California Terroir?

Have you ever walked through a farmer's market here in California. In Marin County, where I live, we have one of the largest and oldest markets in the state. What is truly amazing about these markets are the wide range of produce that's available. There's Chinese broccoli, lnng beans, chayote squash, jicama, berries of all types, apples, pears, oranges, just about anything but tropical fruits grow here in this state.

Last weekend's TAPAS (Tempernillo Alliance of Producers and Amigos) of wines produced from Iberian Peninsula wine grapes got me thinking about that when it came to wine grapes. We seem to be able grow anything here. Nebbiolas and Barbaras from Italy; Syrah, Grenache and Viognier from the Rhone; Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris from Alsace; Riesling from Germany, Cabernet, chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Burgundy and Bordeaux; and now Tempernillo, Graczinano, and verdehlo from Iberia.

The question is, when grown in California, do these varietals make good wine, and do they bring a sense of place to those wines. I remember Cal-Italia, where the wine growers were celebrating Italian varietals. Guess what, most of the wines were totally dismissible, and the event never happened again. Until recently, I have not found a lot of Italian varietal based wine that was worth drinking. However, even that has started to change. Vina Nocetro (I don't have the correct spelling) from Amador County is doing some very interesting things with their Nebbiola and Sangiovese based wines.

And just last week, I was invited to taste Hart's Desires wines from Somona County and I was surprised two times. First was a Sangiovese that had a small amount of Zinfandel in the blend. It was juicy, fragrant, nice tannins and acid structure. In short, it had many of the attributes one finds in a well made Chianti Classico, and it was a bargain. The second was a rose made from Sangiovese. This could have been one of the best California roses I've had in quite a while.

Then there is the issue of the Rhone Rangers. I'm still not sold on this. I have had excellent CA syrahs from Novy, Rosenblum, Fess Parker, Failla, and others. But most of them are in the California style, big ripe fruit, and very rich. I liked them, but they are not the food friendly wines of the northern Rhone. As for the GSM blends (Chateauneuf de Pape), Tablas Creek does make a very fine version of this style. Others making interesting wines are L'aventura (who I think is extremely overpriced), Four Vines/Cypher Vineyards, Andrew Murray, etc. I remember tasting the Andrew Murray wine blind and having a Texas native tell us that is had the nose of a huge BBQ joint. Talk about roasted meat aromas.

I think the whites are more interesting and successful, yet not quite as well known. Viognier from Fess Parker is one of my go to white wines over the summer. Great for sipping, fish, chicken or lightly seasoned pork on the grill. Marsanne Roussane blends are downright intriguing, it made well. Their acidity and fruitiness are perfect with warm weather fare.

Which brings me to what are called the rest of the Aromatic Whites, Gewurztraminer , Riesling, and Muscat. All of these have very floral and aromatic noses, and grow very well in various regions of Europe. Many are made off dry, which means slightly lower alcohol levels. I think Riesling in the US is a work in progress, I am not a big fan. As you can get really great German or Alsace Riesling at very good prices, why bother. (A side note, I am looking forward to cruising on the Crystal Symphony where the house pour dessert wine is a TBA Riesling from Kracher, one of the worlds great sweet wine producers. My mouth waters thinking about it.) Dr. Loosen has a joint venture in Washington state the is only partially successful. Skip the Washington State and stay with his German product.

If you are looking for domestic Riesling, go to New York's Finger Lakes region where it has it in spades. Because this region has similar conditions to the Rhine and the Moselle, the wines have a very similar structure, great acidity, low alcohol and are very food friendly. Look for Keuka Springs, Dr. Konstantine Frank and Widmer. Keuka Springs also has a dynamite Gwurtz as well, winning Best of Show White Wine at a recent SF Chronicle Wince Competition.

In California, Navarro is the Gwurtz go to winery. They've been doing it for years, and they do it well. It is Alsatian in character, well structure, slightly off dry and totally delicious.

Which brings me back to the TAPAS tasting this weekend. Ir was very interesting. I generally found the wines to be well made, and the whites to be generally more interesting than the reds. It was a red that really stood out, E2 from Bodega de Edgar Winery in San Luis Obispo. This was a wine that I would buy in a second. It was a blend of Graziano and Tempernillo, had great structure, very well integrated tannins and went well with the Paella that was served at the event. Finding that wine was enough to make the trip worthwhile. I will go again next year and see how they are progressing.

Back to my central questions, if we can grow anything here in California, is it worth growing and drinking. That's in the eye of the beholder. One of the strengths, and some would say weaknesses of our system is that unlike Europe with its myriad of restrictions on what can be grown where, we leave it up to the grower. If he or she feels they can make a commercially viable product, or one that they enjoy drinking, why not. While I like to pontificate on wines attributes, wine is really a very personal thing. It's what you like, and that's what counts.

Over the next two weeks I am going to a whole batch of very interesting wine events, ranging from Pinot Days (a personal favorite), tasting Calistoga AVA wines, to tastings of wines from two of Spain's lesser know appellations. I should find something to write about. Thanks for visiting, and please feel free to send my your comments and thought.