What the Hell is an Appellation?

I recently read a post first at Cherries & Clay, and then subsequently at John Schreiner’s blog about the Golden Mile in Oliver becoming Canada’s first sub-appellation.

If you’re like me normally you might have said something like “Oh, cool” and then moved on pretending like you knew what that meant, and normally I might have done that, but it is a word that I have heard quite a bit, so I figured it was time to figure out what the hell an appellation, let alone a sub-appellation actually is.

From what I can glean through Google and Wikipedia, an appellation is a government sanctioned and protected zone in which grapes and wine must meet certain criteria to be labeled as such. A prime example of an appellation would be a Chianti or a Bordeaux. These are legally protected labels for wine from those regions, but the grapes must originate from those areas.

British Columbia already has several official appellations, known as DVA’s (Designated Viticulture Areas), and they are the Okanagan Valley, Similkameen Valley, Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Island. These are areas designated by the government for viticulture.

So in a nutshell, the Golden Mile in Oliver, BC may become an official area unto itself — a subdivision/sub-appellation of the Okanagan Valley.

All of this is not actually important to know while you’re drinking wine, but forbid that the conversation go stale, you can always bust out the, “so anyway” sub-appellation conversation. If that happens, a second bottle may be in order.