Ava stands for American Viticultural Area, which is an officially marked region intended for grape growing and production. In France, there is a similar designation called an appellation. Essentially, and AVA provides consumers reassurance that the grape and wine production has been verified as legal and helps create standards. Certain AVAs are also noted for flavours and characteristics, so knowing the AVA of wine is helpful for classification purposes. There are now fourteen AVAs in Washington State.