Quality Wine and Ale Supply Blog

When you think about wine made in the United States, the Napa Valley region of California is often the first place that jumps in your mind. That’s not surprising when you realize that the county houses the country’s biggest collective vineyard acreage.

It’s also not surprising when you consider the popularity of home wine making kits, and the United States’ rank as the fourth largest wine producer in the world and second highest consumer of the beverage.

The first wine grapes were planted in Napa Valley in 1838, and since then the gorgeous region in northern California has grown into a premier tourist destination, and a great place to get high quality wine, of course.

Here are a few fun, interesting facts about grapes, wine, and wine making in the Napa Valley:

1. A vineyard acre of land in Napa Valley will cost you at least $120,000. There are approximately 45,158 vineyard acres in Napa Valley, which makes up about 9% of the county’s total land. That means the minimum amount you would have to pay to buy up all of wine country in Napa Valley would be around $5.42 billion.
2. The above figures are fairly staggering, but Napa Valley actually combines to make up only 5% of the United States total vineyard acreage. That 5% produced around 9.2 million cases of wine per year.
3. If you’re planning on grabbing a varietal for your wine making kit from the region, take note. The most popular varietals in Napa Valley are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir.
4. There are around 400 wineries in Napa Valley, 300 of which have been built since 1966. Robert Mondavi was founded in that year, and was the first big winery to show up in the area since the Prohibition.
5. It takes roughly 40,000 people to make the Napa Valley wine industry run efficiently, and the region nets about $10.128 billion in gross revenue from its wine.
6. Despite attracting more than 4 million tourists each year, Napa Valley wineries only produce 4% of California’s total wine output every year. California also produces 90% of wine made in the United States.

These are just a few interesting facts about America’s most famous wine region. There are many more just waiting for you to find and bring up in conversation over a glass or two of wine from your wine making kit.