This episode completes California by deliberately shifting the lens from prestige to function. The Central Valley is not examined for romance; it is examined for scale, yield, climate pressure, grape behavior, and commercial logic. The narration stays anchored in cause and effect: inland position leads to heat, heat drives ripeness and yield, yield shapes style, pricing, and labelling outcomes. Lodi is treated as the critical nuance point—where wind, sandy soils, and old vines interrupt the Central Valley stereotype and explain why Zinfandel can retain freshness and structure despite high temperatures. Sierra Foothills is positioned as an altitude-led counterbalance, where diurnal range, decomposed granite soils, and dry farming explain concentration and acidity retention. South Coast closes the arc by reinforcing how disease pressure, urban sprawl, and replanting decisions redirect varietal choices and quality focus.
The consolidation recap is intentionally exam-facing. North Coast, Central Coast, and Central Valley are compared not by listing AVAs, but by how climate control mechanisms differ: fog and altitude versus wind corridors versus sheer heat moderated only by airflow. The final linkage between regions and examined grapes is deliberate. Students are guided to think Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay for the North Coast; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah for the Central Coast; and Zinfandel, French Colombard, Chardonnay, and Chenin Blanc for the Central Valley. This trains instinctive recall under time pressure and aligns directly with how California appears in D3 theory and tasting contexts.
This episode is designed to reduce overwhelm, sharpen regional logic, and help candidates move confidently from grape to place to style—exactly what the examiner is rewarding at distinction level.
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I’ve created an evergreen “Start Here” hub for this unit so you can access the full series without inbox overload.
You’ll find the complete list of episodes, organized in syllabus order, here:
https://thesommpour.substack.com/p/wset-diploma-d3-wines-of-the-world
