California wine makers at home with Rhone grapes

In the 1950s, California winemakers decided to label wines after grapes.

When it came to wine names, Europe had already grabbed the good ones -- Champagne, Chablis, Chianti -- each designating regions in which the grapes were grown. So while American jug wine producers were delighted with the consumer franchise in famous place-names, also-ran labels like California Chianti or Mendocino Mosel made fine wine producers bristle.

The government, too, had to have its say. State and federal agencies designated that a wine could have a "varietal" name if it contained at least 51 percent of that grape variety (raised, in 1973, to 75 percent).

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Trouble is, most of the world's wines are blends, sometimes of two, sometimes of 20 grapes. Blending is insurance.

In Bordeaux, France, for instance, if early frost wipes out early-budding Merlot, late-budding Cabernet may be spared to fill bottles and pay the mortgage.

In addition, blending grapes is like making soup with an array of ingredients instead of just chicken; the blend increases complexity and nuance.

Governments, however, aren't good at nuance. In the 1970s, when Joseph Phelps labeled his Cabernet - a Bordeaux-style blend not meeting the 75 percent minimum - the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ruled it a simple table wine, not a Cabernet.

So Phelps labeled it 'table wine' adding his own trademark, Insignia. Insignia, now one of the world's most highly acclaimed wines, sparked the Meritage (rhyming with "heritage") movement - American wines patterned after the Bordeaux blend.

Cabernet and its blend dominated American red wine sales until the 1980s, when a new posse road into town.

In 1987, Robert Parker - attorney turned wine critic - revealed the wine world's best-kept secret: the consistent quality and value of the wines of France's Rhone Valley and Provence. With little nod to Cabernet, the tome described wines of stature, power and finesse, made from Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Carignan, Cinsault, Counoise - a whopping 22 white and red grapes in all, almost always blended.

When the price of Rhone wine skyrocketed, American growers looked to their vineyards, finding their terroir wasn't that similar to Bordeaux after all.

Seaside Bordeaux is often damp; the Rhone, California and Washington are primarily dry. Bordeaux vineyards are flat; Rhone, California and Washington vineyards often cling to rocky hills. In Bordeaux, the climate is moderated by the sea and massive rivers. The landlocked Rhone and internal regions of California and Washington are pummeled by temperatures from killing frost to sweltering heat.

Some winegrowers, like Zaca Mesa's Brook Williams, adapted. In 1973, he planted Syrah along with Bordeaux varieties, owning the only Syrah vineyards in Santa Barbara County until 1985. Throughout 35 years of farming, he recognized, "Our soil, which is a combination of sandy loam with plenty of rocks, simply did not embrace other grapes." In 2001, he began a painstaking replanting of 244 acres to Rhone varieties, to bottle varietals like Rousanne, as well as blends, such as "Z Cuvee" inspired by the Rhone's Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Others, like Fred Cline, just bottled what already grew out his back door. His family-owned Oakley vineyards were at the heart of a booming farm community in the late 1880s, when tough-skinned grapes like Mourvedre were prized for their tenacity in heat. Today Cline "Ancient Vines" wines are prized for concentration and balance.

California now boasts 20,000 acres of Syrah, the Rhone's noblest grape. In 1988, however, Syrah accounted for 139 acres, much less than other Rhone varieties. Growers like Williams, Cline and Phelps (who bottled Rhone-styled "Le Mistral") were looked upon like solitary cowboys on the open range, Rhone Rangers, you might say.

The movement grew, the moniker stuck and the Rhone Rangers aren't alone anymore, boasting a professional organization that bands 200 producers together with trade and consumers.

To learn more, visit rhonerangers.org and stay tuned for my next column that will take a closer look at a few of the Rhone's grapes and the all-American wines they create.

• Advanced sommelier and certified wine educator Mary Ross writes Good Wine twice a month. Write her at food@dailyherald.com.

Ross' choice

• Estate Grown Riesling, 2007, Ventana Vineyards

• Arroyo Seco, Monterey, Calif.

• Suugested retail and availability: $15.99 at wine shops (distributed by Litusco Inc., Bensenville)

A search for "Ventana" results in a long list of award-winning producers who have gained fame for crafting luscious wines from grapes purchased from Ventana Vineyards. This Riesling is Ventana's own, awakening the nose to stone fruit and floral complexity, exciting the palate with plush flavors balanced by brilliant acidity, and generally enlivening the soul. Serve this not-too-dry, not-too-sweet style with autumn's sugar-and-spice cuisine, such as baked squash, smoked meats, fish or poultry and turkey dinner with all the trimmings.