There is no doubt that when you get away from the ubiquitous brands that cloud many judgements on North America, and California in particular, there are some superb, well-crafted wines to be found.

While historically our American cousins may have enjoyed a more obvious style, you will not necessarily find that to be the case today, and more elegance and finesse is available in a wide range of wines. Certainly they are still generous and friendly, equally they are now much more interesting.

The lion’s share of our list still comes from California, the heart of wine production in North America. Whilst Napa and Sonoma are well represented by Shafer Vineyards and Cuvaison in the former, Cline Cellars and Lytton Springs in the latter, it is some of the lesser known regions that are offering a good price/quality ratio enabling us to expand our range significantly.

Areas such as Lodi and the Sacramento Valley to the north-east of Napa, home to Bogle Vineyards, are producing more and more elegant wines using careful site selection and elevation to curb the excesses of the heat in this region. To the south, Wente in the San Francisco Bay region has the advantage of cooling fog in the morning and cool sea breezes in the evening, both of which help to extend the ripening period of the grapes and endow their well-priced wines with more character and better balance.

Washington and Oregon are the next two states further up the Pacific Rim. The best wineries in Oregon, such as Willakenzie Estate in the Willamette Valley, are found to the north of the state on the border with Washington, while Duck Pond has vineyards in both! Here the climate is cooler and more marginal so the wines tend to be fresher, less baked in flavour and a little more European in style. Pinots of all varieties work particularly well here, a fact admirably demonstrated by the number of wineries owned by Burgundians!

Further north still, Canada is unlocking the secrets of what must be the most marginal climate in anyone’s books for grape production. Technology has allowed producers such as Château des Charmes to take advantage of this ‘dry cold’ to excel in the production of Icewine (or ‘Eiswein’ as you may recognise it). The right microclimate enables them to produce a highly concentrated nectar, until recently the preserve of the cooler parts of Germany and Austria. Ontario can now join them harvesting grapes in December and January when the temperature is minus 10ºC! The wines are not cheap, but the flavours are incredible.

Simon Jones