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Anthony Rose: 'Is there anything really new emerging from the Golden State?

A movement called In Pursuit of Balance - made up of 32 California producers - is on a mission to produce more vibrant wines

Anthony Rose
Tuesday 21 April 2015 11:56 BST
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Stick the word 'new' on a name and it's tempting to dismiss it as a cynical re-branding exercise. Thanks in part to the fancy steak-house phenomenon, the past few months have seen much talk about 'The New California'. It sounds good, but is there anything really new emerging from the Golden State or is it just more of the same, re-branded for the feelgood factor?

California wine has a unique place in the affections of UK wine drinkers. Great place to visit, box ticked, great food, box ticked, great wine, box also ticked. If it's all so relentlessly great, how come we haven't seen a trickle-down effect much beyond the excellent Ridge, Saintsbury and Au Bon Climat?

It's partly because the US itself is too ready a market for producers to worry about export – and when they do, most of it is plonky, often sweetened, Blossom Hill and Echo Falls. Until recently, California has majored on a limited number of mainstream grape varieties like cabernet sauvignon, merlot and chardonnay. And in California's hot semi-desert, wines have tended to a riper, richer, more-alcoholic style often at odds with a British palate looking for freshness.

Perhaps it was the spotlight on pinot noir at the expense of merlot in the film Sideways that kick-started a search for alternative grape varieties, new locations and improved grape growing. A mission to produce more vibrant wines has culminated in a like-minded group of 32 California producers gathered under an umbrella movement called In Pursuit of Balance. This shift to fresher wines and more varied styles has been seized on by a number of trailblazing UK wine merchants such as Roberson, Flint Wines, Hedonism and Prohibition Wines.

Among wines I enjoyed at a recent Californian wine tasting was an appetisingly pineappley 2012 Jackammer Chardonnay, £16.95, Roberson; a stylish, rich Puligny-like 2012 Red Car Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, £31.95, Flint Wines; and a richly peachy 2012 Peirano Estate Viognier, £14.95, Roberson.

Fine reds included a perfumed, cherry-juicy and mulberryish 2012 Jackhammer Ranch Pinot Noir, £16.95, Roberson; an approachably spicy cassis-laden 2011 Slingshot Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, £19.95, Roberson; the spicy 2013 Broc Cellars Cuvée 13.1 Monterey Syrah, £24.95, Roberson; and a peppery, minty 2009 Skylark Rodgers Creek Vineyard Sonoma Coast Syrah, £26.95, Flint Wines.

Names to look for include Sandhi, Domaine de la Côte, Mount Eden, Lioco, Copain, Wind Gap, Kutch, Corison, Failla, Lutum, Knez, Varner, Chanin, Stolpman and Anthills Farms. The trend towards more savoury, more varied and more drinkable wines from The New California, is real.

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