Reviews

American choice
«Cigar Clan» №5(41) October-November 2008

Sensational news spread around the wine industry in 1976.

At a blind tasting, organised by British Steven Spurrier in Paris, judges preferred unknown Californian wines to renowned Bordeaux and Burgundy. What’s more is that the tasting commission mainly included French experts. Top places for red and white wines were accordingly taken by Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Chateau Montelena. France arrogantly ignored the results, but the rest of the wine world took them seriously. California was previously considered as a producer of cheap sweet fortified stuff. Now there was the evidence that the Golden state is capable of making outstanding wines.

Milestones in the history

Timing for the epochal Judgement of Paris tasting was chosen well. The winemaking California was experiencing an upsurge of quality production started in the mid-sixties. Its initiator was Robert Mondavi who in 1966 broke away from family owned Charles Krug and founded own winery Robert Mondavi. A great visionary and reformer, eventually nicknamed Mister California, was an example to follow.

Except for a handful of old winemakers, the winemaking coup was led by new recruits — entrepreneurs, bankers, lawyers, doctors, pilots, professors and even NASA scientists. Winemaking for them meant a particular, romantic way of life and an opportunity to fulfil old dreams. They had no previous experience with wine, but they approached winemaking with the same grip that had helped them to achieve success in their professional careers. Available money helped to turn dreams into reality promptly, starting a boom of new vineyard plantings and construction of high-tech wineries, especially in Napa and Sonoma counties. Joseph Phelps Vineyards, Clos du Val, Chappellet, Burgess, Stony Hill and many other prominent wineries were born then.

This wine prosperity wasn’t the first in the California history. A century earlier the gold rush made San Francisco one of the richest and most vibrant American towns (just in two years, from 1848 to 1850, the population grew from 800 to 25,000 people). In order to satisfy the new market’s demand in alcoholic beverages, some entrepreneurs invested in wine growing and wine making.

Hungarian dealer Agoston Haraszthy and Finnish sea captain Gustave Niebaum were the most successful. Haraszthy, “the father of the California wine industry”, founded the then largest estate Buena Vista with over 120 hectares of vineyards. He also persuaded the state’s governors to send him to Europe to study winemaking. Haraszthy returned with 100,000 of French, German, Spanish and Italian vines. Thanks to his entrepreneurial skills land prices in Sonoma soared by 25 times, and a true wine rush started in the region. In the meantime, Gustave Niebaum built stately Inglenook in the Napa Valley. Soon his wines were recognised among the best in California.

Along with Buena Vista and Inglenook, wineries Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Beaulieu, Mayacamas, Louis Martini and Beringer were founded in the late 19th — early 20th centuries. They all produce wine nowadays, and Beringer, opened in 1876, is considered the oldest continuously operating winery in the Napa Valley. Inglenook remains the most attractive — it is now known as Rubicon Estate and belongs to the Hollywood producer Francis Ford Coppola.

First great challenges for a young industry at the turn of the century were overproduction and phylloxera. Vineyards planted to imported European rootstocks were destroyed at the end of the 19th century, but the winemakers were fast to recover. In the early 20th century around 800 estates were making wine in California, and they cultivated 300 grape varieties. Prohibition had more serious consequences. It took effect in January 1920 and lasted almost 14 years. The wine industry was thrown back. Only those who could sell sacramental and ceremonial wines or “materials” for home made wine survived.

During Prohibition wine preferences of Americans deteriorated, and people were happily drinking cheap sweet stuff in the next 40 years. In the seventies and the eighties the market was slowly gaining interest for quality wine, thus supporting the earlier started processes for the revival of Californian wine. In the late 1980s California had as many wineries as a century before.

Impetuous modern development slowed down only with the second phylloxera epidemic in the mid-1980s, but several years later it was strong again. Today around 2,700 wineries are open in California which produce 90% of all American wine. This is the fourth largest wine production region after France, Italy and Spain, and a strong competitor to other wine regions of the world.

Who’s first?

The Golden state is shaped like a narrow, slightly curved rectangle, stretching from north to south. At the west there is a 1,000 kilometre long Pacific Ocean coast. The line of the eastern border is roughly similar to that of the coast. The majority of vineyards are situated close to the ocean, between Sacramento and Santa Barbara, however, there are also some plantings to the north, in the Sierra foothills, and to the south, on the border with Mexico.

Wine areas in the Northern Coast usually take most attention, as Napa and Sonoma are both on it. The biggest wine producing region there, though, is the Central Valley. Nearly a 500 kilometre stretch of land covers the valleys of Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. Production is truly massive: both vineyards and wineries and giant like and supply three quarters of all American wine. The Central Valley is a key source of grapes for inexpensive brands, especially from leading winery E. & J. Gallo. Famous varietal Woodbridge range by Robert Mondavi also comes from the region.

If we are to build a hierarchy of Californian vineyards based on quality and prestige, the Napa Valley will take the first place, easily beating competition. No other wine area in America draws so much interest both for winemakers and wine lovers. Napa combines most ambitious winemaking projects and desire to excel. Though only 4% of total state’s volume is produced there, the region has earned reputation of making high-quality, complex, sought after wines, most notably from Cabernet Sauvignon.

Both American and foreign winemakers are keen to work in the Napa Valley. The latter include the Rothschilds from Château Mouton Rothschild, who together with Robert Mondavi built and landmark Opus One, and Christian Moueix of Château Petrus, who owns an architectural gem Dominus. Some of the best known wineries here are Robert Mondavi Winery, Beringer Vineyards, Shafer, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Beaulieu Vineyards, Rubicon Estate, Stony Hill, Schramsberg.

Small size and relatively simple landscape of the valley that is protected by parallel mountain ridges on two sides make Napa attractive for tourism. The following statistics was published recently: visitors spend 2,5 million dollars every day on wine tours, tastings, wine and wine paraphernalia in the Napa County.

Sonoma, another famous wine region, lies to the west of Napa. Its topography is strikingly diverse, with mountains, valleys, plains and hills. Twelve individual viticultural zones producing a wide range of wines and styles are found in Sonoma. Americans joke that winemakers in Napa wear Armani jeans, while in Sonoma — Levis. There is less ostentatious fame, although Sonoma has a fair share of renowned wineries. The region is known as the birthplace of the Northern American winemaking, and many old vineyards have been preserved. Some of the key wineries are E. & J. Gallo, Benziger, Ravenswood, Silver Oak, Iron Horse, Chateau St. Jean.

Three years ago Santa Barbara vineyards suddenly rose to fame — thanks to the Sideways film. It is about two friends who tour Santa Barbara wineries. The film was awarded a Golden Globe prize, and the region became a tourist mecca for at least several years.

Grapes and wine

Some time ago a bill was proposed that would have designated Zinfandel as the official ‘historic wine of California’. A grape called Zinfandel has indeed been cultivated in the US (although recent genetic studies confirmed that its DNA is identical to Italian Primitivo, and the grape comes from a little known Croatian parent).

Ten years ago Zinfandel plantings were most common in California, but after 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon secured the first place. As for the bill, it wasn’t passed. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger decided that it is not good to promote only one variety when great grape diversity exists in California. “Whether it is a Cabernet from Napa or Sonoma, a delicate Pinot Noir from the Central Coast, a Zinfandel from the San Joaquin Valley or Sierra Foothills, California produces some of the finest wines in the world. California wines have inspired authors, artists and Oscar-winning motion pictures”, he said.

Schwarzenegger was right that one finds a great variety of grapes, brought from all over the world. There are around a hundred of them in total. Six dominate in production of high quality wines — white Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc and red Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir.

Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon is produced in almost every Californian winery, but many are made for a strong immediate impact and taste more like fruit bombs. These wines are usually aged in oak barrels so that fruit are enhanced by flavours of toast, butter, vanilla or chocolate. On the one hand, grapes ripen better in California than in Europe thanks to warmer climate, so Californian wine styles are normally richer and more generous than European. This is true about both red and white wines. On the other — winemakers often deliberately get overripe grapes, thus accentuating high alcohol and concentration in wine. American consumers and critics like the style, and wineries have no plans to abandon it.

More refined, elegant versions are found in cool climate areas or in the wineries that follow European production model. Paul Draper should be noted among the latter. He makes outstanding wines in Ridge Vineyards winery. Some winemakers discontinued using oak, especially for Chardonnay, and this phenomenon known as ‘naked Chardonnay’ wins over new followers.

The Hollywood also influences production and popularity of the wines. After the “Sideways” film California, as well as all US, saw a high demand in Pinot Noir, a favourite wine of the film’s main character. Wineries rushed to plant new vineyards, especially in Santa Barbara where “Sideways” action took place, and Pinot Noir was the trendiest drink in Californian bars at least for three years, until the film lost its effect.

Triumph continues

Thirty years on, in May 2006 Steven Spurrier organised a new tasting of wines originally featured in 1976 Judgement of Paris, as well as 12 Bordeaux and Californian wines of younger vintages. This time the event took place on both sides of the Atlantic and had two tasting commissions — European in London and predominantly American in Napa. There was no doubt that old Bordeaux known for its longetivity will win over Californian wines. There was a new shock — according to average scores, top five places were taken by Californian wines, with Ridge Monte Bello 1971 being first, and there wasn’t much disagreement between two commissions. California had another triumph and proved the right to be called world’s great wine region.

As for the younger wines, the tasting was more controversial. The first place was awarded to Château Margaux 2000, but the tasters admitted a stark contrast of preferences between European and American palates.

The Hollywood took on the idea to make two new films — Bottleshock, that has already been released, and Judgement of Paris, officially approved by Steven Spurrier and soon to be seen on a wide screen. Well, this is California where wine is bathed in the winemaking and cinematographic fame alike.