Lehigh Valley AVA

The Lehigh Valley AVA is an American Viticultural area located in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The AVA includes portions of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Schuylkill, Carbon, and Monroe counties and the towns from Jim Thorpe to Easton, portions of the Schuylkill River Valley, the Brodhead Creek watershed in Monroe County and part of the Swatara Creek watershed to the west.

Lehigh Valley AVA

Wine region
Type	American Viticultural Area
Year established	2008[1]
Country	United States
Part of	Pennsylvania
Sub-regions	Lehigh Valley
Climate region	Continental
Precipitation (annual average)	40-50"
Soil conditions	Karst and slate
Size of planted vineyards	230 acres (93 ha)[2]
No. of vineyards	12
Varietals produced	Cabernet Sauvignon, Chambourcin, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Riesling, Vidal blanc[2]
No. of wineries	10[3]

The wine region includes 230 acres (93 ha) of vineyards, planted to several Vitis vinifera and French-American hybrid grape varieties. The climate of Lehigh Valley has been compared to the cooler climates of Central and Northern Europe, favoring the production of French-American hybrid grapes, especially Chambourcin. Between fifteen and twenty percent of the wine produced in Pennsylvania is made from grapes grown in the Lehigh Valley AVA.^[2]

The region has a humid continental climate (Dfa/Dfb in higher areas) and the hardiness zone is 7a or 6b.