Number of California wineries passes 2,800

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Bewildered by the number of wine choices in the supermarket? It’s about the only downside to living in a golden age for wine, especially California wine.

There are more than 2,800 wineries in California, industry trade group the Wine Institute reported today. And those wineries are making far more than the standard Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Winemakers here use more than 100 different varieties of grapes in their wine.

Driving on across the state, either on coastal Highway 101 or inland on the 5 and 99, it seems like the state is awash in vineyards. It turns out that wine grapes are now grown in 48 of the 58 California counties, the Wine Institute said. There are about 4,600 wineries and farmers growing wine grapes.

California is the fourth-leading wine producer in the world, after Italy, France and Spain. But although it produces most of the wine made in the United States, it faces more competition every year. There are wineries in all 50 states, with Washington, Oregon and New York also home to major wine-producing regions.

Franciscan missionary Junipero Serra planted the first wine grapes at Mission San Diego de Alcala in 1769, the trade group said. He planted a variety known as the mission grape to make sacramental wines.

-- Jerry Hirsch