Rhone Rangers 2015: Sipping On the Dock of the Bay

This past Saturday, March 28th, the Annual Rhone Rangers Weekend took place dockside at the Craneway Conference Center in Richmond. This is the second year the event has been in Richmond, but it was my first time there. What a venue! Bight and spacious with outstanding views of the bay.

My favorite part of the Rhone Rangers events are the seminars. I always come away from them with a greater perspective and deeper understanding regarding the many aspects of winemaking. This year the morning seminar topics were on Roses Made from Rhone Varieties and the Age-ability of American Rhones. Both were excellent.

TAKE THE QUIZ!
Below is the list of the panelists and the host with quotes from the Rosé seminar. Can you match up who said what about Rose? This may prove easy for true wine geeks, and challenging for others. But give it a try.  {ANSWERS BELOW}

1. Patrick Comisky, Wines & Spirits Magazine
2. Randall Grahm, Bonny Doon Vineyards
3. Larry Schaffer, Tercero Wines
4. Ranko Anderson, Kale
5. Herb Quady, Quady North
6. John MacCready, Sierra Vista
7. Craig Camp, Cornerstone Cellars
8. Jason Robinson, Field Stone
9. Steve Anglim, Anglim Winery

A: “It started out as a way to concentrate the Reds, but evolved to a become a Rosé.”

B: “Rosé not something you really want to talk about, you just want to drink it. Talking about Rosé is like discussing the semantics of Scooby-Doo.”

C: “I am in search of getting to the ‘truthiness’ of the wine Rosé.”

D: “I make it to please my wife, to capture a happy memory.”

E: “We planted the vines specifically for Rosé. It was a marketing objective. The magic loss leader we put in front of buyers, Somms, and Wine Directors. Our grape is obscure but it has a high geek factor.”

F: “I want to approach all our wines, Red, White, and Rosé with equal respect and serious consideration to making them the best possible.”

G: “Our first Rosé started out as a Red but I did not think it was good enough as a full Red, so we made a Rosé and the customers have loved it ever since.”

H: I don’t think there is just one wine that can be called a true Rosé. There is no such thing as a true Rosé  My focus is on food wines and the acidity of Rosé pairs so well with food.

I: “Rosé --it's part of our line up!”

The line up of Rosés included:
Anglim 2014 Rose: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Viognier
Bonny Doon Vineyard 2012 Vin Gris de Cigare Reserve En Bonbonne: Mourvedre, Grenache, Cinsaut
Cornerstone Cellars 2014 Corallina Rose Artist Series Rosé: 100% Syrah
Field Stone Winery 2014 “Heritage Block”Rosé: 100% Petite Sirah
Kale Wines Sonoma County Rosé: 85% Whole Cluster Pressed Grenache, 15% Saignée of Syrah
Quady North Rose Applegate (OR) Rosé: 80 % Counoise, 20% Syrah
Sierra Vista 2014 Rosé of Grenache
Tercero Wines 2014 Rosé of Mourvedre

{ANSWERS: 1B, 2C, 3H, 4A, 5E, 6G, 7F, 8I, 9D}

Stay tuned for next post on findings from the second seminar on the age worthiness of American Rhone wines.

Giddy Yap with the Rhone Rangers

Spring brings one of the most anticipated events of the year to wine lovers when the Rhône Rangers ride into town March 22 and 23 for the 16th annual Celebration of American Rhônes in Fort Mason, San Francisco. The Rhône Rangers are winemakers dedicated to producing bottles from the 22 grape varieties made famous in the Rhône Valley in France. The event celebrates the full array of wines from Syrah, Viognier, Mourvèdre, Grenache and Roussanne as well as lesser-know grapes like Cinsault, Counoise, Picpoul and the wily Carignan.

READ MORE HERE...

Photos courtesy of The Rhone Rangers

Flock It To Me: Tasting Two Shepherds New Releases

My first stop prior to the official start of #WBC12 in Portland was to taste the new line up from Two Shepherds by William Allen. I sat down with William along with Chris Kern of @ForgottenGrapes  to sample the new releases. Here are verbatim, my live, unedited comments and extensive wine notes:

2011 Grenache Blanc –100% Grenache Blanc
“Mmmm. It’s so flocking good.” This wine put Mr. Allen on the map of the United States of Whatever.

2011 Viognier –100% Viognier
 “Oh Man! That’s nice!”  Straight up, fresh and forward--opening into a full-on Yum O'rama.

2011 Pastoral Blanc blend– 45% Roussanne, 25% Marsanne, 20% Viognier, 15% Grenache Blanc
I tell you, if Charlie Mason had access to this wine he never would have gone on a rampage. This is a wine that can soothe the savage beast. X marks the spot for balance and elegance.

Barrel Sample– 100% Grenache
To paraphrase Vincent Vega--“Godamn that’s a pretty fucking good barrel sample. I don’t know if it’s worth $5 dollars, but its pretty fucking good.”

2010 GSM --
Blastoff! Um yeah… take your protein pills and put your helmet on for this one. Ground control to Major Tom, er make that William, you’ve really made the grade here. Unfortunately the top-secret nature of this wine may have died along with Neil Armstrong that weekend. Well okay, here is the secret- 50% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 25% Mourvèdre • From two Vineyards: Saralee’s Vineyard, Russian River Valley. Mouvedre, Livermore.

2010 Syrah|Mourvedre--50% Syrah, 50% Mourvèdre
An 8.0 on the Richter scale of Grapeness--grab the mane on this little pony and hold or you might get bucked off from the powerful flavor.

You can find full notes and details on all the wines from Two Shepherds here.
http://twoshepherdsvineyards.com

In the meantime--Keep your dial tuned here for a flurry of new posts coming in, including all the wild wine action from #WBC12 and a full report on the Wonders of Carlton, Oregon! You don’t want to miss that. Also coming up--a peek into the deep heart of Texas wine at Messina-Hof winery.

What's Your Rhône Name?

Like the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano or the annual mating of the wildebeests in Africa, certain events indicate a particular time of year. In the wine world, especially in the Rhône world, it’s a sure sign that Spring is near when you hear the thundering herd of Rhône Rangers ride into town for the Annual Rhône Rangers event held at Fort Mason in San Francisco.

The 15th Annual Rhône Rangers will be held March 24-25, 2012. I went to the event last year and can tell you first hand it’s something you don’t want to miss. The wines are fantastic and the winemakers are real mavericks. Rhône’s and the people who make Rhône wines tend to follow the beat of a slightly different drummer. My kind of peeps!

Three seminars and a winemaker dinner will be held on Saturday and The Grand Tasting on Sunday. This year one of the seminars involves bacon! And the Grand tasting will have over 500 wines! I know you want to go to that—and you could for free— This is what you have to do:

Tell me what your Rhône Name is. Don’t know what it is? Here’s how to find out-- It's kind of like that game where you invent your porn star name, um, I mean stage name, by combining the name of a childhood pet and the name of the street you lived on as a kid. So for example my stage name would be Fluffy Lakeview.

But to find your Rhône Name do the following:
(Name of Favorite Childhood Pet)  + (Favorite Rhône Variety) = Rhône Name

So for example my Rhône Name could be-- Fluffy Viognier or Jake Carignane

And here are the never before revealed Rhône Ranger Names for the winemakers who will be pouring Grenache Blanc, Picpoul Blanc, Carignane, Cinsault, Counoise and Mondeuse Noir in the Rare Wines seminar Saturday, March 24, 2012.

Tablas Creek – 2010 Picpoul Blanc – Jason Haas  (Binky Picpoul)
Two Shepherds – 2010 Grenache Blanc – William Allen  (Flash Grenache)
Holly’s Hill – 2010 Counoise – Josh Bendick  (Spanky Counoise)
Lagier Meredith – 2009 Mondeuse Noire – Carole Meredith  (Muffin Mondeuse Noire)
Ridge – 2009 Carignane – David Gates   (Astro Carignane)
Clos Saron – 2010 Cinsault — Gideon Beinstock  (Buster Cinsault)

So what’s your Rhône Name?

Leave it in the comments section below and then tweet your Rhone name to me at @marcygordon and @RhoneRangers and tag it with #RRSF. You could win a pair of tickets to the Grand Tasting in San Francisco on March 25th. Enter Now! Contest closes March 7th.

Here is a list of Rhône grapes to get you started.

Details and ticket information available here:

Website: http://www.rhonerangers.org/
Ticket sales: http://rhonerangers2012.eventbrite.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RhoneRangers
Twitter: @RhoneRangers Hashtag #RRSF

There’s a Name for My Condition: Rhone Ranger

I love Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah, Carignane and Viognier. I like saying the word Viognier almost as much as drinking the wine itself. I get weak in the knees when I see the menu for Girl and the Fig, and sometimes I just stare at the offerings on my Girl & the Fig iPhone app when I can’t sleep at night. I’m a wine club member of Quivira and Bonny Doon and I’m on the Shane Wines allotment list. For years I thought I was alone with this Rhone obsession.

But now I find out there is a name for my condition-- it's called a Rhone Ranger and there is an organization by the same name. The Rhone Rangers are dedicated to the promotion, education, and general sharing of the love about American Rhone varietal wines. Kind of like a support group for hopeless Rhonemantics like me.

And through their support, I'm giving away two tickets to the next Rhone Ranger event! Read on Kemosabe.

Rhone Ranger members include Wineries, Growers, Retailer Restaurant, & Distributor Associates, and “Sidekicks” a membership level for consumers.

The Rhone Rangers sponsor tasting events and seminars through out the year. The 14th Annual Grand tasting is happening March 26-27 at Fort Mason Festival Pavilion in San Francisco. The grand tasting features over 500 wines from more than 100 Rhone Rangers wineries, and includes gourmet food samples of cheese, bread, olive oil, charcuterie, fruits and chocolates. Plus there will be three educational seminars and a winemakers tasting dinner catered by none other than Girl and the Fig!

Educational Seminars:

#1 - GREEN RANGERS: SUSTAINABLE, ORGANIC AND BIODYNAMIC AMERICAN RHONES

#2 - MOURVEDRE ON THE MOVE.

#3 - WILD WINES AND THE STORIES OF HOW THEY CAME TO BE.

For more detailed information on all the events and to purchase tickets click here.

But wait, you can win two tickets to the Grand Tasting right now, right here!

Just tell me what Rhone variety you like to pronounce and why? For Example: I like to say Viognier because it sounds like some kind of sexy lingerie. And I feel rather posh when I say it. But what about you? Do you like the sound of Counoise because it sounds like something Jed Clampet went hunting for? Or maybe you have a penchant for saying Grenache? Tell me.

If you are new to Rhone’s, here’s a quick list and pronunciation guide to help:

Red Varietals:

SYRAH (Sur-RAH)

PETITE SIRAH (Puh-TEAT Sur-RAH)

GRENACHE (Gruh-NOSH)

CARIGNANE (Care-een-YAHN)

MOURVÈDRE (More-VEHD-ruh)

CINSAUT (San-soh)

COUNOISE (COON-wahz)

White Varietals:

VIOGNIER (VEE-ohn-yay)

ROUSSANNE (ROO-sahn)

GRENACHE BLANC (Gruh-NOSH Blonk)

MARSANNE (MAR-sahn)

PICPOUL BLANC ((PEEK-pool Blonk)

Post your answer in the comments below and a random drawing will determine the winner of two tickets ($90 value) to the Grand tasting in San Francisco on March 26-27, 2011. Enter Now! Contest closes March 11th.

P.S. You can follow the Rhone Rangers on twitter @RhoneRangers and tweets from the event at #RRSF