OREGON
e
2000
Mono Lake
r
TUOLUMNE
MONO
r a
Modesto
NE
0
Mt.Whitney 1 50
in V TULARE
300
l
l e
a
90 0
1500
g e
19
y
y 99
s
Paso Robles
M o j a v e
300
0
90
900
22
S A N TA BARBARA
Santa Barbara S a n t a B a r b a ra C h a n nel
58
SAN BERNARDINO 40
LOS ANGELES
VENTURA
15
Santa Clarita
101
C h a n n e l
D e s e r t 14
5
1500
15
San Bernardino
Los Angeles
Long Beach
Is l
ORANGE
300
10
RIVERSIDE
900
23 Temecula
a
Salton Sea
n d
s
Major city Other city
0 0
50 50
100 miles 100 kilometres
5
SOUTH COAST
San Diego
Contours (heights in metres)
N
150 0
n Santa Maria 21
900
58
KERN
900
a
Bakersfield
SAN LUIS OBISPO
20
IZO N A
0 150
n
c e
00
DA
Va l l e
a
R
O
10
Central Valley 24 El Dorado 25 Clarksburg 26 Lodi 27 Sierra Foothills
ath
Owens Lake
KINGS
VA
De
0
a
FRESNO
INYO
150
d
qu oa nJ Sa i n
u
900
101
200 100 0
0
AR
Sacramento
50
20
90
Fresno
q
t
MONTEREY
00
a
a
s
i c i f a c
5
18
20
300
o
a
SAN BENITO
00
90 J
o
P
17
900
v
C
Madera
South Coast 23 Temecula
e
n
MADERA
MERCED
101
N
Merced
99
a
00 0 20 150
S
S A N TA CLARA
00
MARIPOSA
S TA N I S L A U S
Central Coast 13 Livermore 14 Santa Clara Valley 15 Santa Cruz 16 Monterey 17 Santa Lucia Highlands 18 Arroyo Seco 19 Paso Robles 20 Edna Valley 21 Santa Rita Hills 22 Santa Ynez
9
27
CALAVERAS
Stockton
16
100
0 50 0 50 ALPINE
CENTRAL VALLEY
San Jose
Salinas
500 200
North Coast 1 Mendocino 2 Anderson Valley 3 Dry Creek Valley 4 Alexander Valley 5 Sonoma Coast 6 Northern Sonoma 7 Russian River Valley 8 Green Valley 9 Napa Valley 10 Sonoma Valley 11 Los Carneros 12 Petaluma Gap
EL DORADO
580
CENTRAL COAST
300
12
AVAs on main map
i
26
Fremont A L A M E D A
15
15 kilometres
Lake Tahoe
24
Sacramento A M A D O R SACRAMENTO 99
CONTRA C O S TA
S A N TA CRUZ
0
0
300
80
SAN JOAQUIN
SAN M AT E O
10 miles
S
Fairfield
14
10
0
y lle
25
43
42
41
50
5
280
Napa
PLACER
Auburn
YOLO
13
40
0
10
Yuba City
SOLANO
80
200
0
YUBA
Va
SAN FRANCISCO
0
NEVADA
MARIN
San Francisco
Sonoma
36
500 39
38
pa Na
20
to Sacrame n
11
0 50
0
12
99
80
35
00
e n g R a 1500
30
Santa Rosa N A9P A 10 Napa
7 8
6
900
900
See inset
SONOMA 3 4
5
5
34
0
SIERRA
SUTTER
200
s
e s n g R a 101
500
in
0 10
ta COLUSA
32
10
BUTTE
Clear Lake
2
2000
1500
e c a d C a s
un
300
1
31
37
PLUMAS
GLENN
NAPA 33
30
SONOMA
TEHAMA
LAKE COUNTY
29
28
Red Bluff
MENDOCINO
NORTH COAST
Lake Berryessa
LASSEN
S H A S TA
Redding
TRINITY
500
28 Calistoga 29 Howell Mountain 30 Diamond Mountain 31 Spring Mountain 32 St Helena 33 Chiles Valley 34 Rutherford 35 Oakville 36 Mount Veeder 37 Yountville 38 Stags Leap District 39 Atlas Peak 40 Oak Knoll 41 Los Carneros 42 Coombsville 43 Wild Horse Valley
500 200
1500
5
HUMBOLDT 101
California has an extraordinary wine story to tell. No other region has come so far, so fast, with quite so many dramas played out along the way. The villains of the piece tend to reach in from the physical environment – namely fire, fog, phylloxera and seismic disruption – while its heroes undoubtedly take human form: Agoston Haraszthy, Robert Mondavi, Warren Winiarski and Steven Spurrier have starring roles. As in the films, the good in California always triumph. At first sight, California’s stage players – the grapes themselves – make wine identification easy: we’ve met most of them already; they’re as clearly signed as any roll call of Hollywood actors. But California wine is far more complex. The interplay of ocean, sky, geology and man make knowing this outwardly modern winescape more difficult than its early adventurers – even those kick-starting its wine scene after Prohibition – ever supposed. The factors of terroir seem to be writ larger here than anywhere else, and to manifest themselves more fiercely, paving a way for wines that are equally bold – in tune with the American landscape and character – but not always. This book sets out to explain the human part in the California wine adventure. It is a history of sorts (though not chronological), and a portrait of the pioneers and philosophers who made it happen. But more importantly, it is a description of the challenges thrown by this rugged Pacific hotzone and the way winemakers work with them to create wines that fascinate those of us who live far beyond the state boundary – and awake pride in the wine lovers within it. The first step in knowing any wine region, of course, is to identify what happens where. The map opposite shows California’s four most important regions for quality wine: the North Coast, Central Coast, Central Valley and South Coast. It also shows the state’s 58 counties – 49 of which produce wine grapes. While California’s counties are often used to explain a location, it is its 139 AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) that receive special attention here: these are delimited geographical areas selected for the distinctive quality of the wine they produce. California’s most distinguished AVAs are numbered 1–43 on the map. The North Coast (red) is dominated by the Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Napa, at just 48 kilometres (30 miles) long, and sandwiched between the Mayacamas and Vaca mountain ranges, has a jumbled mixture of volcanic and quake-prone terroirs that yield some of the most complex, expensive wines on the planet,
MODOC Mt. Shasta
Mo
s t C o a
SUSAN KEEVIL
Napa Valley
90
SISKIYOU
th
PREFACE
Napa Valley AVAs
CALIFORNIA WINE REGIONS
900 K l a m a
DEL NORTE
st s oa e C ng a R
101
15
300 IMPERIAL
SAN DIEGO 8
M E13X I C O
