In-Store Tasting 6/24
Taste wine from a Rhone Ranger

Stop by on Thursday, from 4:30pm to 7:00pm, to taste a collection of wines from Zaca Mesa Wines from Santa Ynez Valley. Zaca Mesa has been a Rhone Ranger for decades and we sample some of their finest this Thurday.

=> The viognier is an elegant, floral change of pace. Scents of stone fruit, honeysuckle, and jasmine twirl from the mouth of the glass into the air. The white is layered and layered with luscious fruit flavors, peach, melon, key lime pie, apricot, with just the slightest touch of limestone. Great with food, but a show stopper solo.
=> The chardonnay is a California styled, tropical delight. A melange of papaya, mango, lime, and pineapple marry together on the fore-palate. On the mid-palte the wine turns effortlessly into a creamy, caramel tone. Flavors of anise and lemon linger on the finish.
=> The red blend is a true Rhone Ranger, as it combines grenache, mourvedre, syarh, and cinsault. Bright flavors of red raspberries and sun dried tomatoes are infused with spice, licorice, clove, vanilla, and a touch of rose hips. It shows great acidity with a soft tannic base.
=> Finally, the syrah is smoky and sultry, finding blueberries and bacon on the mid-palate. As the wine is open, it boasts dark chocolate flavors, along with a touch of cinnamon and vanilla.

June 24th, 2010
The "Rhone Rangers"
Zaca Mesa Wines from Santa Ynez Valley
all Estate Grown and Bottled
2008 Viognier $21.99
     91 points Wine & Spirits
2008 Chardonnay $19.99
2006 Z Cuvee $21.99
2006 Syrah $23.99
     93 points Wine Spectator

Stop by on THURSDAY to sample from 4:30pm to 7:00pm. Receive a 15% off discount, for any wine being poured as an in-store sample, during the tasting hours.

Read about the Rhone Rangers of California.

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Rhone Rangers of California's Central Coast

Most Americans know about Bordeaux, Champagne, and Burgundy. We also know the grapes from these regions, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and pinot noir. These grapes have been planted all over the new world growing regions because of their ability to flourish beyond the terroir of France and because of their popularity. France has many other wine regions that grow different grapes varieties than Bordeaux, Champagne, and Burgundy. Most of these grapes do not have the name recognition of cabernet, pinot and their peers, but these other grapes are none the less as tasty. One such lesser known growing region is the Rhone Valley.
      While the region is not as well known by wine drinkers here in the United States, the Rhone Valley of France is massive in size and a behemoth wine producer. The region is long and meandering, with wine appellations hugging the Rhone River from just south of Champagne, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. The approved grapes of the Southern Rhone Valley have been embraced by growers in California. These growers, nicknamed the Rhone Rangers, recognize that the warm, sunny days of California's Central Coast mimic the weather of the Southern Rhone River Valley.
      Syrah, grenache, mourvedre, cinsault, carignan, counoise, muscardin, picpoul noir, vaccarese, clairette noir, and terret noir are the approved red grapes of the Southern Rhone Valley. The approved whites are viognier, marsanne, roussanne, clairette blanc, bouroulenc, ungi blanc, muscat blanc à petits grains, picardin and picpoul. While many of these grapes have been disappearing in France, they have been finding great success being cultivated by the Rhone Rangers of California.
      Of course all of us know the name syrah (or its slang name Shiraz). Some of us know grenache and viognier too. Most of the other grapes are fairly obscure in the U.S. market. The synergy of these grapes when blended together is remarkable. The classic GSM blend, or grenache, syrah, and mourvedre has been embraced heavily by Australian winemakers and has been gaining esteem with domestic winemakers too. Petite sirah has also been added to the list of varieties favored by the Rhone Rangers.
      The Rhone Rangers are passionate about their grapes. Some of the producers have been cultivating these unusual varieties for several decades. With the recent surge in popularity of syrah, many shoppers are considering something outside of the cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir template. The whites from the Southern Rhone have been carving out a niche in our market as well, with the impressive domestic viognier, marsanne, and roussanne offerings. The Rhone Rangers of California have been the champions of these little known grapes. A basic foundation of wine knowledge would not be complete without knowing these grapes, or at least the red and white trilogies, grenache, syrah, and mourvedre and viognier, marsanne, and roussanne.

Case Discounts