THE VERDICT

Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir dominated as expected, our judges finding this a solid, consistent tasting, if lacking the elegance or complexity they had hoped for.

There may have been no fireworks, but our expert trio were encouraged by improved levels of quality in this competitive price bracket, if slightly disappointed by an overarching fruit-forward simplicity.

‘I was pleasantly surprised,’ said Susy Atkins. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve tasted so many Californian wines in such a concentrated period of time and I do think the quality has gone up.

‘There’s a lot of good wine – even very good wine – for the price point, but I was disappointed that there were few really stellar wines, which we know California can deliver.’

Keith Kirkpatrick felt that Californian producers need to understand the UK market better before their wines are fully appreciated. ‘Our European palate is quite different from the

North American palate,’ he explained. ‘Even for wines at entry level, not everybody is looking for sweet, forward fruit with lots of oak and alcohol. We want savouriness, elegance and balance as well.’

That finesse seemed most lacking in the Pinot Noirs which, nevertheless, were roundly enjoyed by all three judges. ‘I was looking for elegance and balance in particular, and was pleased that there weren’t too many overly sweet wines, though some tasted rather overcooked,’ noted Atkins. ‘But what was sadly lacking were the more complex notes – that lovely earthy, forest floor quality that Pinot can give.’

Unsurprisingly, the other consistently good-quality variety highlighted by all the judges was Cabernet Sauvignon. While Romain Bourger was impressed by the wines from specific AVAs, Kirkpatrick praised the entries that already had some age and therefore more aroma and flavour interest beyond primary fruit. ‘The younger 2018 wines were as I expected – powerful, ripe and intense – but at this stage of their life quite homogenous and often simplistic,’ he said.

In the Zinfandel flight, Bourger and Kirkpatrick preferred the lighter, more ‘old-school’ wines to the more concentrated, high-alcohol styles appreciated by Atkins. ‘But in general, whatever kind of Zinfandel you like there were some good, balanced, well-made examples,’ said Bourger.

Kirkpatrick was disappointed there were so few Syrahs: ‘California’s doing some great things with Syrah and I’d like to see more in the UK. So far we tend to see only those at a mid to high price, but I think it’s a grape that could work at a more affordable level too.’

Our expert trio found the ‘mixed bag’ flight of varieties such as Barbera, Carignan, Counoise, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Valdiguié hard to judge as there were no benchmarks. However, all agreed that while it was exciting to see the diversity of choice available, the wines would struggle in the UK in terms of price point, compared to more authentic, higherquality counterparts from Europe.

As usual in Decanter panel tastings, prices were not revealed to the judges, nor which wines were available in either or both of the UK or US markets. But the consensus was that lovers of Californian wine on both sides of the pond had good choice and quality available to them. As Bourger concluded: ‘We’re lucky to have some excellent wines at the top end and some perhaps not so good wines at the cheap end, but if what we tasted here is an example of the intermediate range coming from California, there are some encouraging signs.’

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their Californian red wines with availability in the UK and/or US, with a retail price of up to £ 30/$30

‘I was looking for elegance and balance, and was pleased there weren’t too many overly sweet wines’

Susy Atkins