导读，正如Erica Stancliff所言，小气候就像葡萄酒产区（AVAs）中的一个亚AV。Stancliff作为加利福尼亚索诺玛山Trombetta Family Wines和Pfendler Vineyards的酿酒师，以及Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance的成员，将小气候定义为“与周围地区具有独特气候差异的一小部分地区”。这可能影响几英亩，也可能跨越几平方英里。环境因素包括水体接近程度、土壤类型、地理特征、海拔和温度湿度。即使在同一葡萄园内，这些特征也会有所不同。“这不仅是酿酒师关于成熟度收获决定的重要考虑因素，而且也是使一些小型酿酒区和葡萄园如此独特的原因，”Stancliff说。
Matt Dus, a winemaker in Santa Barbara, California, has a deep understanding of how small climate variations affect different regions within his AVA. In Sonoma County, the distance to the ocean is the biggest determining factor. Nearby vineyards feel the cold ocean air and fog. The series of hills, valleys and plateaus in these two AVAs make for even more subtle microclimates that determine whether grapevines are exposed to marine influence or not.
For example, fog settles into valleys creating cooler microclimates while vineyards above it are exposed to more sunlight resulting in higher daytime temperatures but also greater diurnal temperature fluctuations due to elevation. These details decide which varieties grow best where.
"Sta Rita Hills gets our favorite thing called 'cool-cold sun'," Dus says. "It's very suitable for planting Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah." Ballard Canyon [AVA]......[has] warm days and colder nights with gravelly soil mixed with sand and clay. Syrah and Bordeaux varieties thrive there."
Moving east towards Happy Canyon, vines face more extreme diurnal changes which help keep broad-spectrum planted Bordeaux varieties acidic.
"I wouldn't even consider Los Alamos," Dus adds as he comments on numerous sub-AVAs within the broader Santa Barbara County AVA each with their own unique environmental conditions.
Stancliff collaborates with several Sonoma County vineyards where Black Bunch is one of the most widely planted variety. Grapes are a case study on how to break down larger AVAs into specific environmental conditions.
"In some areas like Russian River Valley," she says, "Black Bunch ripens slightly faster than surrounding coastal areas resulting in different flavor profiles and tannin maturity."
In Petaluma Gap by virtue of its long growing season you'll see developed tannins along with fresh acidity and deep color matching mature fruit flavors harmoniously inside wines made from those grapes grown under such conditions."
Wind plays an equally crucial role in defining Petaluma Gap's microclimate named after gaps between coastal mountains that collect cool sea breeze inland.[1]
"[it] defines our microclimate," Stancliff says; "the reaction by grapevines forms thicker skins on berries."
Thicker skins produce more color density singleness (tannins) & overall flavor intensity when blended into wine bottles we store at home cellar — thousands upon countless moments related directly or indirectly life cycle grapes — wind sunshine root depth naturally plus human intervention matters — terrain driven by ten thousand moments".
