The Other White Wines -- From the Rhone

The Rhone region of southern France is home to many grape varieties with Syrah, Grenache, and  Viognier the best known on this side of the pond. Several of the Rhone whites have found a home in California.

Best known Rhone grapes

Roussanne is suseptible to rot
photo from a vineyard in west Texas!

Whites:

• Grenache Blanc (greh nah·sh blah·nk)
• Marsanne (mar sahn)
• Roussanne (roo sahn)
• Viognier (vee on yay)

Reds:

• Carignan (care ig nahn) sometimes spelled Carignane in the U.S.
• Grenache (greh nah·sh) or might be called Grenache Noir to distinguish it from Grenache Blanc.
• Mourvedre (more ved druh)
• Syrah (sear rah)
• GSM is a popular term used for traditional Rhone-type blends done in California. GSM meaning Grenache - Syrah - Mourvedre.

My pronounciations are Californian, not French.

A short history of Rhones in California

Immigrants planted some Rhone grapes in California in the late 1800s. They were mostly Grenache and Carignan for blending. With the start of the premium wine movement in the 1970s the likes of McDowell Winery, Joeseph Phelps, and a few others were making Syrah.

A French Rhone wine family and an American who sold French wines partnered to create Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles in 1989. Their intent was to bring Rhone to the U.S. Tablas Creek really put Rhone wines on the map for Americans.

The rest of the 20th century saw wineries struggling to gain acceptance of their Rhone-style wines. This including being a little too optimistic and over-planting Syrah.

White Rhone grapes in California

Viognier is the most popular with 2,600 acres planted in the state. Compared to Chardonnay at 92,000 and Sauvignon Blanc at 16,000 that's not much.

Marsanne, Roussanne, along with Viognier make up a traditional Rhone white blend. You can often find Viognier as a single varietal wine and occasionally Marsanne or Roussanne.

Viognier is quite floral. California Viognier flavors can be lighter fruits such as tangerine, apricot, and mango to heavier, sweeter flavors like honeysuckle, ripe melon, and peach. It can be buttery, oily, creamy, or steely. For me, some seem too oily. It's a lower acid grape, so if you're someone bothered by the high acidy of Sauvignon Blanc you might tolerate Vigonier just fine.

A blend of several white Rhones

Marsanne descriptors are rich, pear, lemon, honey, and nutty.

Roussanne has honey and apricot flavors and can be floral.

When you put these three together in a blend done by the right winemaker you can get a very nice wine with the best characteristics of each coming through.

Grenache Blanc has been gaining a bit of popularity over the past decade. You can get flavors of ripe fruit like peaches and apricots, green fruit like apples and pears. There's often a spicy note slightly sweet like nutmeg or green like dill.

Growing regions for Rhone grapes 

Paso Robles has a lot of Rhone grape planting, thanks to the pioneering of Tablas Creek. Farther south near Santa Barbara there are Rhone grapes. In northern California the Sierra Foothills county of El Dorado is specializing in Rhones.

Sonoma wineries for white Rhone-style wines

There's plenty of red Rhones, especially Syrah in the county. It's a little harder to find the whites though there are a few places making Viognier. In Dry Creek Valley, Quiriva currently shows a Viognier-Roussanne blend available; Frick is known for Rhones, but currently only shows reds available. The tiny Two Shepards Winery just outside the town of Windsor specializes in Rhones, red and white. Jeff Cohn in Healdsburg is all about Rhones -- and a few Zinfandels. There are several others in the county that produce a Rhone white or two.

 

Learn more from the Rhone Rangers, the Rhone white grapes