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The flag of Nevada

Nevada is a state in the west of the US, bordered by Oregon and Idaho to the north and California to the west. The state covers 110,500 square miles (286,000 sq km) and stretches between the latitudes of 35°N and 42°N. While the wine industry in this desert state is embryonic, Nevada producers are confident that the terroir here is as suited to viticulture as the Columbia Valley in Washington. So far, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Zinfandel have proved the most successful.

Despite its name, which translates as 'snow-capped' (after the Sierra Nevada mountain range), Nevada has an arid climate that is given to extremes of temperature. Here, summer daytime temperatures can reach more than 122F (50C) and winter nights regularly fall below –40F/C. This degree of seasonal change and diurnal temperature variation is extremely challenging for vines, particularly when compounded by extreme dryness; Nevada receives an average of only seven inches (180mm) of rain a year.

As in many US states, government-supported research has been carried out (mostly by the University of Nevada) to identify those wine-grape varieties best suited to the desert climate. In 1995, a one-acre plot was planted within the grounds of the university's campus in Reno. Some grapes have proved more resilient to the arid conditions and extreme temperature changes than others and planting more-sensitive varieties has proved to be a gamble, something best left to the state's largest city, Las Vegas.

Nevada's few wineries are found at relatively high altitudes along the western border, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains (also home to California's sizable Sierra Foothills AVA). The town of Pahrump, just 45 minutes' drive west of Las Vegas, has become a centerpoint for Nevada's fledgling wine industry, and is home to at least two wineries.