Rhône winemakers, pictured at Tablas Creek Vineyard, are, from left, Carolyn Orgill of Summerwood Winery, Steve Cass of Cass Winery, Amy Butler of Edward Sellers Vineyards, Jason Haas of Tablas Creek, Jennifer Hoage of Terry Hoage Vineyards and Chris Cameron of Summerwood.
E versince Gary Eberle planted the first syrah grapes in Paso Robles in the mid-1970s, he and Mat Garretson and John Alban have been leading the charge for recognition of Rhône-style wines on the Central Coast.
In the early years, most Americans were only drinking cabernet and chardonnay. That has changed.
Today Rhône wines have the recognition and reputation they’ve had in France for centuries. And nowhere are they growing more rapidly and with more quality than the Paso Robles area.
Reflecting that movement is a new chapter of the Rhône Rangers — a national organization of 200 wineries formed in 1997 to “advance the knowledge of Rhône grapes grown in America and the enjoyment of the wine produced from those grapes.” The organization is not related to the Hospice du Rhône event that holds an annual tasting in Paso Robles every year for Rhônes from around the world, but the two groups are “friendly.”
Jason Haas of Tablas Creek Vineyard founded the local chapter last year after realizing that of the 170 member wineries in the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, more were making Rhône wines than any other varietal. Stacie Jacob, the group’s director, estimates that 60 percent to 70 percent of the area’s wineries are producing Rhônes.
The new Rhône Ranger chapter has 28 members and is hosting its first educational and tasting event Feb. 17 at Robert Hall Winery. The group also is introducing a new brochure that highlights the member wineries, describes the 22 varieties of Rhône grapes, and guides visitors with a new map.
“It’s a chance for all of us to work together and give consumers a unique tasting experience,” says Carolyn Orgill of Summerwood Winery.
Haas has seen dramatic changes recently. “I think one of the things is that you are getting people who are coming to Paso Robles because it’s become known as the center of the Rhône movement in California,” he explains. His father, Robert, partnered with the famed Perrin family of Chateau de Beaucastel to bring premium Rhône vines from France to Paso Robles starting 18 years ago. In fact, in national magazine articles going back to 2000, Paso Robles has been labeled “the new Rhône River” and “ground zero for the California Rhône movement.”
Winemakers are coming to Paso Robles from France and Australia to take part in the excitement. Another Rhône Ranger member, Chris Cameron, recently left Australia to become winemaker for Summerwood Winery, and his enthusiasm is palpable.
“Paso Robles, as I’ve seen it, particularly for syrah, has the ability to create its own personality,” he says. “There’s a level of intensity as the result of the hot days and the cool nights.”
Cameron, along with other members of the group, believes the Rhônes are only going to get better
with time. “A lot of the vineyards are still fairly young,” he explains, “and from what I’ve seen they have a real power to them.” Tablas Creek’s oldest vineyards, Haas acknowledges, are only 14 years old — practically infancy in the wine world.
Along with the maturity of the vines, the group credits the changing tastes of American wine drinkers. “I think the average Rhône wine drinker is a little bit more sophisticated because they started off with cab and chardonnay and then started looking around for something else,” Steve Cass of Cass Winery said. “It was then they found Rhônes.”
At the national Rhône Rangers tasting event in San Francisco, Haas notes, “They have the most educated wine consumer of any event we do all year.”
What’s remarkable about the members of the Paso Robles Rhône Rangers is their passion for the wines and their total support for each other. “That’s what’s part of the fun of having this chapter together.” Orgill says. “We are all collaborative, we’re all excited about what we’re doing collectively, and we’re excited to share that and educate people who have an interest in wine.” It’s common for one winery to send visitors to others with the same wines, even though they are essentially competing for the same business.
“We all work together, we all know what everybody’s doing, so we hope to all help each other out,” Jennifer Hoage of Terry Hoage Vineyards says.
While the national organization has its tasting event every March (often coinciding with the Paso Robles Zinfandel Festival), the upcoming Paso Robles Rhône Rangers Experience will be the first time the new chapter will be together to offer a purely Rhône tasting experience.
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