Date: 01-Aug-2005 17:51
Author: Robin Garr Email
Subject: WineAdvisor/WT101: Rhone Varieties in the USofA, with guest host TomHill
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WT101 - Rhone Varieties in the USofA

For 50 years or more, from the end of Prohibition until well into the 1980s, fine wine in California, and thus in most of the United States, was based almost entirely on a few great French grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir for the reds, and Sauvignon Blanc (often labeled "Fumé" Blanc) and Chardonnay for the whites.

Yes, a few old producers offered a quick bow to Italy with Barbera and Charbono; and of course there were those intriguing and only-in-America varieties Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. But when it came to the fancy stuff, if it didn't mirror the classic wines of Bordeaux or Burgundy, it just wasn't quite the thing.

But in the past 20 years or so, starting with a few maverick pioneers, a new varietal movement has come into the mainstream of American wine. Nicknamed the "Rhone Rangers" because their favored grapes come from the warmer climes of the Rhone Valley in Southern France, they've put the once-exotic names of grapes like Syrah (Australia's Shiraz), Grenache and Mourvedre, Marsanne and Roussanne and Viognier on just about every wine enthusiast's table.

For those of us who've loved these grapes in their French, American and Australian variations, it's a welcome development indeed, and one that is very well suited indeed for the climate and soils in much of the Golden State.

For this month's Wine Tasting 101, we feature Rhone Varieties in the USofA as our monthly topic, and welcome as our guest host the amiable nuclear physicist and wine writer Tom Hill, who's been following the development of California Rhone-style wines since the very start.

Tom has penned a helpful tutorial on these varieties, which you'll find at
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/rhoneranger.phtml

To participate in Wine Tasting 101, you're invited to visit the forum at
http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=7
to share your opinions on any California or other U.S. wine made from the Rhone varieties, ask questions and participate in online conversations on the subject. If you would like to compare notes with other wine lovers on specific "benchmark" wines, you're invited to taste and comment (in WT101 or the WLDG or both forums) on three wines that we've selected in a recent online poll:The first two wines are true Rhone-styles, made from blends of Rhone varieties. "REDS" doesn't qualify as a Rhone Ranger because it adds Zinfandel to the blend, but we include it because it's modestly priced, popular, and made very much in the Southern French tradition with a California accent.

Interested in matching food with California Rhone-style wines? Watch the Food Lovers' Discussion Group during August for conversations on this topic.

Several fine-wine shops around the U.S. will be hosting tastings of California Rhone-style wines this month in cooperation with WT101 ... watch for specific announcements.

And finally, by happy coincidence, two related events are going on this month: