America’s Most Popular Wines
Usually at the top of any “favorite” or “popular” list of wines will be Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. There are a lot of reasons that these two varietals have climbed the ladder to the top. Both are extremely “malleable” and can grow in a wide variety of soils, temperatures, and rainfall. They are both high-yielding grapes and the while able to grow in various terroirs, the specific terroir can vastly influence the grape. The winemaker can also vastly differentiate the outcome of the wine.
Chardonnay
The first successful commercial production of California Chardonnay was from plantings in the Livermore Valley AVA. In the 1950s, James David Zellerbach, one-time US Ambassador to Italy in Rome, started Hanzell Vineyards winery and dedicated it to making Burgundian-style Chardonnay. His success encouraged other Californian winemakers to follow suit and culminated in Chateau Montelena's victory over Burgundy Chardonnay in the 1976 blind
tasting event conducted by French judges known as the Judgment of Paris. In response, the demand for Californian Chardonnay increased and Californian winemakers rushed to increase plantings. In the 1980s, the popularity of Californian Chardonnay increased so much, the number of vines planted in the state eclipsed that of France by 1988. By 2005, nearly 100,000 acres accounted for almost 25% of the world's total Chardonnay plantings. The early trend was to imitate the great Burgundy wines, but this soon gave way to richer buttery and oaked styles. Starting with the 1970s, the focus was on harvesting the grapes at more advanced degrees of ripeness and higher Brix levels. New oak barrels were used to produce wines that were big in body and mouthfeel.
The California wine regions that seem to favor producing premium quality Chardonnay are the ones that are most influenced, climatically, by coastal fogs that can slow the ripening of the grape and give it more time to develop its flavors. The regions of Alexander Valley, Los Carneros, Santa Maria Valley, Russian River Valley, and other parts of Sonoma County have shown success in producing wines that reflect more Burgundian styles. Other regions often associated with Chardonnay include Napa Valley, Monterey County, and Santa Barbara County.
Cabernet Sauvignon
In California, Cabernet Sauvignon has developed its characteristic style and reputation, which is recognizable in the world's market. Production and plantings of the grape in California are similar in quantity to those of Bordeaux. The 1976 Judgment of Paris wine tasting event helped to catapult Californian Cabernet Sauvignons onto the international stage when Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' 1973 Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon beat out classified Bordeaux estates in a blind tasting conducted by French wine experts. In the 1980s, a new epidemic of phylloxera hit California, devastating many vineyards, which needed replanting. There was some speculation that ravaged Cabernet vineyards would be replanted with other varietals, but in fact, California plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon doubled between 1988 and 1998; many wine regions— such as Napa Valley north of Yountville and Sonoma's Alexander Valley— were almost entirely dominated by the grape variety. It also started to gain a foothold in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Mountain and Mendocino County. Cabernet from Sonoma County has shown a tendency to feature anise and black olive notes while Napa County Cabernets are characterized by their strong black fruit flavors.
In California, the main stylistic difference in Cabernet Sauvignon is between hillside/mountain vineyards and those on flatter terrains like valley floors or some areas of the Central Valley. In Napa, the hillside vineyards of Diamond Mountain District, Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain District have thinner, less fertile soils, which produce smaller berries with more intense flavors, reminiscent of Bordeaux wines that require years of ageing to mature. The yields are also much lower, typically in the range of 1–2 tons per acre in contrast to the 4–8 tons that can be produced in the more fertile valley floors. Wines produced from mountainside vineyards tend to be characterized by deep inky colors and strong berry aromas. Throughout California, many wine regions have the potential to grow Cabernet Sauvignon to full ripeness and produce fruity, full-bodied wines with alcohol levels regularly above the Bordeaux average of 12–13%—often in excess of 14%.
The use of oak in California Cabernet has a long history, with many producers favoring the use of new oak barrels heavily composed of American oak. After the early 1980s' unsuccessful trend to create more "food friendly" wines with less ripeness and less oak influence, winemakers' focus shifted back to oak influence. Still, producers were more inclined to limit and lighten the use of oak barrels, with many turning to French oak or a combination of new and older oak barrels.
Wines that were tasted this evening:
Allure Reserve Chardonnay 2016 $45
Cambria Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay 2019 $22
Napa Cellars Chardonnay 2020 $22
Cabernet Sauvignon Route 29, Napa Valley 2013 $20
Justin Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 $31
Buena Vista Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 approx. $50
Wine Opinion (Choose your Favorites)
0%Allure Reserve Chardonnay 2016
0%Cambria Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay 2019
0%Napa Cellars Chardonnay 2020
0%Cabernet Sauvignon Route 29, Napa Valley 2013
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