California wines get their due from a Northwest fan

Can I get some love for California?

You may have noticed that in this column, recommendations for California wines are as scarce as hen's teeth.

I'll be the first to admit, when your nose and palate has been trained and influenced over twenty years largely by the wines of the Northwest, you do attain a certain bias. Call it home court advantage. I'm sure California wine writers would say the same thing about their own bias (hahaha, no they wouldn't).

The plain truth is, California wines are different from Northwest wines. Most glaringly in the alcohol. California can — and does — achieve higher sugar levels in their grapes, and that translates to higher alcohol. For instance, all the wines recommended here are well over 14% alcohol. That's a big bite.

Wines of California also tend to have lower acidity, resulting in fatter, richer wines, and to my palate, wines that are less food friendly.

So, okay, I have my bias. But that doesn't mean I can't show some love.

Beginning with the Napa Cellars, 2007 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, $18. Two words: crisp and refreshing. Which leads to three words: No new oak. This is all stainless steel, and I couldn't help but notice in the fact sheet two other very familiar words: New Zealand. Yup, everyone is striving to emulate that tiny little country on the other side of the world.

And this is perfectly bright, with straight-forward sauv blanc flavors of peach, tropical fruit, and that naughty hint of grassiness.

You don't see roussanne wandering around by itself very often. It's a pleasant white wine mostly found in the northern Rhone Valley, and increasingly southern France, often coupled with marsanne. Washington grows a bit (Andrew Rich makes a fine version), so I was intrigued by the Zaca Mesa, 2006 Santa Ynez Valley Roussanne, $25.

The aromas are of butterscotch, banana and cinnamon. It has a rich, round, soft texture. Roussanne is not typical an aggressively flavored wine, and this one displays subtle notes of Asian pear, fig, red delicious apple, and brown spice. Lovely wine.

Boy, I'll tell you what, if anyone could stand some love right now, it's merlot.

Don't expect light and pretty from the Luna Vineyard, 2005 Napa Valley Merlot, $34, a rough hewn, meaty merlot. Eucalyptus, cedar and berry aromas lead to flavors of bitter chocolate, blackberry and blueberry. The ferocious tannins make for a hard and chewy wine, and one that will probably age for years.

The Souverain, 2006 Alexander Valley Merlot, $18, is the pretty, charming one. Cherry and berry aromas, with a hint of chocolate, enhance the flavors of cherry cola, berry and anise. With great depth and texture, this a substantial but approachable wine.

The Napa Cellars, 2006 Napa Valley Merlot, $22 cuts it both ways, pretty, but formidable. Very aromatic, with eucalyptus, berry, cigar box and dried flowers, and equally complex flavors, with notes of bitter chocolate, sweet plum, berry and blackberry. Ends with a note of harsh tannin.