The Tulocay AVA Controversy
Okay, so Tulocay Winery has been in the midst of a controversy. Can
you believe that? Tulocay? A winery that likes to make its wines "by
the book" (heh, heh)?
Well, the controversy is not about winemaking. It's about wine place.
That is, appellation. That is, vineyard of origin.
It so happens that a couple of guys have proposed that the area east
of Napa city should receive its own AVA — or American
Viticultural Area — designation.
While AVAs are good in terms of informing the consumer where a wine
has been grown, the problem is that "Tulocay" is not the name of the
area east of Napa. It's actually called "Coombsville" after Nathan
Coombs, "who purchased the land from Nicholas Figueroa's Rancho entre-Napa,
an 1836 Mexican land grant. It was out this parcel that Coombs created
the city of Napa in 1847" (Wikipedia).
Tulocay, on the other hand, was the original Wappo (Indian) name for
present-day Napa south to San Francisco Bay.
Today, residents of Napa call the area "Coombsville," not "Tulocay."
So why call it Tulocay instead of Coombsville? Because "We felt Coombsville
sent kind of a redneck vibe," says
Aaron Pott, one of the "Tulocay"
proponents.
Does that mean such exclusive Napa Valley AVAs like "Yountville" and
"Oakville" are also "redneck"? We doubt that winegrowers in those areas,
who receive premium prices for their grapes, think so.
We here at Tulocay think an AVA for our area, from which we get our
famed Haynes Vineyard grapes, would be great. But we think it should
be called by its correct name, Coombsville, and not Tulocay.
Heck, we're a "redneck winery" — and proud of it! — even though we've
gone by the name of Tulocay since 1975.
In vino veritas!
Skippy, Chief Cellar Rat
P.S. If you want to read more about the controversy,
check out the following online articles:
"Napa
Vintners Seek Cachet, Profit With Labels" by Cindy
Skrzycki from
Bloomberg.com and the Washington Post
"Coombsville
Wine Country" from calwineries.com
"Would
you buy a wine from Hootersville?" from the Dayton
Daily News
"Name
dispute stalls new Napa AVA" from the Napa Register
"Proposed
Establishment of the Tulocay Viticultural Area" from the
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
| Quotes from the film MONDOVINO by Jonathan Nossiter"Where there are vines, there's civilisation. There's no barbarism." — Hubert de Montille, Domaine Hubert de Montille, Volnay "I planted vines when my husband died. Ever since then, all this love inside me, I give it to the vines. I talk to them. I have an exchange with them." — Yvonne Hegoburu, Winemaker, Jurançon "Wine is dead. Let's be clear, wine is dead. And not just wine. Fruits. Cheeses...." — Aimé Guibert, Winemaker, Mas de Daumas-Gassac
"Wine is an almost religious relationship between man and the natural elements. With the immaterial. It takes a poet to make a great wine." — Aimé Guibert
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