Central Valley

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1. Huge California growing area that runs inland from north of Chico (which is north of Sacramento) to south of Bakersfield. The Central Valley can actually be broken into two parts-the Sacramento Valley at the north and the San Joaquin Valley at the south. The area is so large (it encompasses 55 percent of California's vineyard acreage) and the yields are so bountiful that over 75 percent of California's total wine production comes out of this region. There are three viticultural areas in the valley-madera, merritt island and clarksburg. Most of the wine from the Central Valley is pretty ordinary, but implementation of modern winery facilities has gradually improved the quality. Because of the Central Valley's high temperatures and short growing season, acid in the grapes isn't fully developed. For this reason, high-acid grapes like barbera, chenin blanc and French Colombard (colombard) have been planted in increasing numbers. The leading red varieties are zinfandel and grenache, followed by Barbera, carignane, rubired, ruby cabernet, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Other white varieties include chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and malvasia. 2. chile's Central Valley, situated between the giant Andes and the shorter coastal mountains, is the country's most important wine-producing region. The vineyard areas start around Santiago, Chile's capital city, running south for over 200 miles and varying in width from about 25 to 50 miles. The Central Valley, known as el Valle Central, consists of four main subregions-the maipo valley, rapel valley, Curico Valley, and maule valley. Each valley has an eponymously named river that runs east to west from the Andes to the ocean. Wines made from grapes grown thoughout the region use the Central Valley appellation on their labels. Wines made from grapes grown in only one of the subregions may use the subregion name.