ISO: Affordable California Red Rhone Blends

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series.

Recently we were visiting one of our favorite wine bars (our definition of a good wine bar is one offering a diverse range of interesting wines that aren’t the usual suspects found on the shelves at the local Safeway). We got to talking to the proprietor about California Rhone wines. Readers of this column know that we favor blends of Rhone varietals, the model followed in the southern Rhone Valley, as opposed to the varietal paradigm popular in California (e.g., Syrah instead of a Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre blend). He objected that California producers aren’t offering many red Rhone blends at an affordable price, which he defined as $20 a bottle or less at retail.

It’s true that many of California’s best red Rhone blends don’t come at everyday prices. The outstanding Esprit de Beaucastel (red) from Tablas Creek Vineyard is offered at the retail price of $45 per bottle. Holly’s Hill Vineyards’ Patriarch is $30 per bottle. Copain Wine Cellar’s Les Copain retails at $40 per bottle. L’Aventure Winery’s Cote a Cote is also $40 a bottle. A Donkey and Goat’s Three Thirteen is $37 per bottle. Terry Hoage Vineyards’ The 46 is $40 a bottle and their The Pick is $38 per bottle. Zaca Mesa Winery’s Z Three is $42 a bottle.