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California Wine
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 While it is true that per capita wine consumption in the US is paltry, about one-eighth that of France or Italy, it is over three times higher in CA than in the rest of the country.
Much of this is attributable to the dynamism of the California wine industry over just the past 50 or so years. As late as the 1960s most of the wines in California were being made by large wineries using bulk methods with bland, high-yielding grape varieties. The industry was defined by this sea of inexpensive generic jug wine emanating from the floors of California's hot inland valleys. It was not until the early 1970s that California came to life as a potentially world class winemaking region.
It began with a proliferation of California wineries specializing in just two or three wines, rather than an array of vague, cheap imitations of European styles. Labeled as varietals and closely tied to their region of origin, these were the first California wines that actually proclaimed their Californian identity. Their early success signaled that both consumers and producers had matured, and for the first time Californian winemakers began to take advantage of the fact that they were not working within entrenched winemaking traditions. For many of them this came naturally however, as they had no connection to a winemaking tradition to begin with. Often emerging from liberal arts backgrounds and other fields not related to wine, quite a few learned their winemaking skills on their own. In the years since the late 1970s, this has meant for better or worse that a good part of the California model has been the insertion of individual personalties into the winemaking equation. The trend in California has been to conceive of winemakers as artists who play an active role in producing something better than the sum of its parts. In quite a few instances these winemakers have achieved a public following similar to great chefs. Distinctly Californian, this is at odds with the common European notion that a wine should primarily reflect the place where it is grown, and not the personality of the winemaker.
Wine RegionsThe diversity of California wine comes naturally in large part due to the state's wide diversity of climate. While the Sunshine State certainly suffers no dearth of sunlight, the range of differences between regions and subregions in temperature, rainfall, soil types and other natural features is expansive. Along the pacific coast a series of rugged, low mountain ranges marks a dividing line between the Pacific climate and that of the Central Valley. In these areas the weather is dictated by offshore ocean currents which cause an intermittent fog-bank along California's coast. This creates long stretches of land with insufficient sunshine to ripen most grapes, but well suited to more northern French varietals such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. On the other side of the Coast Range, the Central Valley is rarely touched by ocean fogs. The summers there are much hotter and the winters much cooler.
Wine TypesCalifornia's mix of vine varieties is one of the world's most fluid, thanks to its high proportion of professional grape farmers selling their produce to wineries in free market conditions. The most important California wine type is the varietal, the principal sorts of which are the ubiquitous Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. They are easily the most widely planted white and red, respectively, but that is not to say that the field beyond these two varieties is in any way weak. California Zinfandel has done well enough to have world wide name recognition, and the Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Syrah varietals can also be exceptional. Whites such as Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Viognier also do very well in certain regions. Generally, these wines have morphed from the the 70's style of strong up front intensity, to a more balanced and elegant style with a good natural acidity. California wine is not always in the varietal style, however. Many winemakers believed that wines blended from several varietals could best represent the finest produce from their vineyards, and so in the late 1980's a new breed of high-priced proprietary blends based on classic European grape varieties emerged. In 1988, this newer style of California wine took the name of Meritage, which was meant to indicate a blend made from only the traditional Bordeaux varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec for reds, and Semillon with Sauvignon Blanc for whites. There is also a thriving market for blended California wines that are composed of only Rhone varietals, such as Grenache and Syrah. And considering that California enjoys a very sunny, Rhone-like climate in many regions, these wines can be quite good. California has also had few inhibitions about marketing wines named after famous European regions. On the shelves, one may find labels that boast names such as Chianti, Chablis, or even Rioja, but most of the time these wines have little to nothing in common with their namesakes. This is not the case however for California “Champagne,” which is often vinified in the traditional champagne method, and with the same grape varieties.
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Image GalleriesWines and Wineries of California Old California Wine Labels and Advertisements
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