THE VERDICT

Chardonnay unsurprisingly made up the lion’s share of entries, receiving mixed comments from our tasters. And the less-traditional varieties and sparkling wines also impressed, finds Tina Gellie

While Chardonnay (in 35 of 56 entries) dominated this tasting, it wasn’t the whole story. As with the less-traditional grape varieties fielded for the reds, our expert panel was excited to see an eclectic mix among the remaining whites. ‘I was quite impressed to see Fiano, Grenache, Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc... I think there were some really nice wines in there,’ said Keith Kirkpatrick. ‘They may struggle to be competitive at their price points in the UK, but they were thoroughly enjoyable wines to drink.’

Romain Bourger agreed: ‘I actually preferred these lesser-known varieties to the Chardonnays. It’s always interesting to taste different examples around the world of, say, Albariño, Grüner Veltliner and white Italian varieties. Even the Rieslings were easy-drinking with good aromatics.’

Susy Atkins noted that many ‘lacked the crisp acidity and freshness – that varietal clout – that you’d see in their European equivalents, but it’s great to see such interest and variety is on offer, particularly for US drinkers.’

Turning their attention to Chardonnay, Bourger noted a real improvement in Chardonnay quality from the more southern AVAs. ‘Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Barbara County – these areas for me scored relatively well,’ he noted. ‘We don’t know the prices, but I would expect great value for money from these regions. Fantastic, more elegant Chardonnay compared with many northern areas.’

The Chardonnays did come in for some criticism, however. ‘We failed to find any absolute stars’, noted Atkins, while Kirkpatrick felt producers hadn’t ‘moved with the times’ with this variety as much as with others. ‘At this price point, it seems they are sticking rigidly to the same winemaking methods they’ve been using for the past 20 or 30 years,’ he said. ‘There’s still too much obvious oak, too much heat from the alcohol, some unnecessary sweetness and not enough fresh, pure fruit character coming through.’

Kirkpatrick said there was no doubt that California could deliver lovely expressions of Chardonnay at a premium price, but ‘in this middle ground, it looks like producers are still working too hard to try to elevate what is essentially a simple, entrylevel wine by throwing money – oak – at it, rather than focusing on getting really good fruit and the most elegant expression they can.’

Atkins defended the oak use in certain examples. ‘Some are good, honest, oaked California Chardonnays, and why shouldn’t they be?’ She did, however, have a problem with acidity. ‘Some of the Chardonnays were hot and flabby, lacking acidity. Then

‘I actually preferred these lesser-known varieties to the Chardonnays’

Romain Bourger

others had too much, with producers trying too hard to get a fresh finish, so we ended up with pithy, sour wines.

‘Getting that balance right still seems an issue in California,’ she said. ‘For the Sauvignon Blancs, as well, many of which were quite clumsy in relation to what we find from Europe.’

Bourger was particularly impressed by the small number of sparkling wines that were entered. ‘Regrettably we don’t see as many as we should in the UK, as they are consistently very good,’ he said. ‘Yes, some were quite rich and full, but that is sunny California! But they still had good balance with enough acidity and freshness.’ Atkins was encouraged by the quality and hoped UK consumers would see more sparkling wines in this price range, while Kirkpatrick praised those that had undergone judicious barrel fermentation and ageing.

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit California whites, including sparkling, with availability in the UK and/or US, with a retail price of up to £ 30/$30

NB: notes and scores for three California rosé still wines and one rosé sparkling also tasted by our panel are available on Decanter.com