The State of the Rhone Nation

Last month the Rhone Rangers presented a seminar on the State of the Rhone Nation at City Winery in Washington D.C. The seminar was moderated by local wine writer Dave McIntyre and featured seven prominent American wine growers who specialize in Rhone grape varieties. The Rangers mission is to promote American Rhone varietal wines, specifically, those that include "75% of one of the twenty-two traditional Rhone grape varieties as approved by the French government for the wines of the Cotes du Rhone". The non-profit consists of over 100 winery members with the majority located in the Paso Robles AVA, followed by Sonoma County, Santa Barbara County, and the Lodi AVA. Other regions represented in the seminar and the associated trade-consumers tastings were Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands, El Dorado AVA, and the Monticello AVA in Virginia. This latter region was represented by Horton Vineyards where the late Dennis Horton planted Rhone grape varieties back in the late 1980s. And here are the Rhone-inspired backgrounds for each of the wineries that participated in the seminar.

Halter Ranch Vineyard: 2017 Grenache Blanc, Paso Robles ($28)
The property encompassing Halter Ranch Vineyard was first settled in the 1880s with the present estate vineyards established in 1994. Over the years the estate has expanding to include 17 grape varieties with 40% of the estate planted with Rhone varieties. The elevation, excellent water drainage, sun exposure, and limestone-rich soils of the Westside Adelaida District helps create a juicy, fresh, and aromatic Grenache Blanc.

Horton Vineyards 2016 Viognier ($20)
In the 1980s Dennis Horton traveled to the Rhone valley where he realized that the thick skin and loose clusters of Viognier would be perfect for the Virginia climate. Twenty-five years later this insight proved accurate as the Virginia Wine Board established Viognier as the signature grape of the Commonwealth. Horton has continued to be a consistent and reliable producer of Viognier showcasing the old warm charm of stone fruit and balanced acidity.

Tercero Wines 2018 Tercero Mourvèdre Rosé, Santa Barbara County ($30)
Larry Schaffer is proving that Rhone grape varieties can excel in Santa Barbara County mostly grown in the Santa Ynez Valley AVA, Ballard Canyon AVA, Los Olivos District AVA, or the Los Alamos Valley. Each region provides a distinct micro-climate and soil type enabling the disperse planting based on ripening time and soil conditions. This Mourvèdre Rosé is a great example as it is a blend of different vineyard plots and shows a tropical aroma, strawberries and light cherries, and a persistent finish.

Two Shepherds Wine 2017 Two Shepherds Wine Cinsault ($20)
In general, William Allen sources his passion for Rhone varieties from Sonoma's Russian River Valley but in this case, he has access to the oldest surviving Cinsault Vineyard in the world -- the famed 135-year-old Bechthold Vineyard in Lodi. This vineyard still produces excellent fruit as modern sustainable vineyard practices have increased the health and vigor of grape clusters. This Cinsault differs slightly from the several single varietal wines produced by other wineries as Allen utilized minimal wine-making techniques such as native yeast, no additions other than minimal S02, neutral barrel fermentation and aging, whole cluster pressing, and unfined & unfiltered production. The result: a delicious wine with a candied cherry aroma, light and tart cranberries, and fresh acidity

Tablas Creek Vineyard 2016 Tablas Creek Grenache, Paso Robles ($40)
Perhaps the Rhone Rangers owes their actual existence to the pioneering work of Tablas Creek after Robert Haas established a friendship with the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel and later established the winery in 1989. Clones and rootstocks were imported from the famed Rhone estate and after a USDA-mandated three-year quarantine the Tablas Creek estate was planted. These and other newly imported clones have spread to help establish other Rhone dominated vineyards such as Lodi's Acquiesce Winery & Vineyards. This Grenache is back after a few years hiatus and shows the old world character of soft fruit, spiciness, depth, texture, and chewy tannins.

Ridge Vineyards 2015 Ridge Red-Blend, Sonoma ($36) - 54% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 16% Mataro
In 1991 the Lytton Springs vineyard formally became part of the Ridge family when the winery acquired the property because of its acclaimed Zinfandel fame. As a collateral benefit, this Dry Creek Valley estate is also a suitable host for Rhone varieties such as Syrah, Grenache, and Mataro - the Californian name for Mourvèdre. And these Lytton Springs Rhone wines are known for their barnyard, leather, and tobacco characters.

J. Lohr Winery 2016 J. Lohr Syrah (South Ridge) Paso Robles ($15)
When Jerry Lohr decided to enter the wine industry, he searched the best sites in California to produce Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet and settled on Paso Robles to plant his Cabernet vines. Like Halter Ranch's experience, the vines benefit from elevation, excellent water drainage, sun exposure, limestone-rich soils, and the dramatic diurnal swings of  50-degrees. These conditions are also conducive to Syrah which are grown in the estate's South Ridge -- a large vineyard encompasses the warmer Estrella and San Miguel districts as well as the cooler Creston, Adelaida, and Willow Creek districts.  The grapes are sourced equally from these two warm-cold groups which according to current CEO Steve Lohr "the warmer areas tend toward black tea and camphor while the cooler districts provide aromatic white pepper and blue fruit notes.  An excellent wine - and value.

Lodi Wine: Albarino Ascending

"When I first tasting Albarino, I became very excited about this grape and knew we had to grow it", Steve Felten, Owner\President Klinker Brick Winery

As a result in 2013, Felten regrafted 10 acres of under-performing Chardonnay in Ted's Vineyard (alongside Alpine Road) with the Rias Baixas clone. In this regard, he leveraged the earlier work of Markus Bokisch who first planted Albarino in Lodi Wine country back in 1999 and provided the vines to Felten. Today there are still only a handful of Lodi wineries producing Albarino, but the grape's potential is clear. Our Snooth group recognized this potential the very first evening during a dinner at Oak Farm Vineyard after sampling the Klinker Brick Winery 2018 Lodi - Mokelumne River Albarino ($15) and the Mettler Family Vineyards 2017 Estate Albarino ($20). Both of these wines were very reminiscent of their Spanish contemporaries.

Albarino is the signature grape of the Rías Baixas Denominación de Origen (DO) wine zone in the Galicia region of northwest Spain. It is the Irish region of Spain based on its past Celtic heritage, proximity to the ocean, and abundant rainfall which provides lush landscapes. Mists and fogs cool the region further and vines are planted on pérgola trellising systems that are up to seven feet high allowing breezes to flow through to prevent mildew. This coolness helps the grapes retain acidity but despite the rainfall, Rías Baixas is blessed with abundant sunshine. The soils are primarily mineral based granite with lesser amounts of alluvial and colluvial soil (clay, silt, sand, and gravel) deposited from the region's many rivers and tributaries.

Rías Baixas wines are characterized by their intense aromatics, minerality, and crisp acidity however there can be noticeable diversity within and between the region's five sub-zones. In most instances, green apples are the dominant fruit, but one can often ascertain apricots and peaches or more tropical notes from warmer sub-zones located further from the ocean.

The Klinker Brick and Mettler Albarinos both share the classic Rías Baixas style as did the Bokisch Vineyards 2017 Clement Hills Terra Alta Vineyard Albarino ($20). These wines are characterized by a pronounced floral aroma; green apples and citrus; noticeable minerality; and racy acids. In fact, during a blind tasting of new vs old world white wines, the Bokisch TAV Albarino tasted closer to Rias Baixas than the Palacio de Fefinanes Albarino de Fefinanes which had appreciable new world qualities such as intense stone fruits and shades of honey. This perception was most likely the result of the Lodi wines' distinct minerality which Felton attributes to the dense sandy loam near the Mokelumne River. And in the case of the Bokisch TAV Albarino, the Clement Hills soil closely mimics those in Rias Baixas where volcanic, gravelly, clay loam washed down from the Sierra Foothills.  Jorja Lerner, co-owner of Harney Lane Winery, also attributes Lodi Albarino's resemblance to Rias Baixas to the "temperature shifts contributed to the Carquinez Strait which brings a bit of the coast all the way to Lodi, essentially warm days and cool evenings".

But not all Lodi Albarino meets this steely - green apple & citrus - highly acidic style. For instance, the Bokisch 2017 La Cerezas Vineyard Lodi - Mokelumne River Albarino ($23) more closely resembles the warmer Rias Baixas sub-zones of Condado do Tea and Ribera do Ulla where fleshy tropical notes develop. And the Harney Lane Winery 2018 Lodi Albarino ($20) more closely resembles the Palacio de Fefinanes with it's enhanced stone fruit profile. Lerner explains: "When we started making Albarino, we strove for the higher acidity, steelier version of the variety which we felt was truer to Spanish style Albarinos. We have found over the years, though, that we can capture a bit more of the fruit component in the wine while still maintaining a dry finish that is slightly softer in acidity. Consumers have shown to love this approach!"

It is clear that the Lodi wine industry is ready to escape from its dependence on marketing solely old-vine Zinfandel. There are several white grape varieties ready to be recognized, with Albarino squarely poised to lead the group.

Malbec World Day with the Hess Collection, Colomé, & Amalaya

"Malbec World Day" or "Malbec Mondo" as English speakers prefer to say is celebrated on April 17 to commemorate the day back in 1853 when Argentina's President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento officially made it his mission to transform Argentina's wine industry.  He asked Michel Aime Pouget, a French soil expert, to bring over new vines from France and amongst Pouget's selection, was Malbec.  In the following years, the Malbec varietal flourished in Argentina's dry, and sunny weather, particularly at high elevations.  Today, Malbec is Argentina's star varietal.

Here we are for Malbec World Day 2019 and I received a trio of Malbec samples from the Hess Collection portfolio, specifically from Bodega Colomé and Bodega Amalaya. The wines are produced in the Calchaquí Valley in Salta, Argentina. The valley has altitude - from 5,500 ft to over 10,000 ft above sea level - making it one of the highest viticulture regions in the world. This high altitude provides intense daytime sunlight and cool nights that help better retain the acidity and concentrated fruit characteristics of the grapes.

Bodega Colomé is one of the oldest working wineries in Argentina and home to the highest vineyards in the world in Salta's Calchaquí Valley. The winery was established in 1831 when the vineyards were first planted on original rootstock imported from Bordeaux -- and these vines are still bearing fruit today.

Bodega Amalaya wines began as an experiment at Bodega Colomé in order to find alternative sourcing and varieties for Malbec and Torrontés blends. Donald Hess instructed his researchers to seek an area where no vines had ever been planted the workers labeled the quest using the Inca expression Amalaya meaning 'Hope for a Miracle'.

Amalaya Malbec 2017 ($16)
This is a fresh and fruit forward blend of 85% Malbec, 10% Tannat, and 5% Petit Verdot that will be gone before you realize.

Colome Autentico Malbec 2017 ($30)
The ‘Authentico’ Malbec is made from 100-year-old Malbec vines planted at over 7,000 feet. It is a textured and plush wine with dark intense fruit, both chocolate and vanilla, with a long silky finish.  This is an elegant wine with power.

Colome Estate Malbec 2016 ($25)
The fruit for this wine derives from the  Colome Estate vineyard as well as from the El Arenal, La Brava and Altura Maxima vineyards. It comes across with more dark fruit blackberries with bits of earthiness, tobacco, and spices. It also has more of a tannic structure providing enhanced aging potential. If only I had the patience.

Lodi Wine: Old Vine Zinfandel & Ancient Vineyards

Marian's Vineyard at
Mohr Fry Ranches

Lodi is the "self-proclaimed Zinfandel Capital of the World" producing over 40 percent of California’s premium Zinfandel, with the vast majority of it grown in the Mokelumne River AVA. But to paraphrase a favorite song, " well...how did it get there"? According to Zinfandel: A History of a Grape and Its Wines, brothers George and William West had added Zinfandel to their Stockton based El Pinal Winery by at least the 1860s. In 1889, German-born Joseph Spenker planted a vineyard, most likely from cuttings from El Pinal, that consisted of Zinfandel, Carignan, Mission, and Tokay -- the later a Vitis vinifera table grape that closely resembles the gnarled look of the Zinfandel vine. This plot is still farmed today by Spenker's ancestors (Wanda Woock Bechthold and her son Greg Burns) in the Royal Tee Vineyard of Jessie's Grove Winery and is Lodi's oldest Zinfandel-dominated planting.  By the way, the oldest continually planted vineyard in Lodi was also planted by Spenker a few years earlier, in 1885, and is the famed Cinsault dominated Bechthold Vineyard.

Lizzy James Vineyard

Other historic vineyards, planted in the early 20th century, are Marian's Vineyard at Mohr Fry Ranches, Lizzy James Vineyard owned by Harney Lane Winery, and Soucie Vineyard. The 225 acre Mohr Fry Ranches contains nine distinct blocks of own-rooted Old Vine Zinfandel. The ranch is currently farmed by the father-son team of Jerry and Bruce Fry, whose family has been farming in California for over 150 years. Jerry named the oldest Zinfandel block, 8.3 acres of own-rooted vineyard planted in 1901, Marian's Vineyard after his mother Marian Mohr Fry Zimmerman.  The Lizzy James Vineyard is a 20-acre plot of gnarly Zinfandel vines first planted in 1904. It is named after Lizzy and James, the children of proprietors Jorja (Mettler) and Kyle Lerner, after the Mettler family purchased the vineyard in 2005. And, in 1916 Edward Soucie, Sr. planted own-rooted Zinfandel on Lodi’s far west side which is today owned and managed by fifth-generation Lodi native Kevin Soucie.

Michael Klouda at
Bechthold Vineyard

A logical question regarding these ancient vines is "do their yields deteriorate drastically over time"? Michael Klouda, vineyard manager at Michael David Winery and winemaker at Michael Klouda Wines agrees that this does occur occasionally and individual vines must be replaced periodically. But in general, modern sustainable vineyard practices have increased the health and vigor of grape clusters. Kyle Lerner mentioned a similar opinion when discussing the restoration project at Lizzy James Vineyard and the necessity of resuscitating a number of unhealthy vines.

Geographically these ancient vineyards share a common planting within the Mokelumne River AVA and are often own-rooted -- even when the St. George rootstock was available. This was possible since the sandy soils along the river are a deterrent to the phylloxera louse -- although the soils do not eliminate the threat completely -- it's just more manageable. The Mokelumne River location has remained conducive to Zin, as currently 99% of Lodi’s Zinfandel plantings are concentrated in this AVA.

That being said, there is also an east-west dimension to the soils within the Mokelumne River AVA that leads to a dichotomy in the wine styles. On the east side of Lodi (or east of Highway 99) the soil is sandier and deeper and can be described as more of a loamy sand than sandy loam; whereas west of Hwy. 99 the vineyards are sandy loam with generous amounts of finely crushed granite washed down from the Sierra Nevadas. In addition, the east side contains lower water tables which along with the sandier soils equate to smaller berries and clusters.  According to Randy Caparoso:

"...this means higher skin to juice ratios as well as earlier ripening; and both factors can result in lower pH, higher total acidity as well as increased phenolic content (the color, tannin as well as aromatic compounds of wines are derived from grape phenols and polyphenols). In plainer English, this means brighter, crisply balanced white wines, and darker, firmer, zestier, flavorful red wines. The opposite – larger clusters and berries – means lighter colored, softer, rounder, less aggressively flavored wines". 

Mokelumne River Zinfandel

During our visit, we experienced this dichotomy in practice during a blind tasting of East vs West Zinfandel.  For instance, the west side M2 Wines Soucie Vineyard Lodi Native Zinfandel, the Maley Brothers Vineyards Lodi Native Wegat Vineyard Zinfandel, and the Harney Lane Scottsville Vineyard Zinfandel share characteristics of earthiness, mushrooms, and a softer structure. Wines made from Mohr Fry Ranches' grapes also possess these classic westside traits. In contrast, eastside Zins such as the McCay Cellars Lot 13 Lodi Native Zinfandel, Fields Family Stampede Vineyard Zinfandel, and Ironstone Vineyards Rous Vineyard Reserve Ancient Vine Zinfandel share characters of a brighter cherry flavor, black tea, zestiness, and structured tannins. The Harney Lane Lizzy James Vineyard Zinfandels also fit these descriptors. These and other excellent  Mokelumne River Zinfandel we sampled were clear indicators of how the grape variety excels in Lodi.

Cheers to old-vine and ancient Lodi Zinfandel and please note that this post was heavily influenced by Randy Caparoso and his Lodi Wine Blog and special thanks to the Lodi Winegrape Commission and Snooth.