We’ve all heard of The Lone Ranger but have you heard of the Rhone Rangers?
In the world of California wine, the Rhone Rangers, fearlessly led by the likes of wine savant, Randall Grahm, founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard, are legendary. In the 1980s, the Rhone Rangers endeavored to produce the famous wines of France’s hallowed Rhone Valley on California soil, in regions such as Santa Cruz and the Central Coast. Before the advent of the Rhone Rangers, California was mostly planted with the hugely popular chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon grapes.
The Rhone Rangers were upstarts. They went against the flow. Most wine producers at the time clung to the most popular grapes, even if the climates and soils of their production areas were not suitable to the grapes’ best growth. Producers were only able to create mediocre wines, in spite of their efforts.
The Rhone Rangers took the bull by the horns, threw convention to the wind, and planted some of the most magnificent grapes of the Rhone Valley. The grapes included (among others) syrah, grenache, mourvedre (also known as mataro), and cinsault, as well as viognier, marsanne, rousanne, and grenache blanc. Not a drop of cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay as far as the eye could see.
The rebel winemakers found great success as slowly but surely the American public began to embrace the deliciously different wines coming out of California. “GSM” wines (or grenache-syrah-mourvedre red blend, the foundation of the famed Chateauneuf-du Pape of France’s southern Rhone Valley) became fashionable and established an enthusiastic following.
White wine aficionados, especially those suffering from palate fatigue from far too much oaky, buttery chardonnay, were enamored with the floral yet sophisticated and food-friendly white Rhone Valley blends. Even die-hard chardonnay fans fell in love with the elegant, aromatic, and full-bodied viognier.
Today, winemakers across the state produce fine Rhone Valley style wines. The original Rhone Rangers are still at it, creating perfumed and nuanced wines with their hearts in the Rhone Valley but their roots firmly planted in California. A few of Randall Grahm’s fine wines, including the decadent “Cigare Volant,” have achieved cult status.
Just north of Santa Barbara, winemaker Chris Keller of Emanuel Tres follows in the footsteps of the Rhone Rangers, bucking the trend of local pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon planting and growing what he likes. As he says almost apologetically, “I don’t really like cabernet sauvignon. It’s a fine wine, but not to my taste. I’d take a good syrah over a cab any day.” Keller prefers to focus his winemaking efforts on many of the Rhone Valley varieties as well as several Spanish grapes.
Keller’s wines are carefully crafted wines that speak of the land where the grapes are grown. He calls them “California wines with a European sensibility.” Keller has been making wine for 23 years and has years of experience as a sommelier and wine director. As a result, the wines of Emanuel Tres are specifically created to be paired with food. “It’s all about acid, freshness, and a sense of liveliness,” Keller insists. “They should enhance the flavors of the food.”
It is said that the difference between a meal and a feast is a glass of wine. The wines of Emanuel Tres prove that point.
Emanuel Tres wines can be found across California in fine restaurants and shops. Look for them online at: www.emanueltres.com.
Cheers!
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