B
Back in1927, an ItaliangrapegrowernamedDominico
Buchignaniplantedfiveacresof carignanegrapeson
hisD&DRanch inCalifornia’sAlexanderValley, only to
discoveryears later—afterhissonDenoplantedan
additional 18acres— that therewasnomarket for the
obscureFrenchvarietal.So fornearlyfivedecades the
Buchignaniscalled thegrapes“mixedzinfandel”and
sold them tooneofCalifornia’s largestwinemakers,
whopresumablycouldn’t tell thedifference.
Inasimilarcaseofmistaken identity,winemaker
RandallGrahmofCalifornia’sBonnyDoonVineyard
recallsmakingawine in themid-1990scalledLeSo-
phiste thathedescribesas“amazinglygreat forarous-
sanne/marsanneblend.”Theproblemwas the
roussannegrapesGrahmhad included in themixwere
actuallyanothergrapevarietalknownasviognier.
“Thatwineeven impressed the lateGerardJaboulet,
the famedFrenchvintnerofJabouletAine,whowas
completelyknockedout.Hesaid, ‘Wecannotmake
wine like this inFrance,’”offersGrahm,notinghow in
theearlyyearswhenAmericanwinemakerswere just
discovering therelativelyunknowngrapesofFrance’s
southernRhone,manyof theregion’svarietalswereso
misunderstood—anddifficult topronounce— that
even theexpertscouldn’t tell themapart.
Californiawinemakershavemostlybuilt theirrepu-
tationsover thepast100yearsoncabernetsauvignon
andchardonnay,widelyknowngrapes thatcommand
nearlyhalfofalldomesticwinesales (86of the199cas-
esshipped in2010), according to theSanFrancisco-
basedWine Institute.Butover thepast fourdecadesa
groupofmaverickAmericanwinemakershaveslowly
discovered the little-knownvarietals from theRhone
Rivervalley, aregion in thesoutheastcornerofFrance
WINE
FALL 2012
celebratedliving.com
78
AGrapeto
CallourRhone
The Rhone Rangers, a group ofmaverickwinemakers, are recasting classic French
varietals for American palates.
BYWILLIAM KISSEL
COURTESYOF TABLASCREEK VINEYARD
