In a very cold Friday evening another gathering of Friends of Wine club took place at Larisa`s. Evening`s agenda - wines from California, USA. From the first episodes of the story I realized that it will be much easier to write about this wine and region because it is freer from canons, old traditions and maybe to some extent more superficial than in the good, old Europe. However, in any case, wine from California nowadays has a prominent niche in the world of wine and has found its consumers.
At first, a little bit about California - a state in USA, 3rd in size and 1st in population; its capital - Sacramento and known for its action movie hero and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. We have never been in America and its geography, culture and traditions have never interested us (even though it is trying to edge in Europe with its burgers, Halloween, rock and roll, pop culture, etc..), but a few of the cities are known from books and media - San Francisco (Prison Island of Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge), Los Angeles or City of Angels (the largest city in California, the Mecca of film industry - Hollywood at the border of the city, smog). It turns out that the state of California in size is bigger than Germany.
When talking about the wine-growing and brewing industry, wine from California makes 9/10 of all American wines. The climate is rather grateful - warm and sunny most of the year. If successful maturing of grapes needs at least 100 days a year then here they have 180 days of sun. Pacific proximity and favourable fog, as well as minimum weather fluctuations, without the threats of a harsh frost.
A bit of music from the Association of stimulating the Beach Boys "California Dreaming"
Photo of California Wine Club
In contrast to Europe, in California a grape grower and producer is not one and the same person - winemakers do not own vineyards, but they buy grapes from different producers. All wines are aged in oak barrels. Winemakers freely mix up different sorts of grapes for wine making so the credibility of the information on the label - 100% state, 75% sort of grapes, 95% year. American freedom, individual rights and the freedom to experiment is also seen in wine making. The main principle of the industry - simplicity and clarity for the user of wine. In addition, price range from $2 to $200 makes the California wine very accessible to the consumer. There isn`t a strict quality criteria (nothing like that is stated on the label, unlike in Europe), the most important thing - drinkable / undrinkable.
The history of California wine making is quiet interesting - it started in the middle of the 18th century, experienced gold-washing era, prohibition, when the wineries were reduced to 160, then the attack of the pests that reduced the wine producers to 10 and finally the exhilarating rise to around 1400 wineries today. The proportions of red and white wine during the years have fluctuated from the domination of red wine to white, until in the year 2000 it became steady - 55% white and 45% red.
The first wine from the distant continent Bonterra Viognier Mendocino, 14% white wine. Sorts of grapes: Viognier 85%, Marsanne 10%, Roussanne 3%, Muscat 2%. Aged 4 months in oak barrels. An oily colour, the taste is also explicit and has a creamy structure, bouquet of exotic fruits and flowers. We enjoyed it together with Caesar salad.
Photo ofWeekly Wine Journal
My subjective evaluation: reminds me of riesling, first thought - I will like it, the taste is acidulous, rich, asociation - a meadow of flowers. Like it!
Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Ranches Chardonnay- white, 14.2%, from Chardonnay (CH) grapes, aged for 12 months in oak barrels. CH - aroma of baked apple butter, grapes, whose best cavalier is an oak plank. The aroma is a merit of the Sun - jasmine, rose petals over the tropical mangos, pineapples and pears. The taste is brisk; an exquisite structure supplements the complex combination of citrus, lychees and flowers with a slight taste of vanilla.
Photo of John on Wine - a wine blog
My subjective evaluation: association - summer, a nice sourness, vanilla, creamy taste. Like it!
Irony Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 2006- Red, 14.5%, mainly from Pinot Noir grapes. An aroma of mellowed cherries and wild berries, which mix with cedar. Aged 18 months in oak barrels. Goes good together with roast beef, meat dishes, cheese. Larisa`s cooked yellow bell peppers were also excellent.
My subjective evaluation: you feel the wine but the creaminess remains; drinkable together with meat, its colour is reddish brown, indicates of some kind of heaviness.
Villa Mount Eden Antique Vines Zinfandel 2005 - red wine, 14.5%, from 85% Zinfandel and 17% Petit Syrah grapes. Moreover, Zinfandel grapes are considered to originate from America, not as the majority, which was imported from Europe. Aged 12 months in oak barrels. Aroma reminiscent of plums and raspberries. Excellent together with BBQ, poultry, ribs, cheese fondue, lasagna. Serving temperature 16-18C.
Photo of Clay McLachlan &PP Martin
My subjective evaluation: a soft after-taste, tannin does not interfere, childhood syrup aroma, can be enjoyable, meat not required. One of the few red wines, which I like!
With the last one - grandfather Stephan Ridge Paso Robles 1999 from 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 60% Shiraz grapes I experienced for the first time when a wine had lasted for too long and was no longer enjoyable. My subjective evaluation: smells like port wine, difficult to describe the taste. For compensation Larisa offered a seventh wine from her personal stock, which was not included in the agenda of the evening - Fetzer Valley Oaks Zinfandel 2008 - red wine, aroma of green pepper.
Photo of California Stock Photo
It`s been a year since I joined the Friends of Wine club. Well, I have gradually formulated two things for myself - I like white wines from Chardonnay grapes; second - I need a seriously thick but convenient note book where I would gather the basic information about wines from different countries, so I could both go with it to specialised wine stores and take it with me on a trip to the particular wine region.
» Comments