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California Wine

See the California Wine Stores we list.

California is the largest and most important wine region in the United States. It has been a rich source of quality wines for more than 100 years, although the first vines were planted long before that. As early European settlers and missionaries made their way up and down the west coast they brought with them the Mission grape - the vinifera variety which was also instrumental in establishing viniculture in Central and South America.

California led the American wine renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s, a period which saw a proliferation of new small-scale wineries throughout the US, and the upscaling of longer-established outfits. The first half of the 20th century had brought war, Prohibition and The Great Depression to the United States, which collectively quashed any chance of the nation developing a wine industry of any size. It wasn't until the significant social, cultural and economic developments which followed World War II that things began to change, and California led the charge.

Boutique wineries are well represented, with some cult producers attracting astronomical prices for their premium wines. At the other end of the scale, giant industrial wineries ensure that California produces 90% of American-made wine and supplies more than 60% of all wine consumed in the US.

The principal varieties grown across California are Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. A wide range of traditional European (Vitis vinifera) vines also flourish, grafted to hardy, phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks. Less well known are American/European hybrids producing wines mainly for local consumption. Many French Champagne houses have set up wineries in California, The most famous examples are Moet & Chandon's Domaine Chandon, Taittinger's Domaine Carneros, Louis Roederer's Roederer Estate in the Anderson Valley and Mumm Napa in the Napa Valley.

Soils and climates vary substantially across California, according to a complex combination of altitude, latitude and proximity to the Pacific Ocean. As a rule of thumb, the more mountains there are between a vineyard and the Pacific, the less it benefits from the cooling effects of a maritime climate. In summer, the cold inshore waters of the Pacific help to create a fog bank just off the coast. As the inland air warms and rises, cold fog is sucked in to fill the space. Fog has been known to travel as far as 150 miles (240km) inland, cooling the land as it goes.

Generally, the cooler regions closer to the coast are better suited to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, while further inland – where the climate is much hotter – some of California’s most famous Cabernet Sauvignon wines are grown. Zinfandel produces some outstanding examples throughout this important region.