Going back to the 80s and 90s, California made a few nice chardonnays in Napa, some pretty mediocre Sav Blancs and a few interesting Rieslings and other varietals, but to me there was nothing exciting about white wines from California. Some of my favorites included Stony Hill, Navarro and even the occasional Montelena.
Over the last several years, however, there seems to be a bourgeoning movement of producers who are either specializing in white wine or taking it far more seriously. And moreover they are moving beyond the typical varietals to explore Rhone and Italian white varieties. My current set of favorite white wines include:
Massican – From his exploration of Italian varietals to the more traditional Chardonnay and Sauv Blanc, this is probably the most exciting winery for whites in California for my palate.
Tablas Creek – their Esprit de Tablas and Grenache Blanc are outstanding and great values (yes I know they have been around forever by California standards).
Rhys – I do think they have taken Chardonnay to a new level in California. One cannot dismiss Marcassin’s long-term track record, but the Rhys style fits my palate well.
Cattleya – she is producing some wonderful wines across the board, but I am really enjoying her Chardonnays and even her lower end Sav Blanc.
Sandlands Chenin Blanc – these wines are crisp and refreshing and are a great QPR.
I’m really looking forward to more wineries placing a premium on producing interesting white wines, especially outside of the spectrum of Chardonnay and Sav Blanc, not that there is anything wrong with those varietals.
Well… I would say that Calif makes plenty of great/world-class white wines. Many are superior to their European counter-parts.
The whites of TablasCreek are a good place to start.
Tom
Note that I said anything else – not anywhere else. In other words, there’s an argument to be made that the U.S. does Chard better than the U.S. does any other grape (I would put Zin as a strong contender, although I’m not generally a huge Zin fan). It’s still my view that CA/OR Chard does not yet compete with the top White Burgs. Not close. But it’s not at all out of the realm of possibility in the future. I often reach for Kutch/Walter Scott/etc over good villages Burgs. And I really couldn’t say that about any other grape.
I agree that there are some really good California white wines. But I can’t think of a single one that is superior to the best of its European counterparts.
I could drink a really good white wine from Europe every night of the year and not repeat. Probably multiple years. I doubt I could do that from California for more than a month or two.
I have Aubert on my list to try. Some of them are Montrachet clones and people rave about them.
I have to add Shared Notes to this list. While I don’t have much experience with Cali White the Shared Notes left one hell of an impression. I believe its Sauv Blanc.