Come to California
Sir: Finally we receive some good news from California! As a Spectator reader for ten years and an expat living in California for over 20, I commend William Cash for his article 'Sour grapes about California' (2 August). I do hope Mr Auberon Waugh reads it.
I don't think I have ever heard a good thing said about Californian wine by Mr Waugh in the Spectator Wine Club. There certainly are a lot of snobs in Europe who regularly pontificate on the subject of wine and dismiss Yank vintners.
As Mr Cash points out, the unpleasant truth is that many Californian wines are infinitely superior to most European wines. This is especially comforting for those of us who believe that the French are excruciat- ingly snobbish about their wines. It has been my experience that particularly the lower-priced Californian wines are far superior to the usual vinegar that the French offer — they only make it look appealing because it is in a foreign lan- guage.
Can you please send Mr Waugh on an expenses-paid trip to California? I would be happy to gather other Speccie readers together and meet him in Napa to convince him that there is life (and wine) out here. Marlyn B. Hopper
914 Pine Lane, Davis, California, USA
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