Right: Wine map of the U.S.

In a state that produces 90% of all US wine, the vineyards of Sonoma and Napa in Northern California are justly famous. But they have no monopoly on quality, the wines from the newer Southern California wineries are an equal match for any of their northern sisters.

Most Southern California wine is produced in one of two areas: the wineries near Santa Barbara or those near San Diego, 100 miles north and south of Los Angeles respectively.

Each area has participated actively in the growth of the California wine industry which now ships over 450 million gallons a year to the US and elsewhere.

SANTA BARBARA

The east-west orientation of the coastal mountains forms valleys that open directly onto the Pacific Ocean. This produces a flow of fog and breezes that produce the conditions for growing world class varietals and wines.

Home to several micro-climates near the Pacific Coast and the Pala Mesa Mountains, the area enjoys moderate temperatures throughout the growing season, with warm days and cool nights. The environment provides favorable conditions for producing grapes with optimal sugar and acid levels.

The fifty mile stretch from Point Conception to Rincon form the longest east-west arrow of shoreline from Alaska down to Cape Horn. Here lie vines that grow on everything from wind-swept hillsides to rolling valleys where summer temperatures often hover around 100F (38C).

The climate allows working the vineyards year round, with pruning and weeding in winter, new planting in springtime, canopy management in summer and harvest in the fall.

The area mirrors to a large extent the Rhône Valley area of France and vintners have responded accordingly. One hillside vineyard resides 1,000 feet above sea level with northern exposure, making it ideal for the Rhône varietals grown here.

There is Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Sangiovese and Syrah — a cornucopia of European grapes. The wide variety is made possible by the numerous micro-climates of the region with occasional snow on some of the mountains where cool-climate Chardonnay does well and the heat soaking Syrah in others.

And never ones to take the easy path, growers even took on the notoriously difficult Pinot Noir to produce a wine luscious with strawberry and herbal tones.

Twenty-five years ago there were almost no vineyards in the area, but today wine is a $100 million business in the county, which include the Santa Ynez and Santa Maria valleys. These two areas alone grew to 8,000 acres under cultivation in just the twenty years between 1975 and 1995. In the five years following that 8,000 jumped to 18,000. Today there are over 21,000 acres of vineyards, over half of the grapes being shipped to winemakers outside the county.

TEMECULA

The friendly rivalry between Northern and Southern California is mirrored in the wine business. A young upstart, most of the southern vineyards didn’t exist twenty years ago. The first Temecula wines were produced in 1971.

The 1,400-foot Temecula plateau is nestled 22 miles from the Pacific Ocean between peaks of the Coastal Mountain range. The cool afternoon breeze helps keep the smog away and the unique micro-climate also enjoys a higher solar intensity than Napa Valley.

Temecula’s vineyards are irrigated from enormous underground aquifers that feed soils high in decomposed granite, which helps drainage and to keep it free of Phylloxera — an invasive insect that devastated entire European wine regions in centuries past and remains a concern today.

Not far away is the highest vineyard in California, Shadow Mountain, growing Cabernet Sauvignon in the mountains above San Diego at an elevation of 4,400 feet above sea level.

Everything grows here from Chardonnay and white Rhône to Syrah, Grenache, Cabernet and the Italian Nebbiolo harvested as late as November. The result is a wonderfully fresh fruit character without the woodiness common to other California regions.

The roots of Southern California winemaking go back almost 200 years when the padres of Mission San Juan Capistrano produced the first vintages. But today business is better than ever, with 1,800 acres in commercial vineyards, thanks to the partnership of sophisticated oenologists and passionate vintners.

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