The total area of over 48, 000 sq kms will cover 193 kms across and 362 kms. from north to south and will encompass ten counties in Minnesota with the northern boundary beginning near St. Paul, Minnesota. Further covering eighteen counties in Iowa, twenty three in Wisconsin and nine counties in Illinois in the South, it will encompass Moline, Illinois.
The AVA is fifty times the size of Bordeaux which is appx. 100,000 hA only.
Representatives of the four states involved filed the petition to the Tobacco and Tax Bureau (TTB) in 2006 basing it upon the evidence of a glacial retreat 15,000 years ago in this region. Lake Wisconsin, established in 1994 is the only AVA which currently lies within the new UMRV AVA.
TTB regulations define a viticultural area for American wine as a delimited grape-growing region distinguishable by geographical features, the boundaries of which have been recognized and defined in the regulations. These designations allow vintners and consumers to attribute a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of a wine made from grapes grown in an area to its geographical origin. The establishment of viticultural areas allows vintners to describe more accurately the origin of their wines to consumers and helps consumers to identify wines they may purchase. Establishment of a viticultural area is neither an approval nor an endorsement by TTB of the wine produced in that area.
The new Appellation contains a few producers who have already made a name for themselves. The Wollersheim Winery of Prairie du Sac, for example, works with a range of grapes including Sangiovese and Bonarda grape varietals and has earned 267 medals over the past 20 years.
The first winery, Alexis Bailly Vineyard and Winery, in the area was opened in 1973 near Hastings, Minnesota.
The climate of the Upper Mississippi Valley AVA is continental and cool. The nearby Mississippi River and its tributaries provide sloping lands that allows maximum exposure to the sun and for air to travel, keeping mildew at bay.
With diminishing federal tax subsidies due to the negative aspects of smoking, and the continuously increasing wine consumption in the US, many tobacco farmers, especially in Wisconsin have switched over to growing grapes.
The area is mostly cold and humid, making French and other hybrid varieties more prominent in the region.
For full official document, visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-14574.pdf
Similar articles of interest http://www.bigrivermagazine.com/wineries.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Mississippi_Valley_AVA |