California Wine - page 77

California is the USA’s largest and most important wine region. It has been a rich source of quality wines for over 100 years. Boutique wineries are well represented with some cult producers attaining astronomical prices for their premium wines. On another scale, giant industrial wineries ensure that California produces more than 90% of all wine grown in America.

Principle varieties grown across the state 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 mostly for local consumption. Many French Champagne houses have set up wineries in California where they produce a range of sparkling wine styles.

Geographically no two California wine sub-regions are the same. They are as unique as they are diverse. Soils and climate vary quite substantially across the state. The latitude has very little influence on the potential of a region. Instead, it is the region’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean that makes all the difference. The more mountains there are between the vineyard and the Pacific, the less cooling effect there is. In summer, the cold inshore waters of the Pacific cause a fogbank 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. 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 reside. Zinfandel produces some of the best examples throughout this famous region.