California is the most famous wine production area in the United States and the biggest in the terms of volume.
It covers over 4,300 wineries and together they account for over 84% of the whole USA wine production, making the golden state the biggest wine producer in the country by far, followed by Washington State, the second biggest producers in the USA, at 5%.
Blessed with a rich terroir and a large variety of soils, California produces incredibly diverse wines from international grape varieties as well as the indigenous Zinfandel.
California has several wine regions: this is a quick overview of the most important.
California wine growing regions
California has several wine growing regions that can be categorised in 3 macro areas:
Northern California – in turn divided into the areas of Mendocino, Lake, Napa and Sonoma
Central California – with the areas of SAn Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Central Valley and the Sierra Foothills
Southern California – a more recent addition to the Californian wine landscape with the areas of Malibu, Temecula Valley, and San Diego County.
The wine regions of Northern California
Norther California is a large area with a varied terrain and equally divers wine production.
This is the area with the biggest producer of wine in the state and it is also the one that catapulted California wines into the highest echelons of wine production, thanks especially to the wines from the areas of Napa and Sonoma, now world-renowned.
This area has a designated AVA (American Viticultural Area), subdivided in many much smaller ones.
Napa Valley
Napa Valley is the best known of all wine-producing areas in California and the US: this, thanks to some outstanding wines but also the wonderful tourism opportunities Napa Valley offers and not just to wine lovers.
