Word: sonoma
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...This is the golden age for California wines," says Forrest Tancer, 43, a co-owner of Sonoma County's Iron Horse Vineyards. Renowned for his crisp, elegant sparkling wines, which have been served at White House state dinners, Tancer belongs to the cadre of talented young vintners who are largely responsible for this era of excellence. Their success has inspired ambitious new winemakers all across the nation, even in areas where grape growing is an experimental novelty...
...wonder that big money, much of it foreign, has moved into the wine country. Napa's Raymond Vineyard, Sonoma's Chateau St. Jean and Firestone (near Santa Barbara) -- all premium labels -- are owned in whole or part by Japanese interests. Beaulieu, Inglenook and Christian Bros. in Napa County are subsidiaries of the British conglomerate Grand Metropolitan. Most of the major French champagne producers, including Moet & Chandon, Mumm, Louis Roederer and Piper Heidsieck, have subsidiaries turning out California sparklers...
...winemakers who have planted such Italian varietals as Nebbiolo and Sangiovese; Tancer intends to blend his Sangiovese with Cabernet or Merlot in new proprietary wines similar to ones being produced in Tuscany. There is a certain irony here. Investment banker William Hambrecht, who sells the Zinfandel grapes from his Sonoma ranch to Ridge Vineyards, notes that many of these newly fashionable varietals were first planted in California at the century's turn by Italian immigrants for their homemade table wines...
...California, as in Europe, winemaking has historically been a male prerogative. No longer. Inspired and encouraged by Mary Ann Graf and then Zelma Long at Sonoma's Simi Winery, a number of women have taken up the vinting craft, and are increasingly making their talents known. Kristin Belair, 31, a graduate of the University of California at Davis, is a newcomer to reckon with: the Wine Spectator rated her 1986 Johnson Turnbull Cabernet Sauvignon 13th on its recent list of 100 "Hottest Wines." "Winemaking is a nice mix of art and science," she says. "I really like blending...
...surging ahead of the pack as a result: the Gap, Wal-Mart, Mervyn's, T.J. Maxx, Costco and Crate & Barrel in Chicago, which specializes in moderately priced housewares. Quality retailers expected to excel by offering affordable luxury range from Dillard department store to Crabtree & Evelyn (bath and toiletries), Williams-Sonoma (kitchenware) and one of the industry's strongest performers, Victoria's Secret (lingerie...