Participating Wineries include Bonny Doon Vineyard, Cline Cellars, Clos Saron, D.H. Gustafson Family Vineyards, Fess Parker Winery & Vineyards, Folin Cellars, Guy Riedel Wines, Katin, Rocca Family Vineyards, Sawtooth Winery, Stage Left Cellars, Stark Wine, Tablas Creek Vineyard, Tarara Winery, Tercero Wines, Terry Hoage Vineyards, and Vina Robles.

Winemaker Rob Folin

The Rhone Rangers held a press tasting at Zola Kitchen yesterday featuring outstanding white wines made from Viognier, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc, and reds made from Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre.  My favorites were:  Folin Cellars 2008 “Misceo” red blend from Oregon, which was lush and velvety with layers of dark berry and a hint of cocoa; Tablas Creek 2008 “Cotes de Tablas Blanc”, which offered hints of tropical fruit, melon and citrus with great acidity; and Terry Hoage’s (the Redskins Superbowl Champ) “Skins” Grenache which was peppery with plums and very refined.

If you can’t catch them while they are in town tonight at the Smithsonian, their wines are definitely worth seeking out.

Cline Cellars was founded by Fred Cline, grandson of Valeriano Jacuzzi, inventor of the Jacuzzi tub (Cline also owns Jacuzzi Vineyards).  However, the Jacuzzi family also grew vines on a farm in Oakley–located in Costra County, California–where Fred Cline spent his summers learning about farming. Planted as far back as the 1800s, these vines include two Rhone grapes: Mourvèdre and Carignane as well as Zinfandel. After inheriting these ancient vineyards, Fred Cline launched Cline Cellars, which now makes wines from the vines at the Oakley vineyard, some of which are more than 100 years old.  Low yielding, these plants produce rich and intensely flavored wines.

In the early 1990s, Cline eventually moved with is wife Nancy to the Carneros region of Sonoma County where they planted more Rhone varietals—Syrah, Mourvèdre, Roussanne—which were not commonly planted in that relatively cooler region. But Cline Cellars has produced some amazingly good results, proving that the area was good for a wider range of varietals than Pinot Noir and other cool climate grapes common in Carneros.  Cline also owns vineyard land in nearby Petaluma.

Cline Cellars is now counted among a host of wineries that make Rhone-styled wines in America that are collectively called “The Rhone Rangers.” Several Rhone Rangers are coming to D.C. for an event on June 10 for wine trade and  press.  However, they are offering  a select-number of tickets for the public; book your space ASAP before they run out!. See the Weekly Wine Pick Event Calendar for more information.

You don’t have to attend this event to find great Cline wines. I enjoy the full spectrum of their portfolio and would recommend any of them.  However, below I list a few favorites.

Big Break Zinfandel.  Aged 11 months in French oak, this is an incredibly rich and well-balanced Zinfandel from very old vines grown in the Big Break vineyard of Oakley.  The land is also near a Eucalyptus grove, which somehow imparts Eucalyptus mint flavors into the wine.  Although a very big wine with intense flavor, it is still soft and approachable; and it can last up to 7 years in the cellar.  The Wine Spectator gives it 89 points, but I think it should be at least a 90!  This wine is so good that it’s worth paying the shipping if you can’t find it locally.  I recently discovered it on Wine.com for about $27 per bottle.  Wine.com is a good mail order business if you like to shop regularly online because you can pay an annual shipping rate of $49 to cover all shipping costs for an entire year.

Cline Cashmere.  I recently discovered this one at Whole Foods for about $16 a bottle.  The name for this Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah blend is on the mark as its most immediately notable quality is an unusually silky and soft texture on the palate.  That is followed by delicate fruit flavors.  The winemaker notes describe it very well:  “Cashmere is a very flavorful smooth wine offering big cherry, raspberry and chocolate notes with hints of cracked black pepper and plum.”

Cline Cellars Zinfandel.  Cline’s value priced Zinfandel deserves much praise because it delivers big at a value price of about $10 a bottle.  Look for the 2008 vintage in particular, which is probably on the shelves now.  This wine is a blend of grapes from Cline’s Oakley vineyard as well as grapes from Sonoma and other parts of California including Lodi (69 percent of the 2008 blend).  Winemaker notes explain that it “showcases a wide array of dark berry fruit including black cherry and raspberry … spice notes and a lasting finish of Vanilla from oak aging and firm, supple tannins add complexity to the wine.”

Cline Late Harvest Mourvèdre, 2006.  This was highlighted in a post last week here on the Weekly Wine Pick, but it is worth noting again.  This is a very unique wine—a sweet red–which frankly surprised me with its rich smooth complex flavors.

Their many other wines also deserve praise. Check out their website to see the full list and keep an eye out when you shop.

Located in Australia’s Barossa Valley, the Colonial Estates winery is owned by British winemaker Jonathan Malthus, who established himself at his winery in Bordeaux in the 1990s. At that time, Maltus was dubbed a member of the “garage movement”—one of a number of winemakers in Saint Emillion making smaller-scale, modern style wines on relatively modest budgets compared to those of the Cru Classé estates in the area. At that time, he purchased then-run-down Saint Emillion’s Château Teyssier, which is modernized and restored, making great wines that embody both old and new world style. He has taken this success to the Colonial Estate vineyard in Australia as well as to his Napa Valley vineyard called World’s End.

Émigré prices range from $50 to more than $80 a bottle (the 2005 starts at $65 a bottle and other vintages at $49.00) on Winesearcher. If you are lucky enough to live near a Total Wine, you can pick one up for $50, which is a very good deal for this wine.

Tablas Creek winery is a partnership between the owners–Pierre and Jacques Perrin–of the France’s Rhone Valley-based Château de Beaucastel–and U.S. wine importer and founder of Vineyard Brands, Robert Haas.

Many great wines made in new-world regions are the products of similar partnerships between renowned winemakers from the old world and new. The result is many fine, new world wines that have the advantage of tradition, history, and knowledge of some of the world’s greatest wine houses.

Among the most famous of these in the U.S. is Opus One, which is a partnership between California’s Robert Mondavi and Baroness Philippine de Rothschild from Bordeaux, France. The Examiner also reviewed wines from Artesa Winery, which is a division of Codorníu, another old-world wine company. Located in Spain, Codorníu is responsible for coining the name of “cava,” which refers to Spanish sparking wine made using “méthode Champenoise.”

Image complements of Tablas Creek

Their signature white wine blend is the Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc, a white wine made with Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, and Picpoul Blanc grapes. It has earned high ratings from wine experts–Robert Parker (91 points) and Stephen Tanzer (92-94). It is also recommended by Charlie Palmer Steakhouse’s Sommelier Nadine Brown, who is featured in the July issue of the Sommelier Journal. You can enjoy a bottle of this wine for $51 here in DC with your meal at Charlie Palmer’s.

Tablas’s signature red wine is the Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Beaucastel. The 2006 vintage is made with 45 percent Mourvedre; 28 percent Grenache; 22 percent Syrah; 5 percent Counoise. It rates 93 points by the Wine Spectator, 91-93 points by Robert Parker, and 93 points by Stephen Tanzer.  The 2006 Tablas Creek Vineyard Mourvedre is made with 90 percent Mourvedre and 10 percent Syrah, it rates 90 with the Wine Spectator. Also, keep your eye out for the 2007, which Tablas Creek owners say it the best vintage for this wine yet. Also delicious is Tablas Creek Vineyard Syrah, made with 90 percent Syrah and ten percent Grenache. It retails there for $35-$40.

Kristina has worked at some of California’s most exclusive dining destinations.  She takes pride in offering the Post Hotel’s guests access to classic wines that are ready to drink without having to break the bank.  Her cellar includes lots of older Burgundies and Bordeaux, and outstanding wines from Canada that are good representations of their varietals.

Find this Domaine La Barroche at a retailer near you using Wine-Searcher.

Monastrell is known elsewhere as Mourvedre, and key varietal in the wines of the France’s southern Rhone and Bandol regions, and common in Australia’s Grenache-Shiraz blends. The Juan Gil Monastrell has smoky aromas, and strikes the right balance of fruit and oak in the mouth. This wine is widely available for about $17 per bottle. For food pairing ideas, the notes from Laïola chef Mark Denham are definitely worth a few minutes of your time.