Am I wrong?

After spending some time here, it appears that most of you prefer CA (and other wines) over French wines. Hey, I don't have a problem with that at all, because I've learned plenty here...but...do you guys think this is the case?

If so...why?

Perhaps the California fans are more vocal. French and Spanish fan here.

I drink everything. I do tend to lean towards Germany and Rhone though in preference.

==================
AIM: Drunken Mariachi

They make wine in California?

Semper ubi sub ubi!

Totally agree with you, Villa. Cali wines get most of the attention on this forum.

Nothing against Cali wines but California is only one of the many wine producing areas in the world.

Do you think the forums would benefit from more specific catagories such as "European" & "American"?
Is there enough interest in French wines here to spin off a French wine forum?

I was thinking the same thing the other day. I drink anything, but a lot less California wines these days because the prices have gotten out of hand.

Rather have an "European wine" section than Madder than Hell. Political opinions are interesting for a little while than the get annoying.

burgundy baby!

there are a whole lot of us from California, and to another extent, the West Coast

many of us live within an hour of 100+ wineries, and that proximity brings our business and interest

-Vitis Vinifera

______________________________
Member #19

VA,

Not true at all. I'm a fan of Bordeaux, Italy, Spain, U.S., Germany, Rhone, Aussie in probably that order. Hell, last evening I uncorked a 2001 Vaqueyras.

I think you are seeing a lot of Cali notes because a great vintage, 2001, is justing hitting the streets and people are posting on these wines.

I'm basing my thoughts on what I've read here, such as, "What are you buying", "Everday Wine", etc. I've only been here about a short while and I'm not trying to catorgorize anyone. You're absolutely right, I could be dead wrong here.

I'm really just trying to get a feel if there's any interest at all in requesting a possible spin off to "Euro", or "French". If not, not big deal, just curious.

Do they have spell-checker here???

LOL.

Great comment. I have found most sites seem to have a "palate" if you will... and this site is very Calif. and OZ.

Not that there is anything wrong with that

As for my palate, I would love to see an Old World forum!!!!

I think people on the board generally buy and drink from all over. I generally drink European more, then U.S. the Aussie probably with some NZ thrown in there. But I drink plenty from Cal., plenty from France, Italy, Spain, Germany etc.

R2-D2

Post a tasting note on Vaqueyras. I have and did last week and seldom do you ever get a response. Not many Vaq drinkers here

I drink mostly Italian wine, with some French and Australian for good measure. I don't drink Cali wine too often for a couple reasons: The stuff we get in Ontario is mostly plonk, or the prices for the good stuff are way out of hand as was mentioned.

The first Cali wines that I really enjoyed were the ones generous forumites shared in New Orleans.

Probably something like this:

55% French
20% Italian
10% Spanish
5% Aussie
5% CA / WA / OR / NY

quote:

---

Originally posted by Villa Aldige':
Am I wrong?

After spending some time here, it appears that most of you prefer CA (and other wines) over French wines. Hey, I don't have a problem with that at all, because I've learned plenty here...but...do you guys think this is the case?

If so...why?

---

I started out by drinking bordeaux and moved to Cabernet.
I still love a good bordeaux but I've never had a good cheap one. I have had good cheap cabs.
I think THAT is part of the Cali popularity.

I drink almost everything, but really only talks about California wines for the most part as that's what I am familiar with.

I enjoy French wine very much, in particular Champagne and Bordeaux. However, this is one of the area I lack knowledge of, and I am trying to learn about it as much as I possibly can.

Here is my cellar breakdown based on country of origin.

California 57.9%
French 22.7%
Washington 8.2%
Australia 4.5%
Chile 3.5%
Germany 1.5%
Canada 0.6%
Italy 0.6%
New Zealand 0.5%

---------------------------
2003 Whirlwind Tour

Over the last few years my purchasing has taken on a more international flavor due to successful overseas vintages. 2000 Bordeaux, the 2001/2002 German rieslings, the recent Aussie shiraz vintages and the emergence of great QPR wines from Spain has tilted my collection in those directions. I am however saving room in my cellar for the 2001 Cali cabs. Expand your horizons, try different styles and varietals, and take the advice of the WS Forumites.

"...soon they'll be bleary eyed under a keg of wine, Down where the drunkards roll." Richard Thompson.

Certainly Calif gets a lot of coverage, but I think a pretty good mix here. Calif does so many varietals and many of them well. For every day drinkers I tend to go to spanish because of the value. I don't have my cellar stats here, but I have more from US than anywhere....however I'm not sure Calif leads and if so not by much. I don't buy a lot of Calif because of prices. I have quite a bit of Oregon Pinot (and pinot percentage wise leads my cellar) and Washington cabs, merlot and syrah. My non-US leader is France, but haven't drank a lot of them yet since bordeaux probably leads there. In fact I think I have only one French wine slated to drink this year. After France, Italy is second and then OZ. I'd say most people on here...at least in US drink Calif. wines and there is a strong West Coast contingent, but not sure if the percentage is as high as far as favorite region.

I think people talk about Cali wines more because of their accessibility. One is more likely to visit or become familiar with a winery in California than France or Italy. My cellar is less than half Californian with Italian wines being the next biggest category

Village Idiot is that you?

---------------
Santa Cruz Mountains Vintage Chart

Although I do have a lot of California wines, I also have a lot of wines from other places, like Oregon pinots, NZ sauvignon blancs, french and Spanish roses, plus a lot of the usual suspects from France, Italy, and Spain. From a QPR standpoint I think California has generally sunk to the bottom of the barrel with the notable exception of Pinot Noir. The quality of relatively inexpensive red wines coming out of Spain, the nether regions of Italy, and the Languedoc/So. Rhone is unreal. And although I love the highly extracted fruit forward California style, it is not a style well suited to food generally. And nobody can touch Champagne for real Sparklers.