USA

USA (a sommelier’s dream).  Since the movie Sideways of 2004 shot the region to fame, a Pacific swell of talent has emerged in California, achieving world class recognition in the wines for all the right reasons; purity of fruit, restraint & a sense of place that counter the stigma associated with the California wine region. The region is vast, spanning some 750km between Santa Barbara in the south & Mendocino County to the north, accounting for around 90% of American wine production.

Lining the coast of California are the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean. As the cold currents meet the shore in summer, they create blankets of cool fog which are sucked inland. The most famous vista to demonstrate this, is that of the Golden Gate Bridge towering out of the fog in summer. This brings cool air to moderate climate, and governing vineyard suitability & plantings is the ability of this fog to reach inland pockets.