Over the past year and a half, or so, I’ve been sampling some of the good French and Italian wines available in the nearby wine shops, and am increasingly impressed with the quality that they possess. And that at prices that are very competitive with California wine. At the same time, I have come to a point where I cannot look another California Cabernet or Chardonnay in the label. California wine has come to remind me the Model T…just as you could have any color you wanted as long as it was black, in California you can buy any domestic wine you want, as long as it’s a Chardonnay or Cabernet.
So, where’s the really good California wine? Where could I find a domestic wine that compares to, say, Chateuneuf-du-Pape or the Beaune region of Burgundy? How should I identify such wines?
Coite de Galle, Spectre. Stick with Italian and Californian, with forays to Chile and Oz.
If you look, you will find any grape varietal you want grown in California. Try a good Zinfandel, for example. Or a Mendicino Pinot Noir. Piss on the Chards and Cabs. Branch out a little, and you will find that Califonia wines are better, cheaper, and more consistant than anything Frogland has to offer. Give me a price range, and I’ll show you a better wine from the Left Coast.
For value and quality, try a Parducci Pinot Noir. Or sample some of the wines produced in Paso Robles.
Disclaimer: I am a native Californian, just so you know, and are therefore kinda biased. But I know wine.
I cannot recommend enough J’s Russian River Valley Pinot Noir - 2001. The price point is a little high for some, at 26.00 per bottle but to me, it is very much worth every cent. By far my favorite wine by any measure.
That said, I am a wine novice, so I noted silenus’s recommendations for some Noirs and I will look for them on my next buying trip. Silenus, have you had the J? If so, would you care to provide a comparison?
Well, I’m a native Californian too, and had always been a champion for California wine.
IIRC with French wine the region is more important than the grape variety, and have learned that often, what I naively thought was a brand turned out to be a sub-region. The vintner’s name often turns up in small print at the bottom of the label.
I’ll try to come back tomorrow with some actual label names and vintages of some French wine I’ve drunk recently, but for now I’ll have to speak in generalities. The white Burgundies I’ve tried seem to have a nice crispness to them, tasting rather complex in the mouth but not having a lot of nose. Recently I’ve had a Cotes-du-Rhone and a Beaune, which sold for about $13 and $15 a bottle respectively. We’ve also had several cases of Chateau Premeaux, a red Burgundy that our local wine shop was selling for the rock-bottom price of $6. Its price was belied by its quality.
My beef with California wine is that, at that price level, they all seem to be Chardonnays and Cabernets, and they all seem to taste about the same. What would you recommend for a non-Chardonnay white? A non-Pinot Noir and non-Cabernet red? Are there CA reds that resemble a Bordeaux, Burgundy, or Chianti in character? What’s marketed somewhat oxymoronically as California Burgundy seems usually to be Cabernet of quality so low they had to put it in a jug or a box.
OK. I preface all of this with the fact that it is just my opinion…YMMV.
For Italian-type wines, try a Sangiovese or Barbera. There are some great wines coming out of the Temecula vinyards in these varietals. A good Barbera (like Parducci) is a work of art, and CHEEEP!
For non-Chard whites, try a Pinot Grigio from Italy. Better yet, buy yourself a couple of New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.
Virtually ANY California Zinfandel will be good. The styles vary from medium to awesome. Taste around and find one you like.
Your best bet is to hit Trader Joe’s and sample the wines there. I have found that the buyer for TJ’s has a palate that resembles mine to a high degree. Play around with some of the Australian blends. Rosemont makes some good ones, cheap. Also try Black Opal or Penfold’s.
spectre, I’m afraid I’m with you on this. And as a former California resident, I hate myself.
But compared with the wares coming out of Spain, Southern France, and even Chile, I can’t get into Calfornian wines. No matter the vintage, grape type or aging system, most California reds I tried have a common underlying thread. I think its the tannins, but I’m not sure. And the Chards are just too buttery for my taste.
Now only a fool speaks in absolutes and I’m sure there are some Cali wines that would blow my hair back. But I’m having the darndest time finding them.
You all had better figure out which California (and Oregon) wines you like, because with the continuing fall of the dollar, the prices of those French and Italian varieties are going to be moving up.
I could probably retract some of my initial lament; it’s not so much that we don’t have good wine here, but rather that, at least for now, there’s little or no price advantage to drinking the local product that I can see, at least in the $7 to $15 range. How can Black Opal be produced in Australia and shipped all the way here and still be cheaper than many CA wines that are comparable?