The 17 Most Important California Vineyards (according to Food & Wine)

WINE TALK
1

Should I be happy, indifferent or offended that there is just a single Zin vineyard mentioned?

Tom

2

Eisele?

3

the description of James Berry relative to eric jensen was beyond poorly written, almost reads like an ad. i mean this considering they mention the vineyard owner in most of these but not for James Berry. odd.

4

Evangelho is listed…

5

I thought JBV was owned by Justin Smith or his family… I guess I was mistaken… but then again, I didn’t realize that 2019 Myriad Cellars ‘Empyrean’ Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Vineyards George III was sold for $125/bottle…

6

If I was asked to pick 17, maybe I’d have two or three of those listed.

7

according to whom? yeah, whatever

1 Like
8

Right. Like I said, just a single Zin vineyard.

Tom

9

It’s tough to come up with a list like this, but my guess is that they wanted to come up with a list of vineyard where multiple wineries purchase from them - and these wines are somewhat ‘readily available’. Are there others that could be on the list? Sure. Could either wines have been mentioned coming from specific sites Absolutely - strange to see, for instance, a ‘north coast’ winery’s wine recommended from a site here in SB County when there are plenty of local wines to choose from.

And the JBV thing is embarrassing - I believe that Justin Smith and his family still own it, right? Or has there been an ownership change? They seem so enamored with Eric Jensen that they are making him out to be a ‘big player’ - interesting indeed.

Cheers.

1 Like
10

What percentage of total sales in the US is made up of Zinfandel these days? My guess - a LOT less than cab, chardonnay, pinot, sauv blanc, etc. That could be why there is only a single one. Also, how many zin vineyards have fruit purchased by at least 10 wineries like all of these other ones do? I’m sure that they exist, but are they ‘relevant’ to the general consumer?

Cheers.

11

To be fair, I think this list is pretty good. It might not be the list I would come up with, but for a casual wine drinker I think that looking for those sites would be a good funnel toward quality California wines that they might actually be able to find quite a few of in a good wine store.

12

Would have good to see some board favorites listed among the producers
Sandler for Bien Nacido
Jean Edwards for Stagecoach

Any others?

1 Like
13

What happened to

Napanook
Eisele
Martha’s Vineyard
Geyserville
Montebello

And, many, many others. Seems like the top requirement of the list is that the vineyard be over 100 acres.

1 Like
14

Confused by Mineral Hill included as a producer of wine from Red Hen Vineyard. Never heard of them, but did find this on CellarTracker:

NV Mineral Hills Winery Red Hen Red American Table Wine Massachusetts.

Am I missing something?

15

I was kinda surprised to see John Sebastiano being number 2, but I totally agree with it and it was the first one that came to my mind before I looked at the list.

16

“James Berry Vineyard
The James Berry Vineyard is the Smith family’s estate vineyard. It is located 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean with an average elevation of 1200 feet. It consists of a series of slopes with shallow clay loam topsoil covering an ancient seabed, complete with fossilized shells and sharks teeth. The cuvee is a red fruit driven, Grenache based blend, with a large portion of Mataro for texture, and Syrah as spicy support. The James Berry Vineyard is aged for 18-20 months in a variety of vessels. The Grenache portion ages in concrete tank and larger puncheons, while the Mataro and Syrah ages in the smaller French barrels. A high percentage of them are new. The wine is rich and layered. Raspberries and blackberries lead the way followed by Provincial herbs and smooth dense tannins. Our wines are never racked off their lees and are bottled unfined and unfiltered.”

17

That was my thinking. The writer needs a lot of help.

18

Agreed on Napanook and Martha’s, but it seemed to me that the article was excluding monopole type’s.

19

[barf.gif]

20

So, if we were in France, we would leave out Romanee Conti, la Romanee, and the vineyards of Latour, Lafite, Haut Brion, Margaux and Mouton?