CENTRAL VALLEY
The common name for the San Joaquin Valley, the largest wine growing region in California. Known for quantity not quality the Central Valley produces over 85% of California's annual wine gallonage.
Chono 2004 Central Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($12)
Los Vascos 2004 Colchagua Cabernet Sauvignon ($9.99)
Nomad 2004 Chile Red Wine ($16)
2 Brothers 2003 Colchagua "Big Tattoo Red" ($8.49)
Veramonte 2002 Casablanca Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($7.99) ...
And while around 75% of all grapes crushed in California happen in the Central Valley, ...
The majority of the vines were planted in the Central Valley and used to make inexpensive box and jug wines. In the 1970s and 1980s, Californian Carignane was one of the leading "home winemaking" grapes in production.
The main production areas are located to the northern side of the country, in the valleys of Aconcagua and Casablanca, whereas in the center there are the Maipo, Rapel, Curicó and Maule Valleys which together form the so called "Central Valley".
Now rarely found in France, the world's largest area planted with this variety is in the Central Valleys of Chile in South America, with more than 4,000 hectares (2006).
Set in California's Central Valley the grapes grow under a diversity of climates. The winters are cool and rainy while summer temperatures often reach over 100 degrees with no rain for three to four months.
Most California Barbera is grown in the Central Valley and finds its way into generic or proprietary blends.
Grape grown in enormous quantities in the Central Valley of California, U.S.A. Used to produce a very neutral white wine for stretching blends consisting of select varietals in order to create the so-called "jug" wines made by the bulk producers.
It is also successfully grown in California's Central Valley, often ending up in generic blends and "jug" wines, although some old plantings allow small lots of premium extract wine to be made.
Winey: ever smell a cheap, red wine from the Central Valley in California, the Midi in France, La Mancha in Spain, etc.? No matter how hard you sniff and gurgle the thing, the only comment you end up making is, "Well, it's wine, I guess." ...
" especially in the Central Valley of California- and in Australia " especially South Australia. The plantings in South Australia are particularly important in McLaren Vale, the Barossa Valley and Clare.
In California, for instance, go beyond Napa and Sonoma, both world-class winemaking regions, and venture into areas like the Central Valley where you'll be surprised by the quantum leap in the quality of some wines there.
Red-wine grape of Southern France and California's Central Valley, usually used in hearty jug wines.
Web-weaving by Cliffwood Organic Works ...
PETITE SIRAH
A red-wine grape widely grown in California. Used to produce a dark red, tannic base for Central Valley jug wines, and in the northern regions to produce a popular robust red. Erroneously thought a clone of the French Durif grape.
"There is a fifteen-fold difference in the price of Cabernet grapes grown in Napa and Cab grown in Fresno (California's hot Central Valley)," says Kim Cahill, a consultant to the Napa Valley Vintners Association.
Small acreages of Orange Muscat in the Central Valley of California allow a local variation of this wine to be made by at least one producer, a situation that also occurs in Australia.
Produces an dark red, tannic wine in the warm regions of California, used mainly as backbone for Central Valley "jug" wines. In the cooler northern regions can be made into a robust, balanced red wine of some popularity.
With irrigation it is possible to plant vines in some pretty arid places, such as the Central Valley in Chile, the Riverland in Australia, and Washington state - where about the only naturally-occurring vegetation is sagebrush.
...
In contrast, the hot Central Valley produces enormous volumes of dull jug wine.
ripening Cabernet when it was created at UC Davis back in 1948, but it turned out to be rather disappointing. Very little of this grape is still planted in California, and what remains has been relegated to making bulk wines in the Central Valley.
 See also: Grape, Wine, Red, Region, Sauvignon
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