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.

#UnexpectedPaso Delivers Delicious Whites from Paso Robles

I've learned over the years that Paso Robles is not only the 3rd largest wine region in California but one of the most diverse. Red wine is king with Cabernet Sauvignon accounting for almost 40% of overall grape harvests. That grape and other red Bordeaux grapes are promoted through the Paso Robles CAB Collective. Syrah and Zinfandel are also major players in the region as is the Other Red category which consists of Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Petit Verdot. As for white wine grapes, Chardonnay is the most widely planted grape at 5%, followed by Other Whites also at 5% and Sauvignon Blanc at 2%.  To help promote these lesser known white wines, the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance initiated the #UnexpectedPaso Twitter tasting sending several white and rosé wines to various wine bloggers. After I receive wine from these tastings I usually pass the leftovers among the neighborhood. And this was one time my discriminating neighbors agreed: the wines were excellent.

JUSTIN 2016 Rosé ($22.50) is made from 100% gently pressed Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is quite refreshing with layered flavors of strawberries and tart cherries.

Vina Robles 2016 White 4 ($16) is a blend of 45% Viognier, 27% Vermentino, 17% Sauvignon Blanc, and 11% Verdelho.  Its starts with plenty of aromatic stone fruit which continues onto the palate mingling with tart grapefruit. This is one savory wine.

Tablas Creek Vineyard 2016 Patelin de Tablas Blanc ($27) is a blend of five white grape varieties (Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne and Clairette Blanche). The fruit was sourced from nine Paso Rhone vineyards, whole clustered pressed and fermented with native yeasts. This was the most mineral driven wine interspersed with creamy stone fruit and lemons. My favorite of the group.

Adelaida Cellars 2015 HMR Chardonnay ($40) is made from grapes grown in the cooler hillside terrain of Paso Robles' Adelaida District, 14 miles from the Pacific coast and ranging from 1400 - 2000 feet above sea level. The fermented wine was aged nine months and various forms of oak which provides lift and complexity without the awful over the top buttery character. In fact, the expected lemon zest Chardonnay flavors are prominent, along with a creamy texture, and refreshing acids. Nicely done. 

Who Makes Trader Joe's La Ferme Julien?

You may have seen two La Ferme Julien wines on sale at Trader Joe's at the enticing price of $5.99. At that price I purchased one of each and went home to research. The wines are produced by Famille Perrin, the same family that owns the famous Château de Beaucastel that produces Châteauneuf-du-Pape in southern Rhône. You may be familiar with estate since it is the co founder with Robert Haas of Paso Robles' Tablas Creek Vineyard.  In 1978 Jean Pierre Perrin and François Perrin took over management of the estate from their father Jacques Perrin and soon introduced La Vieille Ferme - an inexpensive Côtes du Rhône - that quickly became very popular. Look for the chicken on the label. Trade Joe's recognized this trend and contracted with Famille Perrin to create a private label version - the goat version.

The two wines are blends of four southern Rhône varieties. The grapes for the La Ferme Julien Blanc are sourced from the Côtes du Luberon and consist of Bourboulenc, Grenache Blanc, Ugni Blanc, and Vermentino. Not exactly your household names. The wine starts with stone fruit aromas, leading to a citric flavor - both lemon and grapefruit. It starts nicely, but then falls flat at the finish because of a lack in acids and vibrancy. The La Ferme Julien Rouge is comprised of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault sourced from the Côtes de Ventoux. Both Ventoux and Luberon are located in the extremely southeast region of the Rhône leading to Provence. This is a simple wine, the term "rustic" is used quite often as a descriptor, and is very easy on the palette. Nothing exciting about either wine, but at $6, you get what you pay for.

#WBC14 Paso Robles Excursion: Tablas Creek Vineyard

One of my favorite experiences of participating in the Wine Bloggers Conference Paso Robles Pre-Excursion was our visit to Rhone Ranger favorite, Tablas Creek Vineyard. Although Gary Eberle of Eberle Winery was the first to plant Rhone varieties in Paso, Tablas Creek was the first to make their Rhone styled wine commercially viable in the Paso Robles AVA.

Tablas Creek Vineyard is a joint venture between Château de Beaucastel and Robert Haas, as they planned to create a Châteauneuf-du-Pape style vineyard in California. The partners eventually found a site in Paso where the elevation and limestone soils (a rare soil type in Paso) resembled those at Beaucastel. In 1990 the winery imported a substantial number of Rhone vines (Mourvèdre, Grenache Noir, Syrah, Counoise, Roussanne, Viognier, Marsanne, and Grenache Blanc) and handed them over to the USDA. Three years later the vines passed the quarantine testing program and Tablas Creek began propagating their nursery. The vines from this nursery were eventually sold to many well known California Rhone producers.

Robert Haas' son Jason is the current winemaker and a former Wine Blogger Awards winner. His Tablas Creek blog won in the Winery Blog category in 2008 and 2011. On our arrival to the winery he briefly described to our group the winery's history and the vineyard's physical characteristics - demonstrating how the limestone soil absorbs water that the vines can then access later. Afterward he lead the group past the popular baby llama - llamas are used as "guard dogs" to protect the weed eating sheep from coyotes to a rootstock grafting demo. Rootstock and vines do not have to be taped together in the modern era.  Pretty informative.

Small Viniferia Nursery

Rootstock and vines grafted

Rootstock

After the rootstock demo, we headed inside to sample the wines from Tablas Creek, as well as three other Paso Rhone producing wineries: Calcareous Winery, Écluse Wines, and Caliza Winery. My favorite Caliza wine was their 2011 Azimuth, a delicious GSM (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre) blend. The 2010 Lock Vineyard Syrah from Ecluse madee a powerful statement of "here I am and don't forget me"; whereas the Calcareous Lily Blanc (Viogner, Greneache Blanc and Roussanne) and Tres Violet GSM were more subtle but equally tasty.  The Tablas Creek Esprit Blanc was the first American Picpoul Blanc for me, although it incorporates only 5% to the majority Roussanne and Grenache Blanc blend. And it was also a thrill to taste my first 100% Terret Noir - usually a blending grape - but this barrel sample show promise with its tart cherry flavors. Cheers to Paso Robles, Tablas Creek, and Rhone styled wine.