wine grapes, winemaker Ken Wright wrote in 2008 when he first petitioned the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trad Bureau (TTB) for the name change. He further stated that many wineries find it difficult to use the name because it is difficult to fit it onto a label. Shortening the name would mean more wineries would use the AVA name on their labels.

Wine Press Northwest has reviewed 33 wines with the Yamhill-Carlton District designation. Comparatively, we have reviewed 52 wines from the Dundee Hills AVA during roughly the same period.

I have rather liked the word "District" appended to the name of the appellation because it reminded me of the Stags Leap District, another small, distinct AVA in California's Napa Valley. But the reasoning behind the proposed change makes perfect sense.