While Europe has been honing its grape growing and winemaking for thousands of years, California has been producing wine for a mere one hundred years or so, taking a break for temperance for a dozen years. Savvy producers in California embrace the knowledge and history of Europe and often work as interns in the vineyards and wineries of the EU. These students of the wine grape bring their lessons back to the West Coast of the United States, adjusting these old world methods for California's ample sun and ideal weather. California has become a serious contender in the global wine market. It boasts wine regions with stature akin to the best European appellations. (Forgive me, Francophiles.)
      This Thursday we taste Hess Select Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvingon. The juice used in the chardonnay is from Monterey, one of the up-and-coming AVAs. Monterey boast some of the best chardonnay in the world. Monterey has the maritime weather needed to grow the best quality grapes. The Hess Select Cabernet Sauvingon, (a blend of 90% cabernet sauvignon, 5% merlot, 5% syrah) hails from Mendocino County at 47%, Lake County at 37%, and Napa County by 16%.

Then we sample two Louis M. Martini wines Thursday. Louis M. Martini was a turn of the Twentieth Century, California winemaker. Martini was born in Italy and came to the United States as a boy in 1899. He returned to Italy to study wine as a young man. When he returned to California, he made sacramental wine and wine grape concentrate for home winemakers during Prohibition. Louis Martini's history is rich with place, passion, and a sense of community, spanning decades of the fledgling California wine industry. Today, Michael Martini, grandson of Louis M., is head winemaker at Louis Martini. Michael, like many savvy student winemakers, studied in Europe before establishing himself in the Golden State. Louis Martini produces wine with the family name still intact, and more importantly, reflecting a style that shows the elegance of Italy and the ripe abundance of California. Enjoy a taste of Louis Martini Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon and Louis Martini Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.

We sample wine from some of the best AVAs of California. Stop by on THURSDAY to sample each from 4:30pm to 7:00pm. Receive a 15% off discount, for any wine being poured as an in-store sample, during the tasting hours.

Thursday, February 25, 2010
Super California Wines
Hess Select Monterey Chardonnay $11.99
Hess Select Monterey Cabernet Sauvignon $15.99
Louis Martini Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon $13.99
Louis Martini Napa Cabernet Savignon $22.99

Read about Monterey.

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Monterey gains prestige as a top wine region

We all know the name Napa, Sonoma, Burgundy, and Bordeaux. Each one of these regions has the luxury of widely varying temperatures, cool nights and sunny, warm days. Grapes love to cool off at night and the fruit they produce is an indication of how often they are permitted to do this. Complexity and acidity are preserved when grapes are allowed to ripen slowly. Ocean breezes and fog create a wide variety of daily temperatures. Many of the earth's best wine grape growing regions are cooled by ocean breezes. There are some growing areas not so well know that offer these ideal growing specifications.
      Monterey is known for its sleepy fog and cooling ocean breezes. As the warm air rises during the day, the vacuum created by this movement pulls cool ocean breezes off the Monterey Bay. It was not until a University of California at Davis professor categorized the growing areas of California in the early 1960s that Monterey's potential was uncovered. Growers were looking for new land to plant wine grapes and found Monterey's coastal temperatures ideal. According to UC Davis measurements, Monterey and is considered the same type of climate as Napa, Sonoma, Burgundy, and Bordeaux.
      Monterey's terroir has been so successful that eight additional interior AVAs have been established to define their vineyards even further. An AVA is short for American Viticultural Area. AVAs can be as big as several states and as small as a valley that can be surveyed from one vantage point to the naked eye. Monterey's AVAs are Santa Lucia Highlands, Arroyo Seco, San Lucas, Hames Valley, Chalone, Carmel Valley, San Antonio Valley, San Bernabe and the largest AVA containing the later regions, Monterey.
      Chardonnay is a significant planting in Monterey, totaling forty percent of the county's grape vineyards. The next significant planting is merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and then pinot noir, but each only totaling about a third of the amount of chardonnay acreage. The next grapes in the hierarchy are syrah and riesling, each only amounting to about a tenth of the chardonnay vineyards. Beyond these numbers Monterey grows just about every other wine grape variety found in California, showing how versatile this prime growing area is.
      Monterey has been producing wine grapes for less than fifty years, yet its wines are claiming their rightful place on our wine shop store shelves, next to some of California's best growing regions. Wines from this region are impressive and are a great value for their price point.

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