Recommendations for California wine please

[taxlady]

Her local Costco or Sams carry good selections of Ca wines at very good prices.

Good point, I am pretty sure she has a Costco membership.

 

[Andy M.]

I've bought lots of wines at Costco. Good prices and good selection. Some stores have better selections than others.

 

[Janet H]

Coppola also make a smashing Chardonnay for a reasonable price. Love the stuff

 

[jennyema]

I like Coppola Merlot

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Another fan of Coppola wine. Merlot and Syrah/Shiraz are both good if you like full-flavored reds.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Like Dawg said, maybe we can nudge Steve Kroll out of hiding for just this thread. Would not surprise me if he has a whole lot of info about California wines.

Funny you say that because we just arrived back home last night from a wine trip to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties in California.

There are some good California wine suggestions on this thread, but one thing to keep in mind is that many of these are widely available everywhere, so there's nothing that would make them particularly special. One thing I always try to look for on our trips are wines that are unique to a particular place and can't be had anywhere else. We bought something like 30 bottles on this last trip, none of which we can get in Minnesota. Some are only available at the winery itself. We keep a log of notes about each wine we buy, and then look back at those notes when we open that bottle later to drink it. It almost always rekindles the memories of that visit, especially if we cellar it and drink it at a later time.

Taxy, what I would ask your sister to do is bring along a bottle or two of things that are locally made and unique to Orange County. There aren't a lot of wineries in that part of the state, but there are a few. Here's a list from Yelp:

Wineries Orange County, CA

The thing I've found with wine is that they aren't all great, but then again they don't really have to be. For me, drinking wine is more centered around the experience of sharing it with people you care about. And even if it's gawd awful, you'll at least share a laugh - and then open something else.

 

[CraigC]

Glad to see you back, Steve! What are your thoughts on the Sea Glass label?

 

[roadfix]

I support my local winery and belong to their wine club (San Antonio Winery in L.A.)
And we always take one of the wines when invited for dinner as these are not available at supermarkets.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Glad to see you back, Steve! What are your thoughts on the Sea Glass label?

Hi Craig! Apparently there is a distributor here who picked up that label recently, because I've just started seeing a lot of Sea Glass wines in our local restaurants. I'm not a big fan of their Pinot Noir, but I'm pretty picky about Pinot and most of the under-$10 bottles are usually blended with something else, like Syrah.

On the other hand, I really like their Sauvignon Blanc. In addition to being a good bargain, it's very clean tasting and goes great with food (seafood especially). I can't recall if I've had any of their other varieties or not.

 

[taxlady]

Funny you say that because we just arrived back home last night from a wine trip to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties in California.

There are some good California wine suggestions on this thread, but one thing to keep in mind is that many of these are widely available everywhere, so there's nothing that would make them particularly special. One thing I always try to look for on our trips are wines that are unique to a particular place and can't be had anywhere else. We bought something like 30 bottles on this last trip, none of which we can get in Minnesota. Some are only available at the winery itself. We keep a log of notes about each wine we buy, and then look back at those notes when we open that bottle later to drink it. It almost always rekindles the memories of that visit, especially if we cellar it and drink it at a later time.

Taxy, what I would ask your sister to do is bring along a bottle or two of things that are locally made and unique to Orange County. There aren't a lot of wineries in that part of the state, but there are a few. Here's a list from Yelp:

Wineries Orange County, CA

The thing I've found with wine is that they aren't all great, but then again they don't really have to be. For me, drinking wine is more centered around the experience of sharing it with people you care about. And even if it's gawd awful, you'll at least share a laugh - and then open something else.

Thanks for the good advice Steve. I particularly like the last two sentences.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I support my local winery and belong to their wine club (San Antonio Winery in L.A.)

I think a lot of San Antonio's grapes come from up the coast a ways. I want to say Monterey or Paso. They make some very good wines!

 

[roadfix]

I think a lot of San Antonio's grapes come from up the coast a ways. I want to say Monterey or Paso. They make some very good wines!

Yes, this is true. I don't see any large vineyards around these parts around L.A.

 

[Bitser]

What dishes are you planning to cook?

California has a huge range of grapes and styles.

 

[taxlady]

What dishes are you planning to cook?

California has a huge range of grapes and styles.

I asked the question six years ago. My sister has visited and gone back to California. I don't expect her to be visiting anytime soon.

 

[Bitser]

I asked the question six years ago. My sister has visited and gone back to California. I don't expect her to be visiting anytime soon.