Arizona adds another viticulture areaArizona adds another viticulture area

亚利桑那州的佛得角山谷被称为该州的第二个大峡谷。现在，它具有新的区别，因为美国葡萄栽培地区将独特的地理，地形，土壤和气候指定为联邦认可的葡萄生长区域。

Now the third AVA in the state, Verde Valley joins the first two — Sonoita and Willcox — to describe the origin of the grapes used for wine. Verde Valley Wine Consortium president Tom Schumacher, who first submitted a petition in 2017, called it a reason to cheer and “a fruitful end to an arduous effort.”

Michael Pierce, director of Viticulture and Enology at Yavapai College, adds: “It was five years in the making, so we’re very relieved it’s finally accomplished.”

Verde Valley Ava位于该州的地理中心，围绕橡树溪和Verde河附近约220平方英里。Verde Valley Wine Trail展示了19个商业葡萄园耕种135英亩的葡萄酒葡萄，并计划另外25英亩的土地用于即将进行的种植。该地区拥有25个品尝室。

All of which is a far cry from the Spanish missionaries moving north from Mexico and by 1700 planting small vineyards to produce wine for religious ceremonies — along with others who dealt with wine in the territories’ saloons. A few early settlers in the Prescott area even tried making their own beverage from native canyon grapes that grew wild on the hillsides.

亚利桑那葡萄酒历史学家埃里克·伯格（Erik Berg）说，在1800年代后期，德国移民亨利·舒尔曼（Henry Schuerman）在今天的塞多纳（Sedona）附近开始种植橡树溪（Oak Creek），建立了葡萄园和酒庄，在杰罗姆（Jerome）附近的矿业营地为客户提供了葡萄园。

舒尔曼最终陷入了1900年代初期的禁令运动，并因试图出售其剩余的瓶子清单而被短暂入狱，同时完全禁止生产和出售酒精。

超过40种品种

Today, vineyards in the AVA grow more than 40 wine grape varieties from Malvasia Blanca, Viognier, and Chardonnay on the white side to reds like Syrah, Petite Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The AVA is surrounded by higher elevations and steeper slopes like the Mogollon Rim and the Black Hills. “Verde Valley AVA’s topography positively affects viticulture,” according to published reports.

“温和的斜坡可以使葡萄园的管理更容易，因为从较高海拔的凉爽空气可提供昼夜温度的秋千，从而减慢了葡萄酒的成熟度，扩展了生长季节，并带来了更复杂的葡萄酒风味。”

A Why We Are Unique brochure produced by the Verde Valley Wine Consortium notes that much of the area includes National Forest land and, “several of the vineyards within the AVA are ‘islands’ of private land surrounded on all sides by federal property.”

In a contemporary update, the VVWC web page cites 20 commercial vineyards that farm over 135 acres of wine grapes with more acreage allotted for planting and some older holdings to be honed and expanded. “The number of licensed and bonded wineries in the state reflects a large investment in Arizona’s future (because) planting a vineyard typically costs upwards of $35,000 an acre. The good news is that vineyards can stay in production 45 years or more.”

Winemaker Pierce, who runs student operations at Yavapai College’s Southwest Wine Center where educational vineyards have been maintained since 2009, said the site, on 13 acres in the foothills of Mingus Mountain, is now filled with thousands of vines representing a range of student-grown varietals.

他说：“该地区的葡萄酒未来是光明的。”“我们越来越臭名昭著，销售额不断增加，就农作物而言，我们希望葡萄酒葡萄具有低面积，高密度和较低量的水，将被证明是一种可持续的增值农作物。西南部的农业将改变，我们需要寻找更适合我们拥有的水量的农作物。”

证明亚利桑那葡萄酒产品的总体受欢迎程度，全州种植了1,500英亩的葡萄藤，可生产约60万加仑的葡萄酒，并获得1.33亿美元的经济销售贡献。