Home for Rhone
The Dutcher Crossing Winery logo is reflected in a glass of petite syrah. The Dry Creek Valley winery produces a petite syrah and a syrah as its Rhone-style varietals. The winery's tasting room is perfect for winter guests, with a cozy fireplace and another fireplace on the patio.
Photos by JOHN BURGESS / The Press DemocratPublished: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 4:20 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 7:44 a.m.
The easy generalization says it's perfection that pinot noir makers are seeking and prestige is the goal of cabernet sauvignon makers.
Facts
A RIDE DOWN THE RHONE
The Rhone Valley's classic grapes
RED:
Carignane -- Used in moderation, carignane adds a useful flavor dimension as well as color and tannin to blends.
Cinsault -- A high-yielding, early-ripening, hot-weather red grape, generally used in blends. Cinsault tends to be low in tannin and is often added to add a spicy component.
Counois -- Deep purple-red, rich spicy character, with flavors of anise, strawberries and blueberries, its moderate alcohol and tannins make it a good complement for syrah, balancing that grape's characteristic intense spice, strong tannins and high alcohol.
Grenache -- Early-budding and late-ripening, Grenache has a tendency toward high sugar and alcohol levels if not planted in the right areas or cropped back.
Mourvedre -- Produces sturdy wines with good acid and some astringency, and can develop enticing blackberry aromas and flavors - meaty, intense wines that age well.
Syrah -- Typically an easy grape to work with - healthy, early-ripening, resistant to mildew and rot, suitable for winemaking in a variety of styles. At its best, syrah can slug it out with high-end cabernet and pinot noir. This is accomplished when the vines are not allowed to over-bear.
Petite Sirah (Durif) -- A cross between syrah and peloursin, developed in France in 1880 by Dr. Francois Durif. The grape produces a wine dark in color (blue-red hues) with great extraction and big tannins.
Other lesser-known red Rhone grapes include muscardin, picpoul noir, terret noir and vaccarese.
WHITE:
Grenache Blanc -- Like its red variant, drought-resistant, vigorous, and easy to graft. Its high-sugar, high-acid, straw-colored bunches produce wines that high in alcohol, with green apple flavors and aromas. Its crispness and long finish make it a tremendous blending component.
Marsanne -- A sturdy, hardy grape that produces a full-bodied wine with the heft of a good chardonnay. Its relatively simple fruity flavors make it a natural candidate for a blending base, though interesting varietal marsanne can also be produced.
Roussanne -- Name comes from its russet-colored skin. The grapes are somewhat prone to rot, but high in acidity and in aromatic qualities. The same qualities that make roussanne a racy, lively wine also give it the potential to age -- setting it apart from the other Rhone whites.
Ugni Blanc -- Better known by its Italian name of Trebbiano. In Cognac, where it comprises almost 95 percent of all vines planted and forms the base for brandy, it is also known as St. Emilion. It is relatively low in alcohol but high in acidity, and, when not overproduced, makes wines with delicate fruit and floral aromas.
Viognier -- In the vineyard, yields and acid levels tend to be low, and susceptibility to disease and rot high. In the winery, it is temperamental. But once in the bottle or the glass, a well-made viognier comes with a deep, yellow color and an exquisite, exotic bouquet - apricots, pears, tropical fruits.
Lesser known white Rhone grapes include bourboulenc, clairette blanc, muscat blanc à petits grains, picardin and picpoul/piquepoul blanc.
-- ADAPTED AND CONDENSED FROM THE RHONE RANGERS WEB SITE, WWW.RHONERANGERS.COM
So if you're looking for something edgier, an outlier in the winemaking world, find the wines of the Rhone and follow the trail of someone making cinsault or roussanne, even syrah.
When it comes to the wines made from grapes grown in France's Rhone Valley -- syrah, viognier, grenache and others -- it takes a vintner with an artist's soul to get it right. These less predictable grapes are by nature more varied and yield styles of wine more open to interpretation. But their smoky richness is welcome on a winter's night.
Here are the ABC's of Rhone-style producers worth seeking out on both sides of the Mayacmas Mountains.
Anaba
Anaba is a new label inspired by the renowned white wines of France's Rhone Valley. In its first vintage, 2007, it has released a white rhone blend called Coriol that's 69 percent viognier, 15 percent roussanne, 10 percent marsanne and 6 percent grenache blanc. The vineyards involved are McWilliams, Landa and Kelly Glenn, all in Sonoma Valley. Landa is the main source for the floral-noted viognier; the other vineyards provide the rest.
The result is a rich, bright wine with notes of peach, citrus and white pepper. Anaba's other wine is a 2007 Viognier Landa Vineyard, a full-bodied viognier with a rich texture and tropical fruit and citrus notes. A tasting room is currently being built at the intersection of highways 121 and 116, set to open in early April. Until then, taste by appointment at the winery.
21692 Eighth St. East, Suite 200, Sonoma. 996-4188, ext. 103, www.anabawines.com.
Cline Cellars
Big Cline Cellars is worth noting for the small amount of ancient vines mourvedre it makes (it also makes an old vines carignane), a rarity it sources from land long owned in Oakley, a part of Contra Costa County. The blocks Cline farms for this mourvedre produce super-concentrated dark, dusty grapes, at some two to three tons per acre per year. With deep plum and marked chocolate characteristics, it's a memorable experience for only $18, a chance to taste something truly unique.
Open daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 24737 Arnold Drive, Sonoma. 940-4030, www.clinecellars.com.
Copain Wine Cellars
Trained in the Rhone, Copain winemaker/proprietor Wells Guthrie is considered among the finest makers of syrah in the United States. He now hones his skills at his very own winery, where tastings may be made by appointment, a chance to savor Copain's single-vineyard syrahs sourced from Mendocino to Santa Barbara (Eaglepoint, James Berry and Garys' are favorites) and one roussanne (also from James Berry), as well as some of the syrah and viognier wines under Copain's Tous Ensemble label, its new line of appellation wines.
Open by appointment Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 7800 Eastside Road, Healdsburg. 836-8822, www.copainwines.com.
Dutcher Crossing Winery
Picturesque Dutcher Crossing in Dry Creek was recently taken over by Debra Mathy, a Wisconsinite with a lifelong dream of owning a winery. The fireplace-equipped tasting room couldn't be cozier, particularly in winter. There's also an impressive fireplace on the outdoor patio, with its enviable views of surrounding vineyards. Local winemaker Kerry Damskey makes the wines, including a reserve syrah, petite sirah and Taylor Reserve, a cabernet sauvignon-syrah blend. Dutcher has plans to plant significant amounts of grenache in the near future.
Open daily 11 a.m.-5p.m. 8533 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg. 431-2700, www.dutchercrossingwinery.com.
Frick Winery
His winery founded in 1976, Bill Frick is among the few brave souls to grow and vinify the more obscure grapes of the Rhone, most notably cinsault, counoise, grenache and grenache blanc, in addition to viognier and syrah. A lot of the above he blends, but if you've ever wanted to try a varietally correct cinsault (Frick has two of only seven acres planted in all of Sonoma County), a soft, strawberry, mildly fruity wine made from 40-year-old vines, Frick's your guy. His carignane comes from 100-year-old vines in Mendocino.
Open Saturday-Sunday noon-4:30 p.m. 23072 Walling Road, Geyserville. 857-1980, www.frickwinery.com.
Krupp Brothers
Dr. Jan Krupp owns and operates the famous Stagecoach Vineyard, atop the Atlas Peak appellation in southeastern Napa County. Stagecoach is known for supplying some blockbuster cabernet sauvignon grapes, but Krupp and his brother Bart also produce a line of wines under the Krupp Brothers and Black Bart name, including Black Bart's Bride, a proprietary white wine sourced from Stagecoach that in its most recently released vintage, 2006, contained 42 percent marsanne, 38 percent viognier and 20 percent chardonnay. Aged six months in mostly new French Burgundy barrels, the small amount of wine produced (944 cases) is highly sought after for good reason: it's delicious. Black Bart Stagecoach Vineyard Syrah is a powerhouse with a small amount of viognier. The wines can be tasted at the collective tasting room A Dozen Vintners.
Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 3000 St. Helena Hwy., St. Helena. 967-0666, www.kruppbrothersestates.com
Palmeri Wines
Involved in making syrah for some 30 years, local winemaker Kerry Damskey and wife Daisy recently opened the Terroirs Artisan Wines tasting room, a sleek, Myra Hoefer-designed showcase for several of the wines Damskey makes. He likes working with low-yielding mountain fruit to make concentrated wines. His signature is Palmeri, a classic Damskey blend of cabernet sauvignon and syrah sourced from Krupp's volcanic Stagecoach Vineyard. His other Rhone-inspired bottlings include a syrah for Hughes Family Vineyards, an organic grower on relatively cool Sonoma Mountain; and a Bradford Mountain syrah farmed by John Piccetti under the name Pena Ridge.
Open daily 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. 21001 Geyserville Ave., Geyserville. 857-4101, www.terroirsartisanwines.com.
Ramey Wine Cellars
David Ramey's wines are among the most respected in all Sonoma County. He's a masterful artist and technician, considered a groundbreaker from past stints at Chateau Petrus in Bordeaux, and then here in California at Chalk Hill, Matanzas Creek, Dominus and Rudd. His syrahs from the Shanel and Rodgers Creek vineyards within the Sonoma Coast appellation (both southwest-facing off Sonoma Mountain) are the stuff of legend, each co-fermented with a handful of viognier. But Ramey also considers them a study in contrasts, the Shanel richer and fruitier while cooler-site Rodgers is more characteristic of the Northern Rhone, with notes of pepper, smoked meat, grapefruit and green olive.
Open by appointment Monday-Friday. 25 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. 433-0870, www.rameywine.com.
Rocca Family Vineyards
From the heart of Yountville, Mary Rocca and Eric Grigsby grow cabernet sauvignon of course, but also, more unexpectedly, syrah, which previous winemaker Celia Masyczek, and now newly named consultant Paul Colantuoni, coax into smoky cherry and wild plum flavors, touches of dried lavender and nutmeg also in the mix. Colantuoni spent time apprenticing at Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe, one of Chateauneuf-du-Pape's most celebrated names. For Rocca's syrah, he's been equipped with 100 percent estate-grown, 100-percent syrah, aged in small, mostly new French barrels for close to a year and a half. Less than 500 cases are produced.
Open Monday-Saturday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. 1130 Main St., Napa. 257-8467, www.roccawines.com.
Unti Vineyards
A longstanding family-run operation in Dry Creek, Unti Vineyards, run by two generations of the Unti family, has long been inspired by the great wines of the Rhone and, ask just about anyone who loves grenache, the foremost producer of that varietal in the United States.
Their secret may well be the budwood sourced from Tablas Creek and Alban as well as the selection of clones from Chateauneuf-du-Pape (giving the grapes darker color and better structure). Or it could be the traditional saignée method, a process of bleeding off some of the juice in a vat of wine to increase the ratio of skins to juice that remain, to further intensify color and structure.
Whatever it is, it works. Unti syrah is similarly worth a seek, though the heart-stopper of them all is Unti Cuvée Foudre, a proprietary blend of their best grenache (65 percent of the blend in 2005), mourvedre (25 percent) and syrah (10 percent), a juicy, silky, intense explosion of everything right about the Rhone.
Open by appointment. 4202 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg. 433-5590, www.untivineyards.com.
Virginie Boone is a freelance wine writer based in Sonoma County. She can be reached at virginieboone@yahoo.com or visit wineabout. pressdemocrat.com.
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