The California Conundrum

So a lot of people have found it difficult to believe me when I tell them that the "New World" unit has been my most difficult so far. The assumption is that complex, foreign units, such as Italy and France, with thousands of rules and exceptions, would be the largest hurdle in wine school...but unfortunately I find them much simpler.

I think this issue is two fold...and important for people studying for the Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Exam. The first issue is completely a personal hurdle. I love Europe, I love European wine, I lived in Europe, I DRINK European wine. Despite living in California and being a full blown American patriot, Old World mystifies and captures my imagination on an unparalleled level. Not only does my proximity take away some of the Californian exoticism, but it just seems a bit drab in comparison to the grand chateaus of timeless terroir...

This is not saying that I dislike Californian wine...but I'm an earthy wine freak, and tend to steer clear of fruit driven California style of Pinot Noirs and Cabernet Sauvignons. And when it comes to chardonnay....let's just say I was the kid that always ordered sour patch kids instead of buttered popcorn at the cinema.

I think my greatest academic hurdle, and perhaps one shared with many others, lays in the lack of strict sub-regional regulation of American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). When studying the Old World, I find enormous amount of varying detail to be an advantage. Each small village has unique terroir, different permitted grapes, and strict, localized regulation. This creates a network of thousands of distinctive stories, which trigger memory for me easier than the standard "list" memorization. I can tell you all about different grand cru vineyards in Burgundy because one was bought to lay dormant for five years, one was completely replanted, one was just scandalously purchased by LVMH, and one is the oldest vineyard tied to Cisterian monks in the middle ages.

In California, and all over the United States, relatively loose regulations (compared to France, Italy and Spain) are intended to give wine makers the freedom to take advantage of a variety of difficult viticultural regions. It encourages enological creativity and viticultural experimentation, which can be good and bad. The fact that there are no quality regulations enforced through the AVA system means that the consumer must be greater educated as to producers and regional typicities.

Even when tasting, although regional styles can be quite synonymous, enological manipulation can create flavor profiles deceptive to the origin of the original vineyard.

There's a particular example I like to use to explain my difficulty studying California compared to France. I've never been a name person...and generally have had to ask people their names several times before committing it solidly to memory. Don't get me wrong...I listen and can tell them all about their grandmother's apple pie and gimpy french bulldog, Steve....but not their name after first meeting. With this in mind, studying the Old World, such as France, is like walking into the first day of class and meeting a classmate each from a different place, different backgrounds, and unique stories. I may not remember their names the first time, but stories such as their background, race, language, and hair color will help me remember it the second time. When I study California, I feel like I'm walking into that same classroom, except every person in the room is identical (aside from eye and hair color, perhaps).

Although there are unique qualities about each sub-AVA, these qualities are often similar across many. In cooler climates, pinot noir and chardonnay are almost always grown, where the hottest climates are generally reserved for thicker skinned varietals such as cabernet sauvignon. There are extinct volcanoes speckled along the coast, resulting in great amounts of volcanic bedrock in many of the regional AVAs. Higher elevations, generally, produce more rustic wines, where valley floor AVAs, generally, produce more elegant and supple examples.

Buckling down, doing ALL of the reading, and sleeping with my flashcards is certainly in my future. When you get to California, there's no way around it than Top Ramen and light-sore eyes from staring at the computer screen. On the plus side, they speak American!

Single life has me bound to celebrate Valentine's Day with copious amounts of pink bubbly, my pajamas and maybe some pink colored Italian flashcards...maybe I'll give them a cute Italian name like Francisco and Guiliani.......

Stay tuned for posts on cooking with sparkling wine...which seems to be in excess around here since the service exam is daunting!

Until next time, Chin-Chin!