Californian premium Rhône reds

We asked Decanter’s Rhône expert Matt Walls to blind taste largely Syrah- and Grenache-based Californian wines with some from France hidden in the line-up. Here he reports on his findings and recommends his top 20 Rhône Rangers

- Matt Walls

ACCORDING TO PATRICK J Comiskey’s book American Rhône, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Rhône varietal bottling of the modern era in the US – a Santa Clara Valley Grenache by David Bruce in 1969. In just five decades, Californian wines based on classic Rhône varieties, or ‘Rhône Rangers’ as they’re known, have gone through an evolution that’s as rapid as it is dramatic.

Though they’ve occasionally impressed, I’ve always gravitated back to the Rhône: its wines have a consistency, balance and finesse that Californian Rhône styles have – until recently – often lacked. But a new generation has struck gold. Over the past decade, more and more wines have been emerging that combine drinkability with uniqueness of expression.

I blind tasted 35 Californian Rhône-style reds, with 15 genuine Rhône ringers thrown in, partly to remove any unconscious bias but also to see what it revealed about these two very different regions. I wasn’t simply looking for Rhône lookalikes; first and foremost, I was looking for quality. One thing that the best wines from California had in common is that they couldn’t be mistaken for French.

The tasting showed that Californian interpretations of Rhône reds are more varied than in France, where a rigid appellation system combined with ancient traditions have led to a tighter stylistic bandwidth. This freedom of expression is a huge plus. The Rhône Rangers tended to have more zest, vibrancy and impact. The real Rhônes revealed themselves through natural volume, tannic finesse and an easier sense of balance.