Changing Face of the California Wine Industry

Residents of Napa and Sonoma Counties take great pride in the quality of their outstanding wines, but by no means do the winery and vineyard owners of that precious section of earth and favorable microclimates have a lock on the production of the wine world's most prestigious varietals.

Cabernet Sauvignon is now the dominent grape variety in California's North Coast counties, as well as the state as a whole, but most Cabernet Sauvignon is now grown outside of Napa and Sonoma counties. In fact, twice as much tonnage of Cabernet Sauvignon, California's most prestigious red varietal, is now being crushed in the Lodi/San Joaquin County area as in Sonoma County and the crush is three times as much as in Napa County. Within the next several years, it is even likely the amount of Cabernet Sauvignon crushed in the Paso Robles area will be nearly equal to the tonnage crushed in Napa County. However, 'not all pigs are equal' and the highest any grower received for a ton of Cab in Lodi in 2005 was $1500 per ton, versus $4200 in the Paso Robles area, versus $26,500 per ton for 17.6 very precious tons grown in some Napa County niche area. The average price per ton in the four areas were $356, $833, $2323 and $3988. However, bargain grape prices are what allows the Trader Joe's stores in California to be able to offer their Charles Shaw brand ("two buck Chuck") for a price everyone can afford.

With the demand in the market for wines of more distinctive character, there came an enormous spread in where the 'premium' grape varieties are grown. Cabernet Sauvignon is now grown in considerable quantities in all 17 of the viticultural districts for which measurements are recorded each year. This is because there are a great many areas suitable within the state for growing these grapes and because great strides have been made in viticultural knowledge and field practices in recent years. This is somewhat parallel to the situation in Italy. While Tuscany is famous for its Sangiovese based wines, you will hardly find a winemaking area in Italy that doesn't have some clone of Sangiovese planted. And, in Tuscany you will now find vineyards planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay nearby to Sangiovese vineyards.

Speaking of Chardonnay, while some of the wineries in Sonoma and Napa are justly famous for their home grown buttery Chardonnays, less than 15% of California's Chardonnay is grown in those two counties. In fact, many Napa wineries are exceedingly proud of the Chardonnays they produce under their famous Sonoma and Napa labels from Santa Barbara grapes. When it comes right down to it, the proof is in the drinking and skill level advances in winemaking have now made it almost impossible to find a truly bad wine on a super market shelf or on the rack of a wine store. The choice comes down to what foods do you plan to serve with the wine, who is going to share the wine with you and how perceptive is your palate? Paying a higher price for a bottle of wine does not assure a more pleasurable experience!

Several new white wine favorites are emerging and White Riesling is beginning to make its well-deserved way back onto the North American wine scene. To a great extent, emerging white grape varieties owe their rediscovery to the passionate exploratory efforts by 'artisan' small wineries who can afford to spend the time and effort to make just a couple of hundred cases of something good. For example, just as fading interest in Rhone white wines was threatening to reduce to a historic footnote the grape varieties Viognier, Marsanne and Roussane, 'suitcase vine cuttings' brought into California by enthusiasts within its energetic new wine culture brought these varieties back into international awareness. Viognier proved such a hit, over 2,000 acres have been planted in eighteen California counties and the revived interest in the varietal helped it reach the recommended list for grape varieties that could upgrade wine quality in lagging French viticultural areas. While birds are so fond of Marsanne it is hard to find any fruit to harvest, increasingly you will find appealing Roussannes, often in a blend with Marsanne, at wine merchants and on restaurant wine lists. But, among white varietals, Pinot Gris has been the one most quickly rising to New World prominence. Besides becoming the favorite white wine of Oregon (there is now twice as much Pinot Gris planted in Oregon vineyards as Chardonnay), it has been planted in twenty-six California counties and from a mere 72 bearing acres in 1996, total acreage grew to over 7,000 acres by 2005. From California the wine reaches retailer shelves under both its Italian name, Pinot Grigio, and its French name, Pinot Gris. In addition, to the credit of New York City Sommeliers, there is a revival of interest in White Riesling. Remarkably good Rieslings are reaching market from North America's northern climes vineyards and 'Ice Wines' have become a delicious new feature on the market. Wines from California's Monterey County and from Oregon's Columbia River area are also benefiting from revived interest in this venerable German grape and 349 new acres of Riesling were planted in Monterey during the past three years.

As Australia and the United States have turned from being 'beer-drinking' nations into 'wine-drinking' nations, Syrah has become a major red wine beneficiary. The French threw in the towel in 2005 and announced acceptance of both the labeling of wine by its varietal composition and Shiraz as a legitimate name for wine made from the grape known in the France's Rhone region as Syrah. One probable factor in bringing about this enlightened change of position was the fact that France had slipped to third place behind Italy and Australia in American import of wines. Yet, another pragmatic factor in bringing about the change is that under its Aussie name, 'Shiraz', wine made from the 'Syrah' grape has become a great hit in England, Europe and America. In part, the close relationship between Australian and California winemakers (a young winemaker can jump-start their experience by working both the Fall harvest in California and the Spring harvest in Australia) has helped California winemakers become enamored by the wine producing qualities of this grape. Enthusiasm for Syrah has seen the bearing acreage climb from 913 acres in 1996 to over 17,000 acres in 2005 and the 'Rhone Riders' wine society was formed to promote Rhone varietals. Within a decade, the grape crush of Syrah had grown from one-seventh of the size of California's favorite 'niche' wine, Pinot Noir, to one and one-half the size of the Pinot Noir crush, in spite of the Pinot Noir crush growing by 300% during the decade. The difference here, of course, is that Pinot Noir is one of the most demanding of all vines regarding the conditions in which it will yield fine grapes and most of the production in California (84%) is limited to cool parts of Sonoma County; Monterey County; the coastal climes of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties; and, the cool southern reaches of Napa County.

Details about the 2005 California Grape Crush can be obtained from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Email: nass-ca@nass.usda.gov, Web: www.nass.usda.gov/ca