Eight Californian wines to celebrate Joe Biden’s inauguration

There’s no better time to recommend a selection of fine Californian wines, to toast the new administration and perhaps look forward to a more peaceful partner across the pond, writes Terry Kirby

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It has been quite a tumultuous time in the United States of late, hasn’t it? A rampaging pandemic, mass protests over police killings and now an outgoing president impeached for a second time. While next week’s inauguration of Joe Biden will take place amid unprecedented security, it should also be a moment of celebration that a more unifying and rational figure is entering the Oval Office, while a black woman, Kamala Harris, will become vice president.  

So what better time to recommend a selection of fine Californian wines, to toast the new administration and perhaps look forward to a more peaceful partner across the pond? While there are great wines being produced in Washington state, Oregon and New York, their overall production is miniscule compared with California, and the wines are much less readily available in the UK. So instead let’s turn to the four grapes for which California is best known and on which its reputation is founded. Next week I’ll be recommending some less well-known wines that hold exciting promise for a more diverse picture of Californian wines in the future.