American Viticultural Area · CA
Napa Valley
Napa Valley is a federally-designated American Viticultural Area in CA, established in 1981. The map below shows its official TTB boundary alongside nearby AVAs.
The Napa Valley boundary is highlighted. Nearby AVAs are rendered in gray — click any of them to view that AVA's page.
At a glance
Established
1981
State
CA
Climate
Mediterranean
Signature varietals
Boundary recorded in 27 CFR Part 9 · Source: TTB
Learn more about Napa Valley
About the Napa Valley AVA
Napa Valley is the most famous wine region in the United States and the second AVA ever established, approved in February 1981 — seven months after Augusta, Missouri. The AVA runs roughly 30 miles north–south along the Napa River, bounded by the Mayacamas Mountains to the west and the Vaca Range to the east. The valley's Mediterranean climate — hot, dry summers moderated by morning fog drawn up from San Pablo Bay — combined with diverse volcanic and alluvial soils makes it especially well-suited to Cabernet Sauvignon, which accounts for the majority of plantings.
Sixteen sub-AVAs sit inside Napa Valley, including Rutherford, Oakville, Stags Leap District, and Howell Mountain. Most of these nest cleanly inside the Napa Valley AVA, which itself nests inside the larger North Coast AVA. The tidy hierarchy is real for most of Napa proper, but it falls apart at the southern end: Los Carneros straddles the Napa–Sonoma county line and has no single "parent" AVA, which is the canonical counterexample to any tree-shaped AVA data model.
Nearby AVAs
Other American Viticultural Areas closest to Napa Valley — useful when a vineyard sits inside more than one AVA at once.