Rhone Ranger

The Rhone Rangers are a group of American winemakers who promote the use of grape varieties from the Rhône Valley in the south of France. They are mostly based on the West Coast, particularly California, and are now organized into a not-for-profit organization for the promotion of wines containing at least 75% of the 22 Rhône grape varieties. Their name is a pun on The Lone Ranger. Originally formed in the 1980s, with no formal structure or organization, the group disbanded in the early 1990s. It was revived again in the late 1990s and is considered a catalyst in making Syrah more prevalent on the Californian wine landscape. The structure is loosely based on that of the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers or ZAP which has been successful in promoting Zinfandel in the industry. Today its membership also includes wineries from Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, Michigan and Virginia.

In the 1980s, Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard, Joseph Phelps of Joseph Phelps Winery, John MacCready of Sierra Vista Winery, Bill Crawford of McDowell Valley Vineyards, Fred Cline of Cline Cellars Winery, Steve Edmunds of Edmunds St. John and Bob Lindquist of Qupé Wine Cellars, among others, began popularizing the marketing of the Rhône varietals. Their success helped to revive plantings of many traditional Rhône grapes that were dying out in California like Grenache, Mourvedre and Viognier. Syrah also saw a dramatic increase in plantings. after Gary Eberle, then with Estrella River Winery (now Meridian Vineyards) planted it in Paso Robles and made available the clone he used to other interested growers. Beginning around 1990, a second wave of innovation in the Rhone Rangers movement began, which included investment and grapevine cuttings from the Rhone itself, as Château de Beaucastel entered into a partnership with American wine importer Robert Haas to found Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles. Tablas Creek imported new clones of many of the 13 varieties allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, including Grenache blanc, Counoise, and Picpoul blanc that had never before been used in California and made the clones available to other vineyards. Other key innovators in this newer phase of development included Alban Vineyards, Domaine de la Terre Rouge, Unti Vineyards and Zaca Mesa Winery, many of whom also imported their own clones. RHONE RANGERS ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY By the late ‘90s there were enough California wineries that wanted a more formal organization to expand the influence of Rhone style wines in the US. So during the fall of 1997 John MacCready of Sierra Vista Vineyards and Winery and Barry Bergman of RH Philips Winery called several other wineries that we thought might be interested also. At a meeting of the interested wineries in Sacramento which included Barry Bergman of R.H. Phillips, John MacCready of Sierra Vista Vineyards and Winery, Bill Crawford of, McDowell Valley Vineyards, Don McGrath of Villa Helena, Phillip Staley and JT Thomas of Staley Winery, Dick Bush of Madrona Vineyards, Mike Chazan of Perry Creek Vineyards, Leon Sobon of Shenandoah Winery, and John Thomas of Staley Vineyards and Winery. There may have been several others. If so please let us know.

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