By the numbers: California wine’s place in the world

There’s no question that California leads this country’s wine production — certainly in quantity and, this newspaper would argue, also in quality.

[...] although California wine production has grown more than 60 percent in the past 20 years, the United States as a whole has grown even more dramatically, producing 75 percent more wine in 2015 than in 1995.

In 2015, Chardonnay represented 16.4 percent of all grapes vinified in California, with 633,572 tons crushed.

Twenty-one percent of all wines sold in U.S. food stores last year were Chardonnays; the next-most-popular was Cabernet Sauvignon, at just 14 percent.

Compare barrel-fermented versions with wines that see only stainless steel; wines that undergo buttery malolactic fermentation versus wines that maintain a crisp, tart acidity; bright, juicy versions that were pressed immediately versus intense, exotic Chardonnays made with skin contact.

The accomplishments of his winery before his death in 2008 were in wine style and quality, certainly — his 1966 Fume Blanc was among the first dry table wines produced in Napa’s modern era, for example — but also in presenting California wines to a global audience.

Of the 138 AVAs recognized by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau as geographically distinctive regions for grape growing, three are new since the beginning of 2015:

There are only three wineries within the AVA, but more than 50 producers — including Paul Hobbs, Joseph Swan and Kale Wines — source fruit grown there.

“Our Cabernets are more austere than the lush Cabernets you get from Napa,” says Mary Lou Marek, of Fountaingrove’s Rincon Grade Winery.

The area is warmer than many other North Coast growing regions, but its cooler nights, thanks to its proximity to the San Francisco Bay, create a nice diurnal shift.

“People want to know where their food, and that includes wine, comes from,” says Susan Captain of Lamorinda’s Captain Vineyards in Moraga.