26/01/2007

AllFoodScotland's resident drinks expert, Colin Bell, sommelier manager at Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh, gives the state-side Beckhams, and the rest of us, a few tips on Californian wines.

So, adios 'Golden Balls' and wave farewell to all of those delicious wines from Rioja, Priorat, Rueda, Navarra and Catalunya - to name but a few of the glorious wine producing regions of Spain. And, say howdy to Zinfandel, Merlot, Chardonnay, Muscat and Riesling. 

The Beckhams will be welcoming in one of the most exciting and important wine-producing regions in the world. Welcome to Planet Hollywood, whoops, I mean California. Almost every type and style of wine in the world is represented here, from the sticky sweet to the palate-shatteringly dry. They will be spoilt for choice.

Stretching down the Pacific coast of North America, from Mendocino in the north to Imperial Valley in the south, California’s wine industry is one of the most important in the world. In our post-'Mondovino’ and ‘Sideways’ world, California’s influence is not only confined to an increase in new viticultural and vinification techniques but also the financial importance that it carries alone.

Here, the wine industry is responsible for some 200,000 jobs and has an annual income of some $103billion. This makes California one of the most significant and exciting grape-soaked areas of the world today.

The region’s winemakers are also some of the most experimental and dynamic – at the cutting edge of viticultural development, using many New Age techniques and scientific ingenuity. Where else would you find a winemaker experimenting with a spray-on organic tea solution of aloe vera, yucca and sunscreen, to protect their precious grapes from the sun and the effects of global warming?

Here, I 've selected a few wines that I think Victoria and David should taste with haste...

Red Wine

Parducci, Petite Syrah,  Mendocino County, 2003 (£6.99, Oddbins)
The perfume from this is extraordinary. It reminds me of freesia flowers, blackcurrants and thyme. The palate is soft, velvety and designed to match with a variety of foods – slow-roasted lamb immediately springs to mind.

La Crema, Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, 2004 (£11.39, Waitrose)
This is enough to give many a Burgundian Vigneron nightmares. Those crafty Californians have managed to put together a wine that the French can only dream about making. This is unctuous and well rounded, the flavours positively leap from the glass and, like the 49ers’ defence run, it is rampant round the tonsils and explodes with a fruit bomb touchdown.

White Wine

MacRostie Chardonnay, Napa Valley, 2001 (£16.00, Villeneuve Wines)
One of my favourite foods when I was a child was banana on toast and there was almost a tear in my eye when I tasted this wine. There is so much depth and character to it – vivid flavours of butterscotch, sun-drenched pineapple and sweet oak that I almost cried with joy for my childhood once again!

Sparkling Wine

Quartet, Anderson Valley, N.V (£16.50, Harvey Nichols)
Victoria’s Secret? Maybe. This could quite easily pass for a Champagne that’s at least twice the price. The aromas are powerful and sublime, with brioche, redcurrant, pear and ginger. The palate is of vibrant honeysuckle and lemon, with hazelnut textures.