by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 

Handout for the Rio Grande Wine Club Calif/Rhone Tasting
In the times of $200/btl California Cabernets; $80 Merlots; and pretty little Zinfandels at $35/btl (and we won't even talk about Bordeaux & Burgundy prices!!); where is one to turn to in California wines without mortgaging the house or the wife??? The answer is easy.... California Rhones. Although the first $100 Calif Syrah is now out there (which we'll taste); the wine authorities (we're talking RP here; we're NOT talking WS here!) have yet to fully grasp the fact that Calif is truly making world-class Rhone-style wines. Wines they rate 90-92 would be receiving scores of 96-100 if they were Cabernets. In the area of varieties other than Syrah (Mourvedre, Grenache, Roussanne, Viognier and Rhone/Chateauneuf blends); one can still find some terrific wines at less than $20/btl; sometimes in the low-teen$.
As a follower of Calif Syrah and Rhone varietals from the very start ('74 Phelps Syrah, '77/'78 Estrella River Syrah); the last 10 yrs has seen the Calif Rhone movement come into its own. And after this tasting, you will see this to be so (and RP and WS will STILL be clueless). The following 12 wines tasted are hopefully representative of what the top Calif Rhone producers are doing these days.

Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Roussanne '97: Craig Jaffurs started making his first commercial wines some 3 yrs ago, and has never looked back. Buying grapes exclusively from a number of sources strictly in Santa Barbara County, he has crafted a full range of Rhone varietals. Roussanne is a white variety that is still little planted in Calif as yet. But it makes beautiful aromatic perfumy wines much like Viognier, but usually with more richness and structure. They remind me a bit of Zind-Humbrecht GWT's.... at half the price. The BonnyDoon '97 is one such Roussanne at a great price ($18). The Qupe is another one. The ZacaMesa is a bit on the lightweight side, but a pleasant white. This Jaffurs is one of the more lean an tight versions of Roussanne, but one that I expect to age quite well... 10 yrs even.
Ojai Vnyd Calif Roll Ranch Vnyd Viognier '97: Adam & Helen Tolmach made their first wines in an old dairy barn w/ Bob Lindquist back in '82 in Los Alamos (the dinky Calif one, not the REAL Los Alamos). In the last 4-5 yrs, they have been crafting some of the best (and most reasonably priced) Rhones in all California. This Viognier (the variety of the Rhone's Condrieu) comes from young (4 yr old) plantings just up the canyon from Adam & Helen's wnry in OakView in Ventura Cnty. When Viogniers first started coming out in Calif, they tended to make them in the same fashion as Chard.... hardly a good model. Since then, they've toned down the oak quite a bit and let the fruit be the primary feature. There are a lot of terrific Calif Viogniers out there... Jaffurs, Qupe, Ojai, EdmundsStJohn, Arrowood, Calera, Alban; to name a few of my favorites. Alas, Condrieu.... with its somewhat smokey, minerally character is still the standard that they have not yet attained in Calif.
Qupe Los Olivos Cuvee '96: This is Bob Lindquist's version of a Chateauneuf du Pape blend. Bob, too, started his first production of Syrah back in '82 from EstrellaRiver/PasoRobles grapes. He his probably, consistently, the finest & one with the longest track record of fine Rhone varietals in California. He makes a full range of both whites and reds; all very well made and reasonably priced, some truly profound in character. There are a number of Calif/Rhone producers; most of whom make some sort of red/ Chateauneuf-du-Pape blend. Most are made w/ various %'s of Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache. Few of them you would mistake for Chatneuf du Pape, they don't have that earthy/dusty/slightly roasted/funky/bretty character; most are more fruit driven, as you would expect from Calif. But this is where some real bargins are to be found and many (like the Qupe LOC) can age remarkably well. At the start, some winemakers used these Red blends as a sort of dumping ground for odd and leftover lots of wine; but I sense that this is seldome done anymore; most are concious attempts to make a good red blend at a fair price.
Edmunds St. John Les Cotes Sauvages '96: Steve Edmunds has been making Rhone varietals in an industrial facilities in scenic downtown Emeryville from the mid-'80's. Sourcing Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache from a number of North Coast vnyds; this is Steve's take on a Chateauneuf-blend. Is style yields one of the more Rhone-like versions of wine from Calif. His early wines tended to be pretty bretty, but the last 5-6 yrs, he's been making some of the very best of the Calif/Rhones that tend to be more Rhonish in character than most others. And he is still relatively an unknown, except among the Calif/Rhone cognescenti. His DurrelVnyd Syrah is one of the very best Syrahs made, truly world-class Syrah. Steve is now starting to have access to more Rhone varietals from ElDorado Cnty and it will be interesting to follow his efforts from this under-regarded area of Calif.
Sierra Vista El Dorado Cnty Syrah Herbert Vnyd '97: John & Barbara MacCready have been producing a variety (not all Rhones) of wines up in the Sierra foothills of ElDorado Cnty since the mid-'80's. The terrior of ElDorado tends to yield Rhone varietals with an earthy/funky character not too unlike their Rhone brethern. Not particularly well known, they have really hit their stride with some absolutely first-rate Rhones in the last 2-3 yrs. Their Viognier is also first-rate, with more minerally/Condrieu character than most.
Terre Rouge Shenandoah Vlly Sentinel Oak Vnyd/Pyramid Block Syrah '96: Bill Easton was a home winemaker for many yrs as owner of the fine Solano Wine Cellars in upper Berkeley from the early '70's. He went commercial some 4 yrs ago up in Amador's Shenandoah Vlly and has, unarguably, been making Amador's best Rhone varietals since then. A big,burly, mountain-man type of guy; his wine's style tend to reflect the personna. Long known primarily for their Zins; Amador/ShenandoahVlly has real potential to make world-class wines from the Rhone varietals. Viognier is probably their only hope to make great white wine up there. The Syrahs that Bill and Scott Harvey (formerly of Renwood, now of Folie a Deux in the NapaVlly) have made have been first-rate. I expect Grenache would make stunning wine up there, especially if done in a Banyuls style. Lots of potential.
Qupe Santa Barbara County Syrah Bien Nacido Vnyd '96: Bob Lindquist makes 3 tiers of Syrah; Calif, BienNacidoReserve, and BienNacido HillSide Block (since the '94 vintage). His early BienNacido Reserves were, without doubt, the first truly great Calif Syrahs. This is a very large vnyd up on the Eastern bench of the very gravelly SantaMaria River. It is unarguably one of Calif's great vnyds. A number of winemakers source their fruit from here; not just Rhone varietals but also some very good Chard & PinotNoir; some of it going all the way up to LakeCnty (Steele) and MendocinoCnty (Fetzer). The owners, Steve & Bob Miller, are great growers and are willing to do just about anything you want. In some cases, the winemaker just says "I'd like X tons of Syrah" and they'll deliver it to him. In other cases (like Craig Jaffurs and Jim Clendennan); they just allocate of block of their vnyd to the winemaker, who will then make the pruning, the leaf-thinning, the crop-loading, the harvest decisions themselves and, oftentimes, the actual work itself. They also own the Central Coast Winemaking Coop in Santa Maria, where a number of great SantaBarbara winemakers (Chris Whitcraft, Lane Tanner, Craig Jaffurs, John Kerr) do their thing. The Qupe/AuBonClimat/IlPodere/GoldCoast/ColdHeaven/Makor... wineries are all located in a large industrial strength bldg up a side canyon on the BienNaciso property. The Hillside Block, from which Bob Lindquist (and Ojai Vnyds) makes his HillsideEstate Syrah, is located high atop a ridge-top on the other side of this side canyon; a spectacular vnyd site. They have also planted Viognier and Roussanne up there. The Qupe Hillside Syrah is one of the world's great syrahs.
Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vnyd Syrah '97: Craig takes Syrah from some 3 vnyds in Santa Barbara County (BienNacido, Stolpman, and Thompson) and this BienNacido is usually his best (the others ain't too shabby, by any stretch). Craig tends to use very traditional winemaking techniques on his wines. When young and tasted from barrel, they are often rather reduced (stinky/sewer gas/fecal.... "riding the reductive wave" as Randall Graham likes to call it) and sometimes make it into the bottles that way. But that eventually goes away. The wines are big and packed w/ flavor and some of the best from Calif.
Andrew Murray Santa Barbara County Syrah Les Coteaux '97: Young Andrew Murray made his Syrahs with the '94 vintage; huge, black, extracted, very tannic, hard, enormous wines w/ loads of French oak. Since then, he's learned a bit about tannin management and restraint in winemaking technique to break into the top tier of Calif Rhone producers. His ridgetop vnyds are probably the most spectacular vnyds in all of Calif. Andrew makes a full range of strictlt Rhone varietals. The whites (Viognier & Roussanne) can often be a bit oxidized and rather Southern Rhone in style. His reds can sometimes be a bit over-the-top, as this LesCoteaux. He's even made Late Harvest Roussanne and Late Harvest Syrah. The wines can be on the eccentric side but they're always interestig. Maybe more of an Aussie style than any others in Calif.
Ojai Vnyd Calif Syrah Roll Ranch Vnyd '96: Adam tends to use a fair amount of saignee in his production of red wines; resulting in black, huge, extracted wines with loads of fruit. This is typical of his Syrah efforts. This was only the second crop of Syrah off RollRanch and only 3 barrels (75 cs) were made. Not so lush and opulent as his BienNacido, it's a huge tannic Syrah for the future.
Jade Mountain Napa Vlly Carneros Syrah Hudson Vnyd '96: Doug Danilek probably is THE premier producer of Rhone varietals in the Napa Valley. Hampered by the lack of a good source of Rhone varietals, he has, nonethless, managed to enter the top tier of Calif/Rhone producers. These grapes come from the Hudson Vnyd down in lower Carneros, a very cool region one would not expect to produce top Syrah in Calif. It is a very good example of what Syrah can do in cool regions. Doug is also winemaker at White Rock Vnyds, which is where he makes the JadeMtn wines. He makes a fairly full range of Rhone varietals and blends. His Le Provencal and Les Cotes de Soliel blends are some of the best red Rhone blends made in Calif. The Jade Mtn Vnyd owner, Jim Paras, has a vnyd high atop Mt.Veeder, from which Doug makes a ParasVnyd Syrah, one of the truly great Calif Syrahs; very scarce.
Kongsgaard Napa Vlly Syrah Hudson Vnyd/Carneros '96: Same yr, same grapes, different winemaker. This is Calif's pricyest $yrah at $100/btl. You be the judge!! John Kongsgaard used to be winemaker at Newton Vnyd, where he first made their exceptional Chards. He is part owner of Luna Wnry (which is where he makes his own-label wines) which makes a very nice Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio. The wines he makes under his own label (and the Arietta label w/ Fritz Hatton) are all.... shall we say... very ambitiously priced.... of which this Syrah is the most egrarious example. On the positive side..... well.... his kids ARE fencers and he likes opera!!

Alas, there are only so many wines I can do in one tasting.
Not covered here are Calif Grenache, unfortunately. Grenache is, without a doubt one of the world's premier grapes. The OldVine/BushVine examples coming out of Australia can be absolutely stunning... in their own particular style. Some of the new Garnachas from the Prioriat and Tarragona region of Spain are other-worldly. A small property in Chateauneuf, Ch. Rayas, used to make pretty decent red wine from 100% Grenache. And now Calif. Most Grenache in Calif was planted long ago from high-yielding clones, all destined for Alamaden Grenache Rose. By use of selected clones and keeping the yields low; Calif CAN make world-class Grenache, and has already done so. The AlbanVnyd (Arroyo Secco/Edna Vlly) is, easily, heads and shoulders above the rest. The Andrew Murray is pretty close behind. As other winemakers and other vnyd owners awaken to the glory of Grenache, ten yrs from now we'll being seeing much more world-class Grenache, of the same stature as their Cabs and Syrahs, coming from Calif.
Same story on Roussanne.... very underappreciated. Calif has failed miserably in making great Alsatian wines (of the stature of Zind-Humbrecht, Domaine Weinbach, Schlumberger, etc) from GWT, Riesling, and Tokay/PinotGris. Miserably. In Roussannne (and Viognier), Calif now has the variety to make great rich textured perfumed/aromatic world-class white wine of an Alsatian style. I think eventually Roussanne will overtake Viognier as the white Rhone varietal.
And we've not had any Marsanne here. When young, Marsanne makes a rather unthrilling, rather clunky kind of white wine. Somewhat like a Chardonnay wannabe. But with age, Calif (and French) Marsanne can age into a marvelous mature white wine. The '88 and '89 Qupe Marsannes are both wonderful examples of mature/tobaccoy/slightly nutty/oxidized white wines. And they're cheap, too.
And there're a bunch of great Calif Rhone producers I've missed. Most notable is John Alban of Alban Vnyds.... stunning stunning wines; alas, very scarce. Cold-Heaven (Morgan Torel... Jim Clendennan's wife) makes exceptional Viognier. More and more producers in the Santa Barbara are making great Rhones. Down in Ventura, Manfred & Elaine Krankl (he of the LeBrea Bakery and Le Campanile fame) are making tiny amounts of incredible wine under the SineQuaNon label. In Paso Robles, Eberle and Wild Horse and Dover Canyon are making great Rhone wines.
Up north.... Sean Thackery (Orion Syrah), SwansonVnyds (Syrah), Kevin Hamel (Syrah), Ridge (Syrah & Viognier), Truchard (Syrah), Havens (Syrah), Folie a Deux (Amador Syrah), Behrens & Hitchcock (Syrah), Araujo (Syrah), David Bruce (Syrah), Kathyrn Kennedy (Syrah), and Joseph Phelps (Viognier & Syrah) are all worth tracking down. The quality of the Rhones from both Cline and McDowell have made dramatic improvements over the last few yrs.
It's all pretty exciting... once you get outside the Cabernet/Chardonnay box!!