Some of the wineries, winemakers, and topics we have covered over the years often find their way as links on other wine sites. We decided to include some as a way to pay tribute to the wines and people who who have shaped the wine industry.

Rhone Rangers Ride Again
by Tim Hayes & John Koetzner

Evoking the ghost of Clayton Moore as that masked man on Saturday mornings, the Rhone Rangers, a non-profit organization devoted to advancing the truth about Rhone varietals, had its third annual Rhone Ranger Tasting at Fort Mason on March 25. It was there that the press, wine trade and public could increase their knowledge about those more elusive varietals that do not get the press of their Bordeaux and Burgundy brethren.

Much like their ZAP counterparts, the Rhone Ranges have attached themselves to the adulation and promotion of the grape varieties grown in the Rhone Valley which runs from Vienne in the north to Beaucaire in the south of France. As it is most of the time, the earliest histories of original grape plantings come to us through folklore, legend and myth depending on which you choose.

One widely highly regarded explanation is that the Crusaders returning from their conquests brought the grapes in the 12th or early 13th century, while others believe it to have been planted by the Roman Legions. Whatever the case, grapes and wines of the Rhone Valley go way back in time and have provided many civilizations with rich, lush wonderful wines.
The three prominent growing areas in the Rhone Valley are, Cote du Rotie located on the west slopes of the Rhone River noted for rich spicy wines with a distinct aroma of black pepper. Chateauneuf du Pape wines of fame and renown, and the Hermitage whose majestic wine is said to have derived its name from a crusader who gave up the fight in 1224, withdrew to the hills, and built a small hermitage and dedicated his life to God and winemaking.

The emulation of these fine French wines is a tall order indeed, but the focus and ardor of the Rhone Ranges have produced wines of world-class style and status.So, not only did the tasting attract an elbow room only crowd, but it had wineries from as far away as Virginia pouring their best examples of Viogniers, Marsannes, Roussannes, Mourvedres, Syrahs, and Carignanes. The wines not only came from other states, but they came from all over California as far south as San Diego County, Temecula, Santa Inez Valley, and Santa Barbara and as close to home as Calistoga, St. Helena, Napa, Hopland, Ukiah, and Redwood Valley.
Healdsburg and Windsor were extremely well represented with Alexander Valley Vineyards, Clos du Bois, Crane Canyon Cellars, Geyser Peak, Hamel, Kendall-Jackson, Michel Schlumberger, Preston Vineyards, Russian Hill Estate Winery, Quivara Vineyards, Simi Winery, and Unti Vineyards all pouring their best examples of these often overlooked varietals.

Since advancing the knowledge about Rhone varietals is the mission of the Rhone Rangers, they have made it clear that they will be building upon their strengths as wine producers and grape growers to increase scientific knowledge about the different grapes.
Locally, Lou Preston has been one of the pioneers in producing Rhone varietals, and his winery was one of the best represented with five wines for tasting.

While these are grapes that are typically grown in the Northern Rhone and Southern Rhone Valleys in France, two distinctly different growing regions in terms of climate, it makes sense that we would see a broad range of producers within California. The Rhone Rangers tasting gave us exactly that and more.

With nearly a hundred wineries pouring, it gave tasters ample opportunity to try several tastes of the same varietal, often educating their palates to the more subtle complexities of such grapes as Marsanne and Roussanne. While some wineries touted the pear and strawberry aromatics of their Roussanne wines, other talked about the forward fruit and supple mouth feel of their Viogniers.
Of course, the serious red wine tasters could be seen surrounding the tables where Syrah and Mourvedre were being poured. Our locally produced wines such as Preston's Mourvedre and Syrah, as well as Crane Canyon Cellars Mourvedre and Unti Vineyard's Syrah kept the crowd coming back for more.

Beyond the wine, many purveyors of foods had booths, complementing the wines. Local caterers and operators such as the Jimtown Store showed up to show that they had hors d'oeuvres to match the complexities of the wines that were being tasted. Likewise, gourmet oils and vinegars were present. One of the more impressive booths in this respect was Cuisine Perel that had eight different vinegars and oils on display. They had toasted walnut grapeseed oil and a host of vinegars such as blood orange vinegar that were as complex in taste as the most distinguished wines.

In fact, one of the more creative entries was Gotta Havit Desserts from San Rafael, which created more than a dozen different Rhone wine sorbets, including one from Simi's Shiraz, one from Benzinger's Syrah, and a most tasty one from Joseph Phelp's Le Mistral.
Since advancing the knowledge about Rhone varietals is the mission of the Rhone Rangers, they have made it clear that they will continue to pursue this mission of advancing the knowledge about grapes and wines that so many people are still just beginning to discover.
To that end, it's not too early to start planning for next year's Rhone Ranger tasting that will take place on March 31, 2001. For folks who would like more information about Rhone Rangers, they have a website at http://www.rhonerangers.com/ that gives some of their upcoming events as well as how to join.

Most importantly, the Rhone Rangers provide members with the "Silver Bulletin," the newsletter that would make Jay Silverheels and Clayton Moore proud to keep fighting for truth and justice in the winemaking world. It's about time that Rhone style wines got the respect they so sorely deserve after so many centuries of making a mark on the world of wine.