Rhone Rangers - March 19, 2005

Alexander Valley Vineyards 2002 Syrah, Wetzel Estate, $20
Stags’ Leap Winery, 2003 Viognier, $25.00
Stags’ Leap Winery, 2002 Syrah, $29.00
Stags’ Leap Winery, Petite Syrah, $35.00
Guenoc Petite Syrah Port, 2000 (price n/a)
Tablas Creek Vineyard, 2004 Rose, $27.00
Tablas Creek Vineyard, 2003 Grenache Blanc, $27.00
Tablas Creek Vineyard, 2003 Picpoul, $27.00

Shane's Notes

Jen and I attended the annual Rhone Rangers tasting in San Francisco at Fort Mason. The Rhone Rangers is a nonprofit organization whose self-described purpose is to advance the public’s knowledge of Rhone varietals. Member wineries’ wines must be at least 75% of one of the recognized Rhone varietals for it to qualify as a Rhone Ranger wine. Unfortunately, their criteria does not include any provisions regarding blending. Some French Rhone wines probably are single varietals but Rhones are predominantly blended. Very few wineries at this event produced blended reds with the classical Rhone varietals (i.e. Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Carignan). Most of the wines at this tasting were 100% Syrah which leads me to believe that most of the Rhone Ranger wineries are more interested in trying to capture a portion of the popular Australian Shiraz market than in trying to produce true Rhone style wines.

However, I put my prejudices aside and gave all the wines a fair tasting. We started with Alexander Valley Vineyards and true to their style, their 2002 Wetzel Estate Syrah is a decent wine for the price. As Jen pointed out, it is not assertive but it is smooth with a nice smoky, vanilla taste. The list price is 20 dollars and it would be a good deal at 15 dollars.
We were anxious to try the Stag’s Leap wines and were disappointed with their first two offerings. Their 2003 Viognier is soft and has some nice floral notes but it is a bit flat and lacking in flavor. A sip of their 2002 Syrah flooded our mouths with harsh tannins. There may have been some flavor underneath the tannins but I never found it. Perhaps this wine will improve with age. When it was time to try the Petite Syrah, I couldn’t resist having a little fun with the Stag’s Leap representative. I asked her if Petite Syrah was truly a Rhone varietal and she good naturedly stuck her fingers in her ears (I will tackle the American style Petite Syrah controversy in a future article). We are glad she finally pulled her fingers out of her ears and poured us some because their Petite Syrah was one of the best wines we tasted. It has rich flavors of plum and dark chocolate coated with smooth pepper. Unlike their Syrah, this wine has firm tannins but they stay in the background and never interefere with the flavors. It’s expensive with a list price of 35 dollars but it is worth the money.

We didn’t have any plans to stop by Guenoc but as we passed their table, I noticed they had a port on display. I immediately walked up to them and seriously/jokingly informed them that port was not a Rhone. The Guenoc representative said their port qualifies as a Rhone because it is made from 100% Petite Syrah. Setting aside the Petite Syrah controversy, I simply said that a wine made from Petite Syrah is not a true port. With good natured exasperation, she simply recommended that I try it. Unfortunately, I did. It was slightly sweet without much flavor. Neither Jen nor I would drink it at any price.

Tablas Creek is one of our favorite wineries (See "The Great White Rhone" and "Another Winner from Tablas Creek" for our reviews on the Rousanne and the Cotes de Tablas Blanc) and we couldn’t wait to sample their offerings. They brought ten wines – five blends and five single varietals. As we were in line to taste our first wine, we noticed a lady from another winery (she wore her name tag) sipping a Tablas Creek. She exclaimed, "Oh my god, this wine is amazing!" We felt that way about all ten wines we tasted. Jen says that the Rose is one of the best she has tasted. It is light, slightly toasty and flinty with a beautiful raspberry underpinning. The tannins are barely noticeable but just enough to provide a backbone. If we used a 100 point rating system, this Rose would receive a 95. Their Grenache Blanc is a subtle wine exhibiting nice flavors of peaches and nectarines. It is very smooth and the finish is extremely long which is one of our favorite attributes in a wine. The Picpoul is an uncommon varietal and their Picpoul is unlike anything we have tasted. It is sweet without being syrupy, and I just enjoyed swirling it in my mouth to let my tastebuds revel in the honey and marmalade flavors. The wine has that typical Tablas creek flinty, toasty finish. Jen thinks it’s most remarkable characteristic is a slight nose and taste of a drier, lighter style of Port.

We sampled all of Tablas Creek’s offerings and tasted a few other wineries’ offerings as well but our tasting notes end here. We always drink the wine so we can analyze the finish (our rationalization), and at a huge tasting event like this one, we eventually reach a point where our tasting notes are specious due to an alcoholic haze. The last hour was a blast but I don’t remember much and yes, we took a taxi home.