Rutherford Wine Country

The Napa Valley is world renowned for producing award winning wines. Because of its unique geography, Napa County is split up into specific regions, denoted by the term AVA (American Viticulture Area). These individual regions are separated based on the inherent characteristics of the land and climate. There are numerous subtleties which can make one AVA best suited for Cab and another Chardonnay. In 1850, Thomas Rutherford recognized the subtleties of an unproven plot of land that resembled Bordeaux. He subsequently planted the first vines in what was destined to become the Rutherford AVA. Rutherford's storied history has laid the foundations for the Napa Valley to become a world leader in wine production. When Phylloxera infested the Napa Valley in the late nineteenth century, Frenchman Georges de Latour was on the front lines in the battle for the survival of Napa's vineyards. de Latour became the first person to import Phylloxera resistant root stocks for his Rutherford vineyard. This was a crucial event in Napa Valley's history, and laid the foundation for a prosperous viticulture future. Pronounced (Phil - Ox -Erra), this Aphid like insect lives its parasitic lifecycle on vine root stocks. Its introduction marked the largest whole-sale destruction of vineyards in California's history. De Latour's import of root stocks that were not susceptible to Phylloxera effectively saved the Napa Valley, and propelled De Latour into the annals of history. In addition, De Latour founded Inglenook winery, which helped the Napa Valley gain world wide recognition. Inglenook was the first winery to consistently win gold medals for their Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. Many experts still think the 1941 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon is the best wine ever produced in the Napa Valley. But even more important, De Latour brought over a young Frenchman named Andre Tchelistcheff. As De Latour's prot