California wines

This evening I thought I'd pen a few words about California wines in general. Now, as does most every growing region, California produces a wide variety of wines - both in terms of price point and style/varietal. Many wine writers and other afficionados would say that California provides less variety in terms of style that other regions - most notably France.

I'll agree with that - yes California wines has a more consistent in style - but they are more consistent in quality as well. This is indeed the main point I'm raising in this post:

If one wishes to purchase a high quality wine, and one can afford a wine that is say - CAD $18 and up at the LCBO - then you should strongly consider wines from the California section of the wine shop.

The main reason is that California wines are more of a sure fire bet than those from other regions. Expensive French and Italians wines can be wonderful - but they can also be disappointing. Australian wines can be great - but they lack to polish that I find in California wines.

Here are some specific wines to be on the look out for - which are generally available:

Cline Syrah - There is a Carneros version of Cline's Syrah - for about $26. This is an excellent wine - but the better deal is the Cline "California" Syrah (usually about $17.)

Zinfandels starting with 'R' - try Rosenblum, Renwood, Ridge (more $$), Rabbit Ridge, Ravenswood.