![\"\"](\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/califrance.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo courtesy of Salon.com<\/em><\/p>\n- \n
- Ignore the extremes.<\/strong> If you have the wherewithal to compare Ch\u00e2teau Petrus and Screaming Eagle, don\u2019t let us stand in your way.\u00a0 But what will that tell you?\u00a0 And don\u2019t bother comparing Two Buck Chuck with a French wine for under five dollars. (Actually, we don\u2019t know any.)\u00a0 The best idea is to choose wines in the range that you would normally buy or maybe a little more expensive, to give you a better range for comparison.<\/li>\n
- Avoid varietal mismatches.<\/strong> There\u2019s no point to comparing a Zinfandel with anything made in France.\u00a0 The French don\u2019t have that wonderful grape. Likewise, don\u2019t look for a Savoyard Chasselas in California.\u00a0 You won\u2019t find it.<\/li>\n
- Recognize your preconceived notions.<\/strong> If you know up front that you prefer, say, a Chablis to a California Chardonnay, there\u2019s not a lot of reason to try a side-by-side test for your favorite.\u00a0 Rather, you might use the opportunity to ask your wine merchant to suggest California whites that most closely approach a real Chablis and see if you can tell the difference.<\/li>\n
- Consider price points.<\/strong> There\u2019s no question that a $100 white Burgundy is going to be superior to a Castle Rock for eleven bucks.\u00a0 And you can say the same if the countries are reversed.\u00a0 For most people, the choices they make when they go into a wine store are based on what they\u2019re willing to pay on that particular occasion.\u00a0 Interestingly, it might be better to try comparisons, over time, of wines at somewhat different prices.\u00a0 You may find that you prefer a $25 California Pinot Noir to a $40 red Burgundy.<\/li>\n
- Use the same glasses. <\/strong>It\u2019s important that you use the same type of glasses for both the California and French wines.\u00a0 Believe it or not, the way a glass is made does affect the way wines smell and taste.\u00a0 The good folks at Reidel insist that there is a perfect glass for each varietal, but we\u2019re a bit skeptical.\u00a0 The point for the purposes of comparison is that they be the same, affecting the wines for better or worse but equally.<\/li>\n
- Be honest with yourself. <\/strong>If you start out believing you prefer one country\u2019s wines over the other, it\u2019s hard to change your own mind.\u00a0 The best would be if someone else pours the two and doesn\u2019t tell you (a blind tasting).\u00a0 Of course, the other person now knows which is which and may not be able to overcome his or her prejudices.\u00a0 Just try your best.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As mentioned elsewhere in this issue, we endlessly debate the relative qualities of French and California wines.\u00a0 The famous Judgement of Paris tasting in 1976 established the world-class status of California wines and created the false impression that California makes better wine than France across the board.\u00a0 Of course, the question of \u201cbetter\u201d is a … Continue reading Comparing French and California Wines<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1890"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1890"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1892,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1890\/revisions\/1892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Avoid varietal mismatches.<\/strong> There\u2019s no point to comparing a Zinfandel with anything made in France.\u00a0 The French don\u2019t have that wonderful grape. Likewise, don\u2019t look for a Savoyard Chasselas in California.\u00a0 You won\u2019t find it.<\/li>\n