California wines most featured by U.S. restaurants

Other brands near the top of the list include the independently owned Caymus and Cakebread as well as Diageo's Sterling Vineyards, LVMH's Veuve Clicquot, and Fortune Brands Inc.'s Clos du Bois.

According to the sample, the largest portion of wines consumed in restaurants sell for between $25 and $39 per bottle, according to the report. Those bottles would cost $13 to $19 at retail.

Red wines outnumber whites by a ratio of two to one, with Cabernet Sauvignon edging out Chardonnay for the top variety. Pinot Noir was the second most common type of red wine listed, a development Gill guessed was caused by the 2004 film "Sideways," in which a wine enthusiast espoused Pinot's virtues over Merlot, which is now third.

"'Sideways' did a number on Merlot. You can't discount that," Gill said, though he noted that Merlot far outsells Pinot Noir by volume.