I've seen Future California: Tom Hanks is Governor (and he's launched a program to ensure that every schoolkid has their own typewriter)... and Vermentino is the state grape. Unlike, say, Chard, a grape made for the cool, rain-besotted climes of Burgundy, Vermentino, grew up in the sun-drenched landscapes of Liguria, Sardinia and southern France; as such it's impervious to heat and drought, and smacks of solar pleasures.
One of the greatest Vermentino vineyards in California is also one of the highest-elevation Vermentino vineyards in the world: the Barsotti Vineyard, located at 2800’ elevation in the El Dorado appellation of the Sierra Foothills. The vines are tended by one of the most famous farmers in all of Californian viticulture, a man named Ron Mansfield who winemakers tend to speak about in hushed tones. It was Ron who saw the potential for growing grapes in the decomposed granite soils of this rugged, high-elevation site, and some of California's greatest winemakers (e.g., Arnot-Roberts and others) have come flocking ever since he planted here.
The newest anointed son to receive Mansfield's blessing is Charlie Miller, who cut his winemaking teeth with none other than the legendary Michael Cruse, and by golly if he hasn't managed to coax Sardinian snap right out of those Californian mounts. Pink granite soils give it its zing, and time on lees gives it roundness & texture; hints of mandarin pith, citrus flowers, and white almonds round the picture out.... and help to conjure a Californian future worth typing home about!
