A gift of wine is often a lovely gift for any occasion and suitable for practically anybody. While French wine is considered supreme, a lot of might be out of reach for the average gift budget. California wines are a superb option, both in cost and quality.
European countries like France have been renowned for fine wines for quite a few hundreds of years so quite a few people overlook the newer wine producers of California. Just because their wineries are less than a century old doesn't mean that they don't have some great wines. In reality, California is now ranked fourth within the world for wine production with only France, Italy and Spain producing additional.
California is in fact one of the ideal grape growing regions of the world and close to a hundred diverse grape varietals grow nicely there. This state diverse micro-climates and varying soil conditions contribute to the good variety of grapes that will be grown. Close proximity to the Pacific Ocean too as the numerous bodies of fresh water discovered in California also plays an critical factor within the top quality of the grapes that grow there.
California wine producing regions are separated into five major regions, with a number of smaller sub-regions (called appellations) within the five most important areas. North Coast, Central Coast, Southern California, Central Valley along with the Sierra Foothills are all fantastic regions for wine grape growing and wine production. In order for a certain appellation to be listed on the wine's label, a minimum of 75% of the grapes utilised in production must have originated in that sub-region.
Although California produces numerous varieties of wine, it's reputation has been earned with the top quality white wines that it creates. You will discover many fine red wines that originate in California but it they are really overshadowed by the exceptionally fine white wines like Chardonnay and Avignon Blanc.
Chardonnay has remained probably the most preferred white wine in the United States for close to fifty years. Chardonnay grapes are very hardy and are resistant to most horticultural diseases. This makes them quite quick to grow and consequently they're widely readily available for wine making. This ease of growing in significant quantities maintain the prices of the wines incredibly reasonable so are suited to all budgets.
Chardonnay is a white wine which is appealing to lots of palates on account of it's full-bodied fruitiness. It is an extremely versatile wine and is often utilized for blending to produce quite a few various vintages. Chardonnay is also a dry wine which is heavily influenced by the supplies employed within the barrels in the course of the aging process. Oak is well-liked for aging Chardonnays as it lends a nutty, buttery note to the resulting wine.
Sauvignon Blanc grapes are growing on pretty much 14,000 acres of land in California's wine country. Because it isn't as commonly known to wine drinkers, you may uncover extremely economical vintages of Sauvignon Blanc that make it quite inexpensive to give as a gift. It makes a superb hostess gift alternative as a result of it's ease of pairing with several food combinations.
This white wine tends to be intensely flavorful with a tang usually noted. Although you could find Sauvignon Blanc with classic flavor notes like melon and passion fruit, it takes exceptionally nicely to herbal notes like lemongrass and gooseberry. This wide range of flavors gives it mass appeal as well as lending itself well to blending.
Either of these lovely white wines will make a sophisticated gift choice although living inside your budget.
Author Resource:
The InterWine.co.uk site gives information on uk wine and everything you would want to know about a butlers friend .
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