Rhone Rangers - History

History

In the 1980s, Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard, Joseph Phelps of Joseph Phelps Winery, John McCready 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.