Eureka! A California Wine Experience: Expressive, terroir-driven wines with a focus on environmental sustainability, climate-smart viticulture, and equitable labor practices

In 1976, California put American “New World” viticulture on the radar of every major winemaking region in the world after its Chardonnays and Cabernets bested some of the finest Burgundies and Bordeaux at the Judgement of Paris wine competition. Fifty years later, California winemakers are still doing great things, and many of them are doing it with an eye on social responsibility. This year’s New York City edition of Eureka! A California Wine Experience, a joint collaboration between the Wine Institute, the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA), Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association, Lodi Winegrape Commission, Napa Valley Vintners, Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, Santa Barbara Vintners, Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association, Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans, and Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, and coordinated by leading wine and beverage marketing firm Colangelo & Partners, featured almost 200 wines from California producers representing 10 winemaking regions including Anderson Valley, Livermore Valley, Lodi, Napa, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Lucia Highlands, Sonoma County, and West Sonoma Coast.

The event, held on September 21st during Climate Week, focused on wineries that practice sustainable and climate-smart viticulture and wine production.

The beautiful collection of wines featured at Eureka! reflected not only the diverse topography — mountains, valleys, hills, and coastal plains — and microclimates of California’s 154 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), but also its winegrowers, whose collective individualism, creativity, and socially-and-environmentally conscious fine winemaking practices reinforce California’s supremacy on the international winemaking stage.

A few highlights out of the many stellar wines at Eureka!:

1. Mumm Brut Prestige (Napa Valley)
2. Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Blancs (Carneros)
3. Gloria Ferrer Brut Rose’ (Carneros)

This trio of crisp and refreshing, traditional method sparkling wines produced using the three champagne grapes — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier kicked off the event on a festive note.

1. Robert Hall Cavern Select Sparkling Grenache Blanc (Paso Robles)
2. Robert Hall ROC Sauvignon Blanc (Paso Robles)
3. Robert Hall Winery ROC Cabernet Sauvignon (Paso Robles)
4. Maha Estate Villa Creek Before Anyone Else Clairette Blanche 2022 (Paso Robles)

Robert Hall and Maha Estate Villa Creek (part of Villa Creek Cellars) are Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC). Both wineries adhere to ROC winegrowing and winemaking practices that replenish the environment, are animal-cruelty free, and offer non-exploitative and fair-wage employment. Robert Hall wines are the first to be nationally distributed. You can find the Sauvignon Blanc and the Cabernet Sauvignon at Whole Foods Market.

Maha Estate Villa Creek Before Anyone Else, 2022, crafted from 100% Clairette Blanche, is a rare gem. It’s not often you find Clairette Blanche growing in these parts. It’s a must-try if you can get your hands on one!

Iron Horse Classic Vintage Brut 2021 (Sonoma County)

Iron Horse Wedding Cuvée 2022 (Sonoma County)

Iron Horse Year of the Horse 2022 (Sonoma County)

These traditional method sparkling wines from Iron Horse reflect the distinctive cool-climate and sandy-loam terroir of the Russian River Valley and the Green Valley, that is ideal for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the primary grape components in champagne.

1. Ranchos de Ontiveros Rancho Viñedo “Doña Martina” Chardonnay 2023 (Santa Barbara)
2. Ranchos de Ontiveros ‘Cañada de los Pinos’ Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 (Santa Barbara)
3. Native9 Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023 (Santa Barbara)

Ranchos de Ontiveros, in the Santa Maria Valley, is as heritage as it gets, with ninth-generation winemaker James Ontiveros crafting exceptional, terroir-driven, estate-grown whites and reds on land continuously owned and farmed by his family since 1855. The Ranchos de Ontiveros style recalls the Old World, but with an unmistakably Californian element that charts the winery’s unique multi-generational story. I’ll be featuring this winery in a separate article, so please stay tuned.

1. Birichino Malvasia Bianca, 2023 (Monterey)

This wine, meaning ‘mischievous or naughty’ in Italian, plays tricks — on the senses that is. The lively floral and fruity aromas of the wine make you expect flavors of white flowers, ripe citrus, summer, and exotic fruits, and honey. But what you actually get on the palate is a crisp and refreshing wine with an energetic acidity and minerality that is more racy than the aromas would suggest. The climate and soil in Monterey is great for cultivating Malvasia Bianca. Nevertheless, not many producers grow it so it’s pretty rare. It’s also a delightfully fresh and fun wine. Two good reasons to give it a try.

1. Fenestra Conjugation Red Blend 2021 (Livermore Valley)
2. Cuda Ridge Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (Livermore Valley)
3. Concannon Vineyards Mother Vine Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 (Livermore Valley)
4. Wente Vineyards Wetmore Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 (Livermore Valley)

Tech may have put the San Francisco Bay area on the proverbial map, but there’s plenty of good winemaking here too. This AVA with 50+ producers, has been planting grapes for commercial distribution since the 1840s. Almost all of them are multi-generational, family-owned operations, including the four stellar examples of Livermore Valley red wine production listed above.

1. J. Lohr Estates Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon 2023
2. J. Lohr Estates Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon 2023
3. J. Lohr Estates Los Osos Merlot 2023
4. J. Lohr Estates Riverstone Chardonnay 2024
5. J. Lohr Estates Flume Crossing Sauvignon Blanc 2025

This over half-a-century-old winery has vineyards spread across Monterey, Paso Robles, and Napa Valley, and their balanced, fruit-dominant, and approachable wines reflect the distinctive terroir in each of these AVAs.

Atelier Chardonnay 2021 (Sonoma County)

Atelier Pinot Noir 2021 (Sonoma County)

This pair of elegantly crafted wines from the Russian River Valley have the perfect balance of vibrant fruit, bright acidity and minerality, and soft, well-integrated oak.