Even thirty short years ago, California rarely came onto the radar of the world’s wine lovers. Since then, however, a whole lot has changed. The state has won, and continues to win, some of the most prestigious wine competitions in the world, compiling a record of victories that makes it impossible to ignore. California wineries, too, have collectively become far more competent and capable, now frequently vying with the most storied vineyards of France, Italy, and Spain to produce the most impressive output.
California Wines can therefore easily be every bit as much worth delving into as those from anywhere else. Most people are likely introduced to wines from the Golden State with a sip of something from Napa Valley or Sonoma County, and it is true that these are two of the top wine-producing regions in the state and in the world.
California Wines go well beyond what can be found in those most famous areas, though. As a look through the California-produced offerings at a well-stocked retailer like website will show, the state’s output ranges far beyond the burly, fruity cabernet-heavy vintages that those regions are best known for.
In the far northern part of the state, for instance, some spectacular wines based around subtler pinot grapes are commonly found. The cooler weather well to the north of Sonoma and Napa tends to provide more amenable conditions for grapes of that varietal, something that vineyards in the area have learned to use to their advantage.
Elsewhere in California, wineries are even finding success with grapes and wines that have formerly not been associated with the state at all, in fact. A number of inland California vineyards have been experimenting with Riesling grapes in recent years, and some of them have gotten to the point of producing credible competitors to the wines of the same sort that Germany is famous for turning out.
While California will always likely receive a justified share of acclaim for the wine it sends out from Sonoma and Napa, the reality is that it is far more versatile of a wine producer than many assume. Many of these lesser known wines, in fact, are now starting to receive the same kind of attention that first propelled California onto the worldwide wine scene.
