What’s in an name? AVAs and wine appellations, from best to worst

(PalatePress) - The AVA name “Red Mountain” sells a lot of wine in steakhouses. I learned this from master sommelier Thomas Price of Seattle’s Metropolitan Grill, who says people just like the sound and will order wine from there without knowing a thing about it.

“Red Mountain is probably the best AVA name there is,” Price said. “People really relate to it.”

That got me to thinking about a seminar I moderated last week about Mount Veeder wines. Price says Mount Veeder just doesn’t sound as macho as Howell Mountain, and people who want Napa Cabs want macho.

And that got me to thinking about the best and worst official wine region names in the English-speaking world. Here are my choices.

CALIFORNIA

With more than 100 official AVAs and a wine industry that’s brilliant at selling wine to Americans, California naturally has lots of great place names.

Best

Diamond Mountain District
Established in 2001, Diamond Mountain District is one of the hottest parts of Napa Valley, even though grapes have to be 400 feet over sea level. So the future in our time of global warming isn’t bright. But right now, what a great association: the wine to get engaged by. Even if you’ve been there and know it’s hot, the image still works: Cabernet grapes, forged on the mountain like diamonds.