The Appellation Discovery Program seeks to identify threads of commonality and to pinpoint terroir based signatures in the wines of each appellation, if such commonality exists, or is developing.

The Discovery Process is centered on structured tastings designed to distil the specific wine characteristics associated with the terroir and cultural traditions of each region. Wines that are determined by the Discovery Panel to best express the characteristics of their appellation earn Appellation America’s “Appellation Signature” distinction.

OBJECTIVE

The Discovery Program, as with everything at Appellation America, is designed to crystallize meaningful images of North America's numerous and distinct appellations ...
[>] Read More and to publicly promote those images as an instrument for enlarging the market for North American wines and for enriching the global wine culture. To some extent, and often to a very large extent, wine character, and even wine style, reflects the place of origin. These terroir, historical-developmental, and local winemaking cultural influences, evident in the wine itself, are the primary object of Appellation America's discovery process. These "taste-of-place" findings are also the building blocks of meaningful imagery, which will, in time, come to define each North American appellation in the public mind.
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FIRST PRINCIPLE

The images that define each appellation must be derived from the (ever-developing) reality of that appellation, and the defining agents must be the people who work close to that reality; that is, the wine professionals of the region.
[>] Read More Appellation America's role is to facilitate (and where necessary, catalyze) the image building process, to distill information and opinion, and to publicly disseminate-promote that information and opinion for the benefit of the region and the enhancement of the broader wine culture.
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ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Appellation America, through its Regional Correspondents (RCs) and Editors, is organizing Discovery Panels for each appellation ...
[>] Read More or, in some cases, combinations of overlapping or contiguous appellations. In particularly complex and/or large appellations, several Discovery Panels may be created to deal with the volume and diversity of wines produced. The Discovery Panel, itself, is institutional-permanent, but the panelists are limited to one year terms, with the turnover being staggered through the calendar year to insure both diversity of input and continuity of the work in defining the "taste-of-place" profile of the appellation. Normally each Discovery Panel is composed of five winemakers or other wine professionals from the region, plus the Appellation America RC as (non-voting) chairman-recorder. The RC has responsibility for recruiting, screening and selecting panelists, as well as volunteer support staff as needed.
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DISCOVERY PROCESS

The Appellation America Discovery Program is NOT yet another wine competition, ...
[>] Read More which is not to say that meritorious wines, which are identified in the discovery process, will go unheralded. Indeed, the market rewards for the wineries participating in the Appellation Discovery process could be far more substantial than the often-vague benefits associated with normal wine competitions. High quality wines, which best express the character and potential of the appellation will be designated as Appellation Signature wines.

The Appellation America RC determines, in consultation with the panelists, the tasting agenda for each successive "sitting" of the Discovery Panel. The RC then arranges for venue (typically hosted by one of the wineries in the appellation) and makes a formal call for wine submissions from the appropriate wineries. Participating producers are expected to accompany their wine samples with a form outlining the production technicals as well as such information as they may have on the terroir conditions/locations where the fruit was sourced.

Typically, agendas are variety-by-variety surveys of the output from the appellation. However, more narrowly focused agendas may be designed to address particular issues or to isolate particular variations in wine character. Indeed, comparative tastings across appellation lines may be adopted as a method for highlighting appellation distinctiveness, to the extent that it exists.

The Appellation America Discovery Program DOES NOT score wines. The tastings are blind. The panelists act collegially, openly dissecting/describing/discussing the wines as they go through the flight. This blind tasting stage concludes with a determination of which wines deserve the "Appellation Signature" designation. Subsequently, the identity of the wines, along with the producer disclosures, are revealed to lend new information to the discovery and descriptive process. The collective assessment continues, identifying patterns of commonality in the wines, as well as further assessing quality and craft dimensions. Alteration of the "Appellation Signature" nomination slate will only be entertained on the basis of evidence directly related to the viticultural and oenological technical disclosures... "second thoughts" associated, however implicitly, with winery identity will not be allowed.
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RECORD OF DISCOVERY PROCEEDINGS

The Appellation America RC (or assistant) records the observations of the panelists, noting "minority opinions", as well as areas of consensus.
[>] Read More Later the RC distills the notes into a Record of Proceedings, which is published in the appropriate appellation section of Appellation America.com. Notice of each Record of Proceedings is sent to all the wine producers in the relevant appellations, along with an invitation to make their comments and contribution to the on-going dialogue through the Appellation Roundtables.

It must be emphasized that the Record of Proceedings is not the "final word", less still is Appellation America dictating appellation character... appellation development, like appellation identity, is an organic and on-going process. Each Appellation America Record of Proceedings, in turn, is simply a device for all the interested parties (producers, consumers, media) to take their bearings on the emerging and developing streams of identity for the appellation in question. The Record of Proceedings is also a vehicle for identifying (and rewarding) the winegrowers and winemakers who are proudly engaged in producing high quality wines that best express the potential of the region.
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