Rhone-style wines: Which California vineyards to visit?

] I'll be driving through central and southern California next week and ] I'm wondering which are the best Rhone-style vineyards to visit. Right ] now it looks like Zaca Mesa is the most promising. Any other ] suggestions?

Certainly Tablas Creek in Paso Robles would be considered one of the best.

-E

in article snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com, Steve Timko at snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com wrote on 10/7/04 10:56 AM:

I've had positive experiences with Eberle, Justin, Laetitia, Morgan, Wild Horse and Qupe. But are you familiar with the Rhone Rangers group?? This is an association of wineries that feature Rhone varieties. The California Central Coast region is where you'll find the most wineries near your stated route. California Foothills is mostly farther North than what is usually called 'central CA', but might be a possibility for you as well. Hope the site helps.

I'll second the recommendation on Tablas Creek. Other good choices that are open without appointments (at least on weekends) in the Paso area are Linne Calodo and Garretson. Wild Horse in nearby Templeton has some Rhone varietals along with a wide array of other wines. There's also a new tasting room - Coastal Vintners - right next to Garretson that features several very good small lesser-known wineries including Hug.

In Santa Barbara County, good choices besides Zaca Mesa include Andrew Murray, Jaffurs, Foxen, and Beckmen. I also have very high recommendation for the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium (in Los Olivos of course), where you can taste a variety of wines from small producers, and find some hard-to-find smaller-production wines for sale.

For a trip to the Central Coast of CA, there are a few wineries that I'd not miss. Not all are Rhône varietal producers, but many are.

Paso Robles is just full of tasting rooms, but in the hinterlands, it's a bit more difficult to find them. Los Olivos is a good starting place, and the grocery there has a tasting center for many of the smaller ventures. They'll also point you in the right directions to some of the larger vineyards. Get a GOOD map, as some of the roads seem to swap names at will, and seem to circle back on themselves in a spiral. I believe that all mentioned are open without appointment, but you might want to check, before you head down a dirt road, only to find that they are open only on Sat/Sun.

Enjoy - so many wines... so little time.

Hunt

Try Mosby Winery in Buellton (Santa Barbara County on Santa Rosa Road). Interesting variety of Rhone wines, mostly blends. They had a Teroldego, which you won't find very often. Nice tasting room and nice people.

Marc Gladner

Qupé and Au Bon Climat are indeed well worth tasting, but the winery itself is not open to the public except for occasional open house events. You can taste wines from both wineries at the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium, and I believe at the nearby Los Olivos Tasting Room as well.

I'll agree with most of that, but Bill Mosby is specializing in Italian varietals lately - of which Teroldego is one. IIRC there are only eleven acres of that planted in the entire state.

Tom S

Fifteen years ago or more Bob Lindquist (Qupe) was the only one making Syrah - and his stuff kicked ass! These days it seems that _everyone_ in the Central Coast is making Syrah. Most of them are pretty good, and a few of them are outstanding. One of my latest faves is Kahn, in Los Olivos. The reserve bottling, of course. Tensley is nice too, and there are dozens of others.

A few brave souls are venturing into Mourvedre (Foxen e.g.) and Viognier and Marsanne are the latest white darlings. At this rate, pretty soon I'll be the only one still making Chardonnay. That suits me just fine. :^)

Tom S

Partly on-topic...

After trying a nice GSM at a wedding recently I wondered if anyone had any recommendations for good value wines of that nature. I don't have the bank balance for top Rhone (south or north) so I wondered if any New World alternatives might interest me. I think the one I tasted was Australian. It had a kind of forest floor nature which made me think more of Burgundy than what I associate with Rhone, but then my experience of both is severely limited (Rhone more so).

Ever in your debt, continuing to enjoy this great newsgroup even if I am rarely able to contribute.

Dan

Central Coast ones that spring to mind include Zaca Mesa's "Z Cuvee", Beckmen's "Cuvee Le Bec", Tablas Creek's "Cotes de Tablas" (their "Esprit de Beaucastel" is even better but more expensive), Qupe's "Los Olivos Cuvee", Andrew Murray's "Esperance", and Villa Creek's "Willow Creek". Also highly recommend Core's current "352" blend (very small new winery, may be tough to find). There are a number of more expensive ones, but these should all be mid-$20s or less. There are more, but this should be a good start.

Check out this discussion from the West Coast Wine Network forum from last year as well and you'll find even more choices( and not just from the Central Coast):

There are quite a few GSM blends coming out of Australia. Penfolds makes a very inexpensive GSM (Bin 8 IIRC) that is quite drinkable. Of course, you can also get Cotes du Rhone for relatively little money, and they are also typically GSM blends with some Counoise and Cinsault tossed in for good measure. Perrin Reserve and Coudoulet are readily available, but my favorite CdRs typically come from smaller produers.

Mark Lipton

Be quick as there isn't a ton of it...but look for Pannaroz from Jumilla Spain, Oliveriz I think is the producer... 90 Pt's Parker less than $15. Grenache, Syrah, Monestrall(sp) (Mourvedre)

Don't miss Bonny Doon.