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50-725: Almaden Vineyards , historically written as Almadén Vineyards , is a Californian winery . Founded in 1852, it is the oldest commercial winery in California . Originally located and established in Almaden Valley, San Jose , the winery has since moved to the San Joaquin Valley , primarily based in Escalon and Madera . The Old Almadén Winery in San Jose is a registered California Historical Landmark and open to

100-822: A 'shock' in viticulture industry since France was regarded as foremost producer of the world's finest table wines. This event contributed to expanding the recognition and prestige of vintners in the New World , specifically, the "Golden State". The state produces about ninety percent of the American wine supply and is the fourth largest wine producer among the world's independent nations. California has more than 4,200 wineries ranging from home-grown and small boutiques to large corporations with international distribution, and even more vineyards and growers, at close to 6,000. Wine Country , in Northern California,

150-503: A Mediterranean climate , there are also regions with more continental dry climates . Proximity to the Pacific and unobstructed access to the coastal wind and fog dictates the relative coolness of a wine region. Areas surrounded by mountain barriers, like some parts of Sonoma and Napa counties will be warmer due to the lack of this cooling influence. The soil types and landforms of California vary greatly, having been influenced by

200-466: A more fruit forward rather than earthy or mineralic style of wine. It also creates the opportunity for higher alcohol levels with many Californian wines having over 13.5 percent alcohol content. The style of Californian Chardonnay differs greatly from wines like Chablis with Californian winemakers frequently using malolactic fermentation and oak aging to make buttery, full bodied wines. Californian Sauvignon blancs are not as herbaceous as wines from

250-504: A plush, concentrated style. The profile of Californian Pinot noir generally takes on a more intense, fruity style than the subtler, more elegant wines of Burgundy or Oregon . Until being passed up by Cabernet in 1998, Zinfandel was the most widely planted red wine grape in California. This was due in part to the wide popularity of White Zinfandel . Despite being made from the same grape, the only similarity between White and Red Zinfandel

300-586: A prominent role in developing the Californian wine industry during this period - building wineries, planting vineyards, digging the underground cellars and harvesting grapes. Some even assisted as winemakers before the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act , which severely affected the Chinese community in favor of encouraging "white labor". By 1890, most of the Chinese workers were out of

350-597: A rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted Vitis vinifera vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services . In the 1770s, Spanish missionaries continued the practice under the direction of the Father Junípero Serra who planted California's first vineyard at Mission San Juan Capistrano . Its contemporary wine production grew steadily since

400-526: A single gallon of wine through irrigation . The average depends, in part, on the region where the grapes are grown, with 243 gallons of water per wine gallon in the North Coast region to 471 gallons per on the Central Coast. California has over 427,000 acres (1,730 km ) planted under vines mostly located in a stretch of land covering over 700 miles (1,100 km) from Mendocino County to

450-525: Is an internationally-recognized premier wine-growing region. The state of California was first introduced to Vitis vinifera vines, a species of wine grapes native to the Mediterranean region, in the 18th century by the Spanish missionaries, who planted vineyards with each mission they established. The wine was used for religious sacraments as well as for daily life. Cuttings from the vine of

500-549: Is generally regarded as the combined counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Solano, and western parts of Yolo County. These counties contain the following American Viticultural Areas (AVAs): The six-county North Coast AVA overlaps with the Wine Country as defined here and also includes Marin County. In addition, the names of the counties themselves are legal for use as appellation names. The earliest prehistory of

550-456: Is no doubt that California wines will remain a top choice for wine drinkers around the world.” Demand for U.S. wine began to flatten in 2018 but COVID-19 pandemic distorted sales and shipments as consumers temporarily bought more. In 2024, as much as 500,000 tons of grapes went unharvested as demand decreased. California is a very geologically diverse region and varies greatly in the range of climates and terroirs that can be found. Most of

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600-796: Is often divided into four main regions: Over one hundred grape varieties are grown in California including French , Italian and Spanish as well as hybrid grapes and new Vitis vinifera varieties developed at the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology . The seven leading grape varieties are: Other important red wine grapes include Barbera , Cabernet Franc , Carignan , Grenache , Malbec , Mourvèdre , Petite Sirah , Petit Verdot , Sangiovese , and Tannat . Important white wine varietals include Chenin blanc , French Colombard , Gewürztraminer , Marsanne , Muscat Canelli , Pinot blanc , Pinot gris , Riesling , Roussane , Sémillon , Trousseau gris , and Viognier . Up until

650-506: Is prevalent on the Wine Country valley floors. The Wine Country has undergone a boom in tourism. In 1975 there were only 25 Napa Valley wineries; today there are well over 800 wineries in Napa and Sonoma Counties. Tourists come to the region not only for wine tasting , but also for hiking , bicycling , hot air ballooning , and historic sites, as well as the extensive culinary choices. Numerous notable chefs and restaurateurs are present in

700-424: Is the name. Zinfandel is a powerful, fruity wine with high levels of acidity and a jam-type flavor. White Zinfandel is a thin, slightly sweet blush wine. While the grape does have European origins, Zinfandel is considered a unique American style grape. California sparkling wine traces its roots to Sonoma in the 1880s with the founding of Korbel Champagne Cellars . The Korbel brothers made sparkling wine according to

750-556: The méthode champenoise from Riesling, Chasselas , Muscatel and Traminer . Today most California sparkling wine is largely made from the same grapes used in Champagne : Chardonnay, Pinot noir and some Pinot Meunier . Some wineries will also use Pinot blanc , Chenin blanc and French Colombard . The premium quality producers still use the méthode champenoise (or traditional method) while some low cost producers, like Gallo 's Andre brand or Constellation Brands ' Cook's, will use

800-501: The Anderson Valley AVA have found vineyards where this noble rot can occur naturally on the grapes. The Anderson and Alexander Valley AVAs have also developed a reputation for their Late Harvest wines made from Riesling. Several French and Italian style Muscat wines are produced throughout California and are known for their intense aromatics and balanced acidity. The port-style wines in California are often made from

850-540: The Charmat method . The potential for quality sparkling wine has attracted Champagne houses to open up wineries in California. These include Moët et Chandon 's Domaine Chandon , Taittinger 's Domaine Carneros and Louis Roederer 's Roederer Estate . Despite being made with mostly the same grapes and with the same production techniques, California sparkling wines do not set out to be imitators of Champagne but rather to forge their own distinctive style. Instead of having

900-463: The Loire Valley or New Zealand and are more acidic. Some Sauvignon blanc are given time in oak which can dramatically change the profile of the wine. Robert Mondavi first pioneered this style as a Fume blanc which other Californian winemakers have adopted. However, that style is not strictly defined to mean an oak wine. The style of California Cabernet Sauvignon that first put California on

950-516: The Napa River as well as in the Laguna de Santa Rosa - not only in the mainstems, but in many of the tributaries. These investigations have demonstrated a historical decline in spawning and habitat value for these species, primarily due to sedimentation and secondarily to removal of riparian vegetation since the 19th century. A variety of salamanders , snakes and frogs are also present in

1000-550: The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 where renown French oenophiles participated in a blind tasting to judge the best wines from California's wine regions and France's prestigious Bordeaux and Burgundy regions. George Taber, the sole journalist who attended the event, penned the article "Judgment of Paris" in Time magazine reporting the shocking results when the local judges ranked the California vintages higher than

1050-512: The plate tectonics of the North American and Pacific Plates . In some areas the soils can be so diverse that vineyards will establish blocks of the same vine variety planted on different soils for purpose of identifying different blending components. This diversity is one of the reasons why California has so many different and distinct American Viticultural Areas . The average vineyard in California uses 318 gallons of water to produce

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1100-456: The "biscuity", yeasty quality that distinguishes most high quality Champagnes, premium California sparkling wines show clarity of fruit flavors without being heavily "fruity". The wines strive for finesse and elegance. The optimal climate condition allows most sparkling wine producers to make a vintage dated wine every year while in Champagne this would only happen in exceptional years. Since

1150-458: The "common black grape" (as it was known) brought to the New World by Hernán Cortés in 1520 were used to start the vineyards of Mexico . The grape's association with the church caused it to become known as the Mission grape , which was to become the dominant grape variety in California until the 20th century. The California Gold Rush in the mid-19th century brought waves of new settlers to

1200-505: The Prohibition laws. By the time Prohibition was repealed in 1933, only 140 wineries were still in operation. The Californian wine industry slowly recovered from Prohibition. By the 1960s, it was primarily known for its sweet port-style wines made from Carignan and Thompson Seedless grapes and jug wines . A new wave of vintners emerged ushering in a renaissance period in California wine production with techniques strengthening

1250-625: The United States, and has contributed greatly to Northern California’s growth and establishment as a wine producing region. A diversity of aquatic and terrestrial organisms populate the Wine Country and its riparian zones . Winter-run Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tsawytscha ), Delta smelt ( Hypomesus transpacificus ) and steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) are the most prominent fishes . Researchers have studied anadromous fish-movements extensively in Sonoma Creek and in

1300-840: The White Grenache Rosé, allegedly the first popular pink wine in the United States. The vineyard has undergone great change since, and as the home ground of Los Gatos became overrun by suburbs, Almaden Vineyards was among the first to move south and 1,000 feet (300 m) up, to Paicines in San Benito County , initially planting 2,000 acres (8.1 km) of mostly Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes with success, and claim of "the world’s largest varietal wine vineyard". 37°14′16″N 121°53′35″W  /  37.2376846890286°N 121.89295049883292°W  / 37.2376846890286; -121.89295049883292 California wine California wine production has

1350-605: The Wine Country include Santa Rosa , Healdsburg , Sonoma , Kenwood , Petaluma , Sebastopol , Guerneville , Windsor , Geyserville , and Cloverdale in Sonoma County; Napa , Yountville , Rutherford , St. Helena and Calistoga in Napa County; and Hopland and Ukiah in Mendocino County. Wine is also an important part of the economy in nearby Lake , Solano , and Yolo counties. Wine Country

1400-551: The Wine Country involves habitation by several Native American tribes from approximately 8000 BC. The principal tribes living in this region included the Pomo , Coast Miwok , Wappo and Patwin , whose early peoples practiced certain forms of agriculture , but probably not involving the cultivation of grapes. During the Mexican Colonial period and after, European settlers brought in more intensive agriculture to

1450-576: The Wine Country, including Thomas Keller , John Ash , and Sondra Bernstein. Besides the obvious winery attractions, the Wine Country is known for the Sonoma County coastline along the Pacific Ocean , the Russian River valley, redwoods , hot spring baths, petrified forests and other natural areas. The Wine Country tourism boom has its downside, exemplified by traffic congestion on State Route 29 , particularly on summer weekends, when

1500-452: The Wine Country, including growing grapes and wine production. Some of the historical events that led to the establishment of California as a state transpired in the Wine Country. In particular, the town of Sonoma is known as the birthplace of American California. Agoston Haraszthy is credited as one of the forefathers of the California wine industry in Sonoma by his planting of grapes in

1550-727: The Wine Country. The federally listed as threatened California red-legged frog is present in the northern reach draining the south slopes of Annadel State Park . Several endangered species (mostly associated with the Napa Sonoma Marsh ) present include Ridgway's rail ( Rallus obsoletus ), California black rail ( Laterallus jamaicensis ), California brown pelican ( Pelicanus occudentalis ), California freshwater shrimp ( Syncaris pacifica ), salt marsh harvest mouse ( Reithrodontomys raviventris ), Suisun shrew ( Sorex ornatus sinuosus ), Sacramento splittail ( Pogonichtys macrolepidotus ). The above are endangered species with

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1600-453: The annual precipitation in regions north of San Francisco between 24 and 45 inches (610–1,143 mm) and southern areas receiving 13 to 20 inches (330–508 mm). Winters are mild with little threat of frost damage though springtime. To curb the threat of frost, vineyard owners will often employ the use of wind machines, sprinklers and smudge pots to protect the vines. While California's wine regions can be generally classified as

1650-538: The end of Prohibition , but mostly known for its sweet , port-style and jug wine products. As the market favored French brands , California's table wine business grew modestly, but quickly gained international prominence at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 , when renown French oenophiles , in a blind tasting , ranked the California wines higher than the primer French labels in the Chardonnay (white) and Cabernet Sauvignon (red) categories. The result caused

1700-559: The exception of the splittail, steelhead and black rail, which are federally designated as threatened. Upland ecosystems drained include mixed California oak woodland , chaparral and savannah woodland . In these upland reaches one finds plentiful black-tailed deer , coyote , skunk, raccoon, opossum, wild turkey , turkey vulture , red-tailed hawk and occasionally bobcat and mountain lion . Prominent higher elevation trees include: Coast live oak , Garry oak , Pacific madrone , California buckeye , Douglas fir , whereas valley oak

1750-411: The first time in 16 years, California wine sales were down. This was not due to a decrease in drinking wine as much as it was a decrease in customers' willingness to spend large amounts on wine. Jon Fredrikson, president of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, said that although sales of $ 3 to $ 6 a bottle of wine and $ 9 to $ 12 wine had seen growth, sales of wine over $ 20 had stagnated. Much of this loss in

1800-717: The grape production, fermentation and bottling processes. Several well-known wineries began in this decade, including Robert Mondavi , Heitz Wine Cellars , and David Bruce Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains . As the quality of Californian wine improved, the region started to receive international attention. A watershed event in the viticulture industry occurred in 1976 to celebrate the United States Bicentennial . British wine connoisseur, merchant and founder of France's first private wine school, L'Academie du Vin , Steven Spurrier , organized

1850-511: The late 1980s, the Californian wine industry was dominated by the Bordeaux varietals and Chardonnay. Sales began to drop as wine drinkers grew bored with the familiarity of these wines. Groups of winemakers like Rhône Rangers and a new wave of Italian winemakers dubbed "Cal-Ital" reinvigorated the industry with new wine styles made from different varieties like Syrah, Viognier, Sangiovese and Pinot grigio. The Santa Cruz-based Bonny Doon Vineyard

1900-460: The lower Arroyo Seco Creek watershed of Sonoma County. In 2017, many portions of California's Wine Country were heavily devastated by wildfires, including the October 2017 Northern California wildfires . Founded in 1880, the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology is the most famous and established school for research and education in winemaking in the Northern California region and

1950-608: The market was occurring in overseas sales, as opposed to U.S. sales in 2010. California wine export volume has shown impressive growth and demonstrating increased popularity in a highly competitive global market. Its vintages continue to perform around the world, especially in Southeast Asia, Mexico and the EU. California vintners represent 80% of U.S. wine production and 95% of U.S. wine exports. Honore Comfort, Wine Institute vice president of international marketing commented, “...there

2000-619: The opportunity to expand the plantings of new grape varieties . By the turn of the 20th century, nearly 300 grape varieties were being grown in the state, supplying approximately 800 wineries. Worldwide recognition seemed imminent until January 16, 1919, when the 18th Amendment ushered in the beginning of Prohibition . Vineyards were ordered to be uprooted, and cellars were destroyed. Some vineyards and wineries were able to survive by converting to table grape or grape juice production. A few more were able to stay in operation to continue to provide churches sacramental wine, an allowed exception to

2050-462: The primer French labels in both Chardonnay (white) and Cabernet Sauvignon (red) categories. As Jim Barrett, general manager/part owner of Chateau Montelena whose 1973 Chardonnay ranked the highest , said: "Not bad for kids from the sticks." The 1976 event led to expanding the recognition and prestige of vintners in the New World, specifically, California. In 2010, it was reported that, for

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2100-614: The public. The winery was established by Éthienne Thée in 1852, who named the vineyard after New Almaden , a nearby quicksilver mining town. Though sources contradict concerning details of the original foundation, it was undeniably Charles Le Franc, son-in-law of Thée, who planted the first choice European grape varieties at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains . The conditions of Pacific cool evening breeze and rocky soil are not sufficiently fertile for large yields but grapes of special quality. Following Prohibition , Almadén as its wines were marketed, had great success with their blush wine,

2150-764: The region, increasing the population and local demand for wine. The newly growing wine industry took hold in Northern California around the counties of Sonoma and Napa . The first commercial winery in California, Buena Vista Winery , was founded in 1857 by Agoston Haraszthy and is located in Sonoma, California . John Patchett opened the first commercial winery in the area that is now Napa County in 1859. During this period some of California's oldest wineries were founded including Buena Vista Winery , Gundlach Bundschu , Inglenook Winery , Markham Vineyards and Schramsberg Vineyards . Chinese immigrants played

2200-619: The southwestern tip of Riverside County . There are 147 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), including the well-known Napa , Russian River Valley , Rutherford and Sonoma Valley AVAs . The Central Valley is California's largest wine region stretching for 300 miles (480 km) from the Sacramento Valley south to the San Joaquin Valley . This one region produces nearly 75% of all California wine grapes and includes many of California's bulk, box and jug wine producers like Gallo, Franzia and Bronco Wine Company . California

2250-521: The state's wine regions are found between the Pacific coast and the Central Valley . The Pacific Ocean and large bays, like San Francisco and Monterey Bays , serve as tempering influences to the wine regions nearby providing cool winds and fog that balance the heat and sunshine. While drought can be a vinicultural hazard, most areas of California receive sufficient amounts of rainfall with

2300-889: The traditional Portuguese wine grapes like Touriga Nacional , Tinta Cão and Tinta Roriz . Some uniquely Californian styles are also made from Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. Wine Country There are over 1,700 wineries in the North Bay (according to Alcoholic Beverage Control of California), mostly located in the area's valleys, including Napa Valley in Napa County , and the Sonoma Valley , Alexander Valley , Dry Creek Valley , Bennett Valley , and Russian River Valley in Sonoma County . Wine grapes are also grown at higher elevations, such as Atlas Peak and Mount Veeder AVAs . Cities and towns associated with

2350-419: The wine industry. The late 19th century also saw the advent of the phylloxera epidemic, a type of parasite similar to aphids , which had already ravaged France and other European vineyards . Vineyards were destroyed, and many smaller operations went out of business. The remedy of grafting resistant American rootstock was well known, and the Californian wine industry was able to rebound quickly, utilizing

2400-505: The wine renaissance of the 1960s, the quality of California's dessert and fortified wines have been dramatically improved. Beringer was one of the first to create a botrytized wine from Sauvignon blanc and Sémillon . Though unlike in Sauternes , Beringer's wine was made of grapes regularly harvested and then introduced at the winery to Botrytis cinerea spores created in a laboratory. Since then California winemakers in places like

2450-533: The world's wine map at the Judgment of Paris is still a trademark style today. The wines are known for their concentration of fruits which produces lush, rich wines. Merlot became widely planted in the 1990s due to its wide popularity, and is still the highest selling of all varietal wines in the country. Many sites that were ill-suited for the grape began to produce harsh, characterless wines trying to model Cabernet. Merlot, when planted on better sites tend to produce

2500-670: Was one of the first wineries to promote these grape varieties in California actively. The large variety of wine grapes also encourages a large variety of wines. California produces wines made in nearly every single known wine style including sparkling , dessert and fortified wines . In the early 21st century, vintners have begun reviving heirloom grape varieties , such as Trousseau gris and Valdiguié . While Californian winemakers do craft wines in more "Old World" or European wine styles, most Californian wines favor simpler, more fruit dominant New World wines . The reliably warm weather allows many wineries to use very ripe fruit which creates

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