Chiles Valley AVA
Chiles Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County, California and a sub-region within Napa Valley AVA. It was established as the nation's 136th, the state's 82nd and the county's eleventh AVA on February 17, 1999 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted by Mr. Volker Eisele, owner of the Volker Eisele Vineyard and Winery, representing the Chiles Valley District Committee proposing a viticultural area in Napa County to be known as "Chiles Valley District".
The Chiles Valley is nestled in the Vaca Mountains above the northeast side of the Napa Valley between and on the same latitude as St. Helena and Rutherford. The appellation has a cooler climate than the main Napa Valley floor due to elevations of 600–1,200 feet (183–366 m) as well as a cooling breeze from the Pacific Ocean. The area expands approximately 6,000 acres (9 sq mi) with 1,000 acres (405 ha) being cultivated in 1996. The remaining plantable area does not exceed 500 acres (202 ha). The most planted grapes in Chiles Valley are Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.
The term "District" was requested as part of the viticultural area name in the original petition. ATF noticed the proposed area as "Chiles Valley" because ATF did not find that the petitioner submitted sufficient evidence to support the use of the term "District" with Chiles Valley. Six comments in the petition favored the addition of "District" to the name, but no additional evidence was submitted to support it. The comments only reiterated the petitioner's original argument that the use of the term "District" was important to distinguish the Chiles Valley from the larger Napa Valley. None of the comments added any data or historical evidence for the use of the term "District" in conjunction with Chiles Valley.