California is the largest wine producer in the United States with several regions, including Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, Monterey, Paso Robles, and Santa Ynez. Napa Valley is by fare the most popular wine region.
California’s winemaking areas are favoured with reliable weather, fewer tourists than in summer, and subtle shades of gold and orange creeping over the vineyards as vines go dormant for the winter.
Wines produced in Californian wine labels include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, a wide variety of reds and Cabernet Sauvignon. California wine often competes directly against its French counterparts.
Wine cultivation has expanded continuously in the U.S. since prohibition. In the early days production accounted to less than a million gallons. Current production levels are running at around five hundred million gallons per year. European wines are holding their own though as their characteristics of delicacy and breed they have in their reputation cannot be replaced by a more technical product. California wines have invested into latest scientific methods of vine growing and wine making,
High temperatures that prevail in some parts of California are negated with a cooling system that was first developed in Algeria. The cooling system consists of a series of pipes that circulates iced water through the vines. Pure culture yeast that is derived from many of the European vineyards has also contributed to improving the quality of California wine.
The shift in Chardonnay styles that began a couple of years ago is accelerating, and more and more wineries are choosing to make tighter, livelier wines whose brisk acids separate them from the fuller, fleshier style that has ruled for some years now. California will always make deep Chardonnays because of the characteristics of Californian grapes.
