California produces 80 percent of the wine made in the United States. Steve says great weather is one reason why the state still leads the nation in wine production over Texas, Idaho, New York, the Carolinas and Virginia. Because those regions have shorter growing seasons, the government also allows them to add sugar to their wines to give them an edge in the market, but we don t. Also, there are unique microclimates in California unlike anywhere else in the world for winemaking. This is particularly good for syrahs and pinot noirs that need cool nights with a little fog to enhance the vintage, he continues.
Modern techniques enable quality control.
We ll make a special chardonnay of only 100 cases, says Steve. That s it. But you ll get it in completely different versions. We can control the water. We can control the temperature.