The Rhone Rangers are a group of American winemakers who promote the use of

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

varieties from the Rhône Valley. They are mostly based on the West Coast, particularly

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and have created a

not-for-profit organization A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

for the promotion of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

s containing at least 75% of the 22 Rhône grape varieties. The name is a pun on '' The Lone Ranger'', and was coined by '' Wine Spectator'' to describe Randall Grahm for their 1989 April 15 issue, which featured Grahm dressed as the Lone Ranger under the title "The Rhône Ranger" (singular). The name was subsequently used for other winemakers. Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon

In the 1980s, Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard and Bob Lindquist of Qupé Wine Cellars, among others, began popularizing the marketing of the Rhône varieties. Their success helped to revive plantings of many traditional Rhône grapes that were dying out in California like Grenache, Mourvedre and Viognier.

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

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. With no formal structure or organization, the group disbanded in the early 1990s. Beginning around 1998, a second wave of innovation in the Rhone Rangers movement began with John MacReady of Sierra Vista Winery as its executive director. The structure was loosely based on that of the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers, which had been successful in promoting Zinfandel in the industry. MacReady credited the new group's success to its acceptance of the use of Syrah as a blending grape, a controversial view in the eyes of some. 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 Californiahttp://tablascreek.typepad.com/tablas/2011/08/tablas-creek-101-why-and-how-we-use-so-many-grapes.html Tablas Creek Blog and made the clones available to other vineyards.

Notes and references

External links

Official website
{{Wines Wine terminology Wine merchants

See also

Notes and references

External links