American Way of Wine

I was recently in Las Vegas for my brother’s wedding, and we took the opportunity to stay some days in Temecula, a city south of Los Angeles, in southwestern Riverside County, California.

To be honest, the wines in Temecula didn’t impress me at all. They were all easy-drinking wines, with an unbalanced sweetness from interrupted fermentation, almost appellative, to the american sweet-teeth taste.

I tried wines from small valleys in Napa and Sonoma as well, Dry Creek, Alexander Valley, Lodi, Mount Veeder, Oakville… and surprisingly it was a bit disappointing… maybe because as I was in a budget-aware trip, all the bottles we got were under US$30!

For sure there are nice wines in USA. The last one I remember tasting I believe was a 2010 Culler Wines Cabernet Casaeda: fantastique, but it cost me US$50!

Differently from Europe, would it be the case that to get serious wines in USA we have to go over US$30?