Where does Stanislaus County rank among California wine spots? You might be surprised

modbee.com

Stanislaus was second only to Napa in an online ranking of California wine counties.

“Wait, what?” might be a wine fan’s first reaction to Monday’s announcement by LawnStarter. Stanislaus is among the nation’s top producers by volume, but Napa and other premium regions usually dominate the talk about quality.

A look at LawnStarter’s methodology explains this. The criteria include the number of awards won by the wineries in 2019 and 2020. Many of these competitions have divisions for low-priced and mid-market wines, along with the high-end stuff.

E.&J. Gallo Winery of Modesto has racked up its share of medals. So has Bronco Wine Co., south of Ceres, which is much smaller than Gallo but still a major industry player.