Michael

On Bloomberg news, they had a topic about how the English wine industry is growing (still very small with only about 3 million bottles annually). It is hard to believe that there could be good wines grown in the UK because of the overcast and rain.

In California, farmers growing wine grapes panic when they even get a little bit of rain during the growing season (June through August).

Has anyone tried English wines? Are they any good?

welshviking

Everyone found it hard to believe of California too back when they started.

No though, don't think I've ever come across any......and I've spent a lot of time looking

Michael

I don't think that great wines coming out of California was ever in doubt especially from the Napa/Sonoma area. It has as good of soil as the Bordeaux area and a far superior climate. The only thing missing was the ability to create great wines and the tradition to make people believe that they are great.

Then there is the Monterey area which is only second to the Napa/Sonoma area and then the bay area but land is now too expensive for very many wineries. After that comes the Livermore valley (slightly too hot) and then finally the very hot inland valley for the lowest quality wines.

There are also wines produced out of upstate New York and Washington state as well as other states but none of those will win any awards and are similar in quality to those produced in the California hot inland valley.

welshviking

If they're the same quality, why wouldn't they win any awards?

chartreuse

The Romans came to Britain because of the excellent conditions for growing grapes to make fine wines.

Of course, that was during a warm period that has since been airbrushed out of history...

another bloody yank

Some of my favorites are:

"There's no proper sausage here."
"They call this shit Bacon"?
"TV shows all suck and there are too many commercials."
"It's too hot."
"It's too cold."

There might be one or two I'm forgetting.

AdobePinon

You wouldn't rank an Oregon pinot? IME, California pinots tend to be too damned fruity.

New Mexico has some excellent wines (and many crappy ones), but we don't even make enough for ourselves. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_wine

As for English wines though, no I've never run across one worth remembering. 'Table wine' is a kind descriptor.

robin1234

Mosquitoes, deer flies, blackflies, green-head flies.
I just spent three weeks in England (which unfortunately included some excessively hot days, some rain and high humidity...) and was not bitten or otherwise bothered by insects once.

cindyabs

You sly dog,

You forgot the bread one.

Rete

Personally, I'm not a fan of California wines. I much prefer the wine from New York State's wine counties to those of California. Very diverse and some are truly excellent. Just a pity that their are so regulated by the industry that the product is not allowed to be sold in large quantities outside of the NYS area.

White-ishRose

yes, and no.

but then again, I've been living in France far too long (about to escape, though - hurrah, only 1 week left) so I have been rather spoiled by the wonderful wines on offer here.

robin1234

New York wines have a long history. The earliest mass-produced, commercial wine made in America was apparently from a New York producer, in the 1820s (I forget the details, but Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine has several interesting articles on New York State wines and their history.)

The main wine growing region in NYS is the Finger Lakes region.. the Finger Lakes are not particularly large lakes, but some of them are remarkably deep. The wineries there claim that a combination of the soils and the moderating effect that the nearby deep waters have on the temperatures (winter & summer) is good for growing the grapes.

I think that one thing that kept the industry ticking over in the early part of the 20th century was the demand for kosher wine (Mogan David, Manischewitz, etc.) This stuff is absolutely wretched, but has the advantage of being very cheap and you can get pleasantly drunk.

I prefer French wine myself but my wife loves Bully Hill, from Hammondsport in New York. I would drink it to keep her company, but found most of it cloyingly sweet. However, I've found one dry red wine that they make that is absolutely superb.. it makes a very satisfactory everyday table wine. It is Baco Noir. The Baco Noir grape is apparently now mostly grown in Canada, New York and similar regions, but (again referring to Jancis Robinson) it was apparently an important grape in France in the post-phylloxera period.

For anyone who likes a smooth-drinking, robust everyday red wine - I'd recommend the Bully Hill Baco Noir.

Englishtart

You need to stop working so many long hours! If you did, you would know that ALL the Brits are deliriously happy here now and nobody complains about anything anymore

Londonuck

I was back over in London during the heatwave and got bitten really badly by what looked like black fly. I dont usually get bitten by mozzies but these were really nasty. Lovely trails of blood running down my ankle!

Rete

The Baco Noir from the Castel Grisch is wonderful and one that we purchase when we visit the Seneca Lake for our annual summer vacation each year on its shores. I love their Reisling and their new limited edition wines "Tumbling Waters - Waterfall Series". Hubby also likes the reds from Hazlitt located on the east of the lake. Red Newt winery also has some good wines.

There are still a few wineries we've not tried and will get to this year and next and the next and the next ;-)

http://senecalakewine.com/jc/content/view/46/84/