ON THE ROAD | Christina Kaigg-Hoxley in California

Christina Kaigg-Hoxley, the Melbourne Club’s Wine Development Manager, took a trip out to the Golden State where her preconceptions of California wine were challenged by a string of contrasts from Napa to Sonoma…

For a wine market that is so established in the UK and Europe, Californian wines aren’t heavily represented in Australia. Between a strong focus on domestic and European wines, Australia's own traditional strength in warm-climate styles, and California’s eye-wateringly premium pricing (not helped by a series of important and alcohol taxes), local understanding of the quality and regional specifics of US wine is limited.  

But to view California as home solely to big, bold blockbusters is to do it a disservice. The state is a highly diverse geographic area – responsible for over 85% of American wine production. In the fine wine arena, Napa serves as a beacon, despite being responsible for just 5% of that total – notably on account of its history of top-end Cabernet Sauvignon. Yet what became clear during a week spent there and in neighbouring Sonoma County is that there is more diversity here – in style, variety and quality – than we might imagine. And a big part of that is an increasing restraint, as producers react to changes in climate, consumer taste and the global market. 

On a trade trip to the state, my host for the first three days was multiple brand-owner Constellation. Initially tasting wines from Booker, Mount Veeder, Schrader and Prisoner, many were classic, ripe-fruited and opulently structured, reinforcing the traditional Napa reputation for depth and density. The jewel in the Constellation crown, however, is the newly renovated Robert Mondavi Winery, which has just undergone an extraordinary reinvestment in its facilities and wine tourism offering.  

Robert Mondavi’s status as a pioneer of the Californian winemaking scene is difficult to overstate. From his distinctive approach to ageing Sauvignon Blanc in oak, which helped coin the term Fumé Blanc, to his staunch belief in and advocacy for Californian wines – and specifically the Napa Valley’s ability to produce world class Cabernet Sauvignon – it’s hard not to feel the significance of walking underneath the famous curved arch entrance to the Oakville winery. Since 2004, four years before Mondavi’s death, the winery has been under the ownership of Constellation – as is the previously affiliated Opus One, just across the road –  and this new investment is the next step in building on his legacy.  

We toured the To Kalon vineyard, the famous site from which Mondavi, Schrader and Double Diamond source a large proportion of their grapes and which has considerable significance for the region’s history. The site doesn't just produce Cabernet – we stopped beside some of the historic 1945 plantings of Sauvignon Blanc grown in an unirrigated parcel called I Block and were faced with scraggly bush vines growing to almost eye level, laden with ripening bunches. Forming part of the original nursery plantings, the vines are still producing, and we were poured a glass of the 2023 Fumé Blanc. Any preconceptions I had about Sauvignon Blanc were swept from my mind via an extraordinary palate of almond nougat, pastry, ripe nectarine and a saline, rippling acidity. An extraordinary and unexpected highlight of the trip in the heart of one of the most important vineyards in the state. 

Opus One was born of a partnership between Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi in 1978, combining French heritage with American ambition. With its white stone walls, gravity-fed winery, optical sorting facilities and curved barrel room filled with new French barriques, it’s clear no expense is spared when it comes to the production of these wines. We tasted the 2012, 2019 and 2022  across its two bottlings – the eponymous Cabernet blend, and a more approachable, youthful expression labelled Ouverture – all consistent in their restraint and florality, with well-integrated oak, balanced acidity and an elegant structure that marked the promise of development over a long period. All in all, it was astonishing to compare this restrained, modern style here and at Mondavi to the bolder, stereotypical Napa Valley profile. The two seemed miles apart, and I made a mental note to seek out further examples, to see if others are taking inspiration from this lighter touch.  

Leaving the decadent tasting rooms of Napa and its sun-baked Highway 29 behind, I drove up to Healdsburg, where I would base myself while exploring Sonoma’s viticultural areas. During my visit, winemakers frequently mentioned the cooling Pacific Ocean breezes that waft inland via the Petaluma Gap, settling in the valleys between the ranges and cooling the vines and grapes in the morning, often bringing a dense blanket of fog with them. Throughout a week in various areas, everywhere from my drive across San Pablo Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, I watched the fogs receding over the hills in Sonoma, and then returning as the sun began to set. The whole state seemed to breathe with a magnificent, otherworldly rhythm, its chilling influence a swinging metronome by which Californian vignerons set the metre of their days, seasons and harvest. 

Compared to Napa, many of Sonoma’s AVAs are more exposed to these breezes or are positioned within the many hills and ridges that have emerged from the movement of the San Andreas fault over millennia. Alexander Valley is located in the north-eastern corner of the county, and when I arrived, the morning was fog-laden and icy – a stark contrast with the 30˚C heat I would experience on the same site only hours later. I popped in to see Stonestreet, the extraordinary 6,000-acre mountain property owned by the Jackson family, producing a range of cool- and warm-climate varieties from a selection of single-vineyard sites dotted about the property. About 800 acres are currently under vine, largely Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon on steeply trellised vineyards across dirt rows and rocky outcrops – a stunning panoramic example of the diversity of terroirs that lie just a few hills away from Napa.  

Only a short drive away, Russian River Valley’s low-lying vineyards seemed sheltered and demure. Significant diurnal swings and diversity of soil types and microclimates produce a range of varieties, but it is Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that are most championed here. I was welcomed to Williams Selyem, perhaps the most well-known Pinot producer in the area and a pioneer of the variety here since its inception in 1979. Now owned by the Faiveley family of Burgundy, the winery produces 52 different wines, 25 of which are Pinot, as well as a range of single-vineyard Chardonnays and a number of Zinfandels from centenarian vines. The Pinots were ripe and lively, with a density of concentration and raspberry and red cherry fruit spectrum that seem a hallmark of the area.  

My final stop for the trip, after driving through the winding roads, Redwood-lined hills and untrellised Zinfandel vineyards that litter the Dry Creek Valley AVA, was to Ridge’s Lytton Springs vineyard. Best known – as is the rest of the Dry Creek Valley – for its Zinfandel, the property is planted to an array of organically grown red varieties (its famously elegant Monte Bello Cabernet blend is sourced from Santa Cruz, 150 miles further south).