Arkansas Mountain AVA

Arkansas Mountain is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in the mountainous Ozark Mountains of Arkansas bisected by the Arkansas River. It was established on September 26, 1986, as the nation's 87th and the state's third appellation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted by Mr. Al Wiederkehr, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Wiederkehr Wine Cellars in Altus, Arkansas, on behalf of himself and local vintners proposing a viticultural area in northwestern Arkansas to be known as "Arkansas Mountain." It is a sub-appellation within the larger multi-state Ozark Mountain AVA, established two months prior, that expands north into Missouri as far as St. Louis, and south into northeastern Oklahoma toward Tulsa. Arkansas Mountain viticultural area overlaps the smaller 12,800-acre (20 sq mi) Altus viticultural area, the state's initial AVA established in 1984, within its boundaries because they share common terroir features. However, the three established areas still have unique characteristics to retain their viticultural area distinctions. Arkansas Mountain encompasses 2.9 million acres (4,500 sq mi) making it the ninth largest AVA as of 2008. At the outset, there were 1,200 acres (490 ha) under vine and six bonded wineries or bonded wine cellars authorized to operate within Arkansas Mountain.