How Napa Valley And The Tuscan Coast Left Bordeaux Behind

Forbes

21-05-2025

Maremma sunset panorama. Countryside, sea and Elba island on horizon. San Vincenzo, Tuscany, Italy.
Driving along the coastal road that cuts through Bolgheri, a modest sign reads "La California." Blink and you might miss it. But for those who work in wine, the moment is symbolic. Nestled into the northern foothills of Tuscany's coastal Bolgheri DOC, this small town shares more with its American namesake than just a name. It represents a close connection that both California's Napa Valley and the Tuscan Coast, including Bolgheri and beyond, have become standard bearers for Bordeaux varieties. Over the past several decades, these two coastal regions have emerged as benchmarks for Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot blends, offering distinctive expressions shaped by sun, soil, and sea.
At this year's Vinitaly in Verona, Andrea Lonardi MW and I presented "California to California," a comparative masterclass exploring how Napa Valley and the Tuscan Coast have evolved. It was a packed room filled with producers, sommeliers, and journalists. What struck me most was how Napa was widely recognized by our Italian audience in name, but less so in understanding—particularly in terms of its geography, geology, and the many parallels it shares with the Tuscan Coast. Following the presentation, I caught up with a few Napa winemakers to further explore the idea. Our goal: to reframe the conversation. Instead of constantly measuring these regions against Bordeaux, we argued that Napa and the Tuscan Coast have developed shared, independent identities that bear a deeper connection with each other than with the French originator. A connection driven by sunshine, structure, and site.
Napa Valley wine country mountain hillside vineyard
Coastal Influence: The Sun and the Sea
Both Napa Valley and the Tuscan Coast benefit from a defining coastal influence, but the mechanisms differ. In Napa, cool air and fog flow through the San Pablo Bay and up the valley floor, particularly impacting southern AVAs like Carneros, Stags Leap, and Oak Knoll. Mountain breaks near Calistoga in the north allow for pockets of diurnal shift even in warmer zones.
"We have no significant humidity. We have no rain that changes our disease pressures. That's why our vintages are a little more consistent," says Freemark Abbey winemaker Kristy Melton. "We have this really beautiful cooling fog that helps preserve the acidity and our natural fruit flavors, and then that burns off in the morning, and then we've got wonderful heat and sunshine and drier conditions."
In Tuscany, maritime breezes blow in from the Tyrrhenian Sea, tempering the region's Mediterranean heat and helping preserve acidity and aromatics.
What they share is sunlight. Both regions produce bold, expressive wines with ripe fruit and plush texture. In Bordeaux, maritime humidity, vintage variation, and a later-ripening climate create a leaner, more structured profile. In Napa and Bolgheri, sunlight and warmth ensure ripeness year after year.
A Conversation in Soils
Geology tells the second half of the story. Napa Valley's soils are famously diverse, born from a collision of tectonic uplift, volcanic activity, and alluvial wash.
"Napa is formed in three different ways. The eastern part is volcanic. The mountains are volcanic in origin. The western mountains are from tectonic plates colliding and pushing up, and then the middle of the valley was ocean floor, so it's sedimentary," explains Freemark Abbey winemaker Kristy Melton.
"Most people have this binary belief you're either on the valley floor or you're on a mountain. And as you know, they're like many flavors in between,' says Matt Crafton, winemaker for Chateau Montelena. 'If we look at the great vineyards of Napa Valley, they sit on these alluvial fans. It's a very complex environment when it comes to soils and the interaction with fog, sunshine, and evening breezes makes it a very unique place for vineyards.'
Sunset over Bolgheri vineyards, Maremma Tuscany, Italy.
On the Tuscan Coast, Bolgheri's vineyards sit on a mix of alluvial and marine sediments. In the higher elevations, rocky and mineral soils add savory nuance and grip. In Suvereto and Capalbio, clay and limestone dominate, contributing power and structure.
Alluvial soils, in particular, seem to offer a transatlantic bridge—producing some of the most finessed, age-worthy wines in both regions.
Tasting Identity: Distinction Without Comparison
We tasted eight wines from both regions:
Each wine showed a distinctive character tied to its site, yet shared a common sense of ripeness, structure, and clarity. Standouts included the 2021 Ornellaia, which delivered incredible balance and aromatic depth, and the 2021 Chateau Montelena, which offered a vibrant, sculpted example of Napa Cabernet. The purity and elegance of Monteverro stood out for its seamless integration, while Poggio al Tesoro showcased an authentic, varietally precise expression of Cabernet Franc. Guado al Tasso and Petra impressed with their depth and harmony, and the Freemark Abbey Bosché and Stag's Leap FAY offered a clear view into Napa's capacity for refined, age-worthy structure.
These are wines with identity—not because they mirror Bordeaux, but because they speak clearly of where they're grown. They have structure, freshness, and complexity, but they also have something Bordeaux doesn't: sunshine in their bones.
Outgrowing the Shadow
'It no longer makes sense to compare Napa Valley or the Tuscan Coast to Bordeaux. These regions are no longer reflections—they are their own realities,' said Lonardi. 'In many ways, we are all sons of Sassicaia and of Robert Parker's influence, but each of these places has developed a vinous dialect rooted in its landscape. And perhaps more interestingly, they now speak in harmony with each other.'
Chateau Montelena's Matt Crafton paraphrases Randall Grahm, the pioneering American winemaker of Bonny Doon, in a sentiment that echoes Lonardi's.
'Of all the wines in the valley and maybe even in the world, you can break them down into two different categories—wines of place, and wines of effort. And I think that there are very, very few wines of place in the world, probably a tenth of 1 percent,' says Crafton. 'Those are wines that are specifically made to represent a unique growing site. Those are wines where winemaking is about making yourself disappear to reflect the vintage and the site, whereas wines of effort focus on creating something unique through winemaking techniques.'
In the case of Napa Valley and the Tuscan Coast, Bordeaux varieties have not just survived outside their birthplace; they have found new expressions, new cadences, and new audiences. Whether on the alluvial benchlands of Oakville or the rolling foothills of Bolgheri, they have found home.
That evolution—away from mimicry and toward authenticity—was at the heart of our presentation. These two regions are no longer promising New World upstarts or rebellious outposts of Bordeaux. They are confident, mature, and dynamic wine cultures with their own internal logic, shaped by their respective coastal climates, complex soils, and bold histories. And most importantly, they are wines of place.
For those still reaching for a Bordeaux comparison when tasting Napa or Bolgheri, the conversation has moved on. These wines are telling a different story now—one of sunshine, soil, and singularity.