There is not, never has been, and may never be a better model for wine production than that of France. For hundreds of years this has been the most imitated and desirable model for dealing with the agricultural and production aspects of growing fruit and making wine. The bad news is that for hundreds of years we also though capitalism was the ‘end-all’ but that remains to be seen at this point.

Anyhow back to wine. A look at Bordeaux reveals that like many areas in France, it gets further defined over time, to wit: France, Bordeaux, Mèdoc, Haut Mèdoc, Pauillac and so on. Appellation within appellation, within . . . The remarkable 1st Growth, Haut Brion, was subject to the lower appellation (same as an AVA, only in France) of Graves until it was carved out of the appellation in 1987. This elevated everything going on in Pessac-Léognan.

I believe the AVA status actually elevates the quality of wines made in the United States. Can you not imagine that vignerons in Napa, or Sonoma or anywhere would not want to ensure that the best wines come from their environs? Of course they want to protect their efforts from being usurped by estates with less lofty goals. The Super Tuscan debacle is a prime example of being too restrictive in regulating how wineries produce their products, so certainly we must understand by example that there should be limits to regulatory encroachment.

American Viticulture Areas are completely simplistic compared to other countries, particularly Europe’s. Germany really pops up on my radar when it comes to winemaking and labeling restrictions. Any winemaker in the US can sidestep the regulatory authority anytime by just not including AVA information on the label (just like the Super Tuscan wineries did). More restrictive is the classifications and a great example of excluding themselves from such participation in pretty much anything, is Château Pètrus in Bordeaux’s Right Bank. They could care less and they don’t have to care because their wine is in enormous demand worldwide at amazing release prices. And if you want to realize the very worst nightmare, get into Burgundy and their convoluted world of Napoleonic law – yet they produce some of the best wines in the world.

Europe’s tiny sub-regions, as you call them, help me very much in relying on my wine purchases but one cannot dumb-down the world of wine the way Vino 100 and similar franchises try to do. America’s AVAs are still innocent like our country was before 9/11. Except I feel sorry for these guys in Mendocino who somehow think that Zinfandel and Primitivo are a different grape variety. I applaud Snipes Mountain !

David Boyer classof1855.com