Lehigh Valley AVA

Lehigh Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) area located in the Lehigh Valley region of southeastern Pennsylvania encompasses portions of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Schuylkill, Carbon, and Monroe Counties, the towns between Jim Thorpe to Easton, the landforms of Schuylkill River Valley and the Brodhead and Swatara Creek watersheds to the west. It was established on March 10, 2008 by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted by John Skrip III, chairman of the Lehigh Wine Trail Appellation Committee, proposing the viticultural area named "Lehigh Valley."
The 1.208 million acres (1,888 sq mi) viticultural area is a long valley bordered by Second Mountain to the north and a loose range of mountains known as South Mountain to the south. Measuring approximately 92 miles (148 km) in length on the northern border by about 56 miles (90 km) in length on the southern front. The eastern border measures nearly 24 miles (39 km) and the western border equates to approximately 28 miles (45 km). The area is bounded by the Delaware River in the east and the Berks-Lebanon county line in the west located approximately 45 miles (72 km) north-northwest of Philadelphia and does not overlap any other viticultural area. The wine region cultivates 230 acres (93 ha) of vineyards, planted with several Vitis vinifera and French-American hybrid grape varieties. Lehigh Valley climate is said to be comparable to the cool climates of Central and Northern Europe, favoring the production of French-American hybrid grapes, namely Chambourcin. Between fifteen and twenty percent of the wine produced in Pennsylvania is made from grapes grown in the Lehigh Valley region. The region has a humid continental climate (Dfa-Dfb in higher areas) and the hardiness zone is 7a or 6b.