American Rhone

Book excerpt: No wine category has seen more dramatic growth in recent years than American Rh™neÐvariety wines. Winemakers are devoting more energy, more acreage, and more bottlings to Rh™ne varieties than ever before. The flagship Rh™ne red, Syrah, is routinely touted as one of CaliforniaÕs most promising varieties, capable of tremendous adaptability as a vine, wonderfully variable in style, and highly expressive of place. There has never been a better time for American Rh™ne wine producers. Ê American Rh™ne is the untold history of the American Rh™ne wine movement. The popularity of these wines has been hard fought; this is a story of fringe players, unknown varieties, and longshot efforts finding their way to the mainstream. ItÕs the story of winemakers gathering sufficient strength in numbers to forge a triumph of the obscure and the brash. But, more than this, it is the story of the maturation of the American palate and a new republic of wine lovers whose restless tastes and curiosity led them to Rh™ne wines just as those wines were reaching a critical mass in the marketplace. Patrick J. ComiskeyÕs history of the American Rh™ne wine movement is both a compelling underdog success story and an essential reference for the wine professional.