Even wine fans whose shopping experiences have yet to expand beyond big-box buying clubs or discount grocers hold some misconceptions near and dear about wines from the Golden State. Some examples: California wines are all high in alcohol and over-ripened from excessive heat. This is especially true of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, not to mention the oceans of Pinot Noir produced after the release of the popular 2004 movie "Sideways."
Ocean Breezes, High Mountains And Other Climate Moderation
Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson, co-authors of the widely respected reference, “The World Atlas of Wine,” wrote of California, “The potential of a vineyard site is linked hardly at all to latitude but is crucially determined by what lies between it and the Pacific. The more mountains there are between the site and the sea, the less chance there is of sea air, often fog, reaching it to moderate the climate.”
So, the heat on the valley floor in Napa may make for a robust, fruit-forward wines while vintners higher on the valley slope may take advantage of slower ripening and later harvests. Some vineyards like Shafer, which is located in the Rutherford AVA (American Viticultural Area), even give visitors a map of where the vines are planted on their property with notes on elevation and sun exposure.
Appellation and AVA Guides
The Napa Valley Vintners, a trade association that includes some 200 of the 400 or so winemakers in Napa Valley, has a guide to the different appellations with notes on climate, elevation, rainfall and soil types. They’re not the only trade association who offers this information, but their site is one of the most concise. One basic tenet of winemaking is that vines like a fight, producing memorable fruit in conditions where roots must grow deep to gather nutrients from poor soil. While gardeners would bemoan chalk, clay and limestone, vintners would be delighted.
For example, the Spring Mountain District has elevations from 660 to 2200 feet and annual rainfall between 40 and 50 inches. The soil in this appellation is a mix of sandstone and shale. Its wines have a lot of tannin, but with enough acidity for aging. By contrast, Rutherford has elevations of 100 to 500 feet, with a mix of volcanic soil and benchland, leading to wines with more mineral qualities and notes of cherry.
No wine enthusiast would ever assume that Bordeaux and Burgundy are the same since they are French. Making similar assumptions about California wines would be just as ruinous.
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