Are French wines better than California wines?
Sweeping generalities are usually inaccurate. Certainly French wines have the image of being the world’s best. Certainly many of the best wines in the world are French. That does not mean that all French wines are wonderful. In fact, there are many mediocre French wines and many outstanding wines from other countries, including the US, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia and South Africa. Part of the problem is that people “raised” on the wines of a certain country take the style of that country’s wines as the standard of comparison and all other wines suffer somewhat. For example, people raised on French wines often find American wines too soft and too fruity. That is because growing conditions in America are generally sunnier and warmer than in France. The grapes get riper and lower in acid and the wines reflect that difference. In addition, California wine makers tend to use oak to a greater extent than the French do, so many American wines appear “oaky” to the French palate. Conversel
