Syrah is perhaps the most well known of the Rhône varietals as it is well suited to produce really big wines that offer aging potential and varied flavor profiles for the high end consumer. If it wasn’t for my love of Grenache I would say Syrah is a most favored varietal for me because of its many profiles and adaptations both within California and around the world. I love the flavors and variety that Syrah offers.

California Syrah always held the promise to challenge Cabernet Sauvignon for a truly noble California grape with blockbuster wines, but its popularity has never been able to nudge out either Cabernet, Pinot Noir or Zinfandel in total acreage or volume. Acreage of Syrah in California is actually down in 2020 over the boom time of 2000-2010. Still total tons crushed are about 75,000 per year as published by the Wine Institute, and many counties across California have significant plantings of Syrah, from Santa Barbara County up through Mendocino County and many counties in between and beyond, including the interior and Sierra foothill regions. The 2022 USDA California Census report for wine varietals grown shows Syrah solidly in the lead for Rhône varietals at just under 15,000 acres. That is more than 3 times what exists for Grenache, and puts Syrah almost in the league with the most popular varietals.

What makes Syrah special? Well the variety you will find in a number of different styles. Syrah is often a big and complex wine, but it doesn’t have to be. I know of a Syrah running at 12% alcohol and with no barrel aging, it is the true essence of the fruit. It can be medium bodied too, if aged with very neutral oak for not too long. Of course some Syrah is allowed to get really ripe and offers big flavor profiles with a significant amount of oak aging followed with plenty of bottle aging, and yes high alcohol content too. So you can choose between a large swath of flavors and styles in this varietal. Syrah is of course often blended with the other 2 classic Rhone red grapes Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce GSM, although most GSM’s are typically Grenache or Mourvèdre heavy, but not always. Syrah dominant wines are popular and often the flagship of some of the most revered wineries in California. As far as blending, it is worth mentioning that across much of France, some Viognier (maybe ~5%) is often co-fermented with the Syrah to bring out some more special florals and texture to the wine. I love Syrah-Viognier blends. And you should ask your Syrah wine maker if they do it this way. I know for a fact Cedarville Vineyard do, as I watched it get crushed in 2023 when I worked at Cedarville.

What area of the state produces the most expensive Syrah? Well it is not Napa, it is a cult winery sourcing from the Santa Barbara and Santa Rita Hills area named, Sine Qua Non. This winery produces bottles in the $500 range from several sources. But you don’t have spend $500 to have excellent Syrah from California, a whole eclectic range of product exists from $15-100 a bottle, but typically amazing Syrah starts around $30 retail if you want special California Estate grown and bottled Syrah. I notice that Paso Robles, Santa Rita, and Santa Barbara Syrah’s that are highly rated often stretch from $50-100 a bottle, in the north state the prices are less steep, especially in the Sierra foothills, Mendocino or Sonoma.

If you are new to the endevour of a particular high end Syrah region such as Paso Robles, which is big on high end vineyards and estates now, you might want to search out a few from the list of members at the Rhone Rangers and give that method a try. Rhone Ranger members tend to be the pick of the litter. The ratings and info at Wine Enthusiast are reliable. Some of the wineries in this area that have highly prized Syrah’s are Booker, Sextant and TH Estate. But that is just a start, if you are endeavoring into the high end Syrah of Paso Robles you will need to be selective and careful, the list of top end wineries is deep. And of course, Syrah stretches much further south from there as well.

Wait, what about the northern half of the State, where I live? Well these wines can be stunning as well. Let’s take a look at a few wineries to consider. Amador and El Dorado Counties can be good sources for excellent Syrah. Bill Easton and Terre Rouge is a highly awarded Syrah specialist, and their Ascent Syrah was awarded 100 points by Wine Enthusiast, at least in one year, and typically it is 95+ wine. Many renditions exist at Terre Rouge, and his estate DTR Syrah is less expensive and still a blockbuster in my mind. There are a good number of well crafted Syrahs across this region, and one of the best vineyards I enjoy is the Fenaughty vineyard which produces rich, velvety smooth, smoke and violet tinged Syrah especially when you age it for 5-10 years. The Fenaughty vineyard has done the best in my cellar over the last 20 years. You can do a search on Google for ‘Fenaughty Syrah’ and see who produced with it, however for consistency I buy this wine from Holly’s Hill in the Pleasant Valley AVA of El Dorado (Holly’s Hill can ship you this wine). In the San Francisco area, you might try Donkey and Goat, and there are more that source this fruit. I know this wine sells out pretty quickly at Holly’s Hill so if it is available, you better move on it. The Syrah vines at Fenaughty were grafted way back in the 1980’s so this may be some old vine expression that you will enjoy, if you enjoy big and bold wine.

One winery in Sonoma that does complex and big Syrah very well is Argot Wines. Justin Harmon started with Syrah and he’s still doing it almost 20 years later, and his Sonoma Mountain fruit is something special. This wine is very big, I would wait a bit on opening the bottles and let them integrate for a few years. But they are very complex from blueberry to deep purple flowers and cocoa. If you want an incredible expression of Sonoma County Syrah, this would be my recommendation. You can read up on Justin Harmon’s love of Sonoma Mountain Syrah in this post by Wine Spectator.

What Grenache is to red fruit roll ups and intense herbal notes, Syrah is to complexity, depth, darker fruit, cherry, violets/flowers, cocoa, tobacco, leather, spices and more. If you are into big wines, maybe from Bordeaux, then you should give Syrah a try as well. California Syrah can be especially complex and delicious. I drink it often, both locally and from places like Argot Wines.

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When it comes to Rosé wine the variety variation can be a real treat. Because almost no Rosé wine is influenced with oak. They are usually stainless steel or concrete fermented. Often to the peak of dry or just before it reaches absolute peak dryness and then bottled quickly and sold. Some Rosé’s can even be aged but don’t age them too long. It usually doesn’t work out.

Here in El Dorado County you can find great Rosé from almost all the wineries that exist. They usually do at least one white and one Rosé. If you want to go really deep on Rosé, you need to focus on France, France exports a lot of Rosé, it was probably invented in Provence. The king region for Rosé today is Provence. This region is in the very south east of France and here you can find walls and walls of high acid, fruit centric, and complex Rosé. They use the similar techniques and it really comes down to the grape. The techniques often use no oak, so you will get the grape’s expression more fully. The wine is aged in concrete, or here in the USA in stainless steel with temperature control. Rarely is there residual sugar, but sometimes just a tad. A slight amount of sugar never hurts really, but to be honest most of these wines on the hydrometer will be 0 or -1 (perfectly dry).

The Rosé’s I like from around here are using a number of different varieties.

Dolcetto (thanks Lava Cap)
Zinfandel (yes better than the classic White Zinfandel which is often too sugary)
Syrah
Barbera
Grenache
Pinot Noir

Grenache is a great varietal for Rosé, and most of Provence is using Grenache, except Bandol where Mourvèdre is always 50% of the blend there, so the Rose’ in Bandol will be Mourvèdre centric. And many say the Rose’s from Bandol are more complex and really special. The AOC rule in Bandol is Mourvèdre must be 50% of any rouge wine, and at least 20% of any Rosé. And most wines are blended by tradition. We are heading there in 2027 to find out more about the AOC’s of Provence.

Here are some grape varieties used traditionally for Rosé across Europe that you won’t find a Rosé from in El Dorado County or across the Sierra Foothills, but if you find one send me a note here on my website.

Mourvèdre (think Bandol)
Lagrein
Cabernet Franc
Aglianico
Nebbiolo
Sangiovese
Gamay Noir
Valdiguié
Côt (Malbec)
Grolleau

I suggest you try some nice dry (yes even complex) Rosé from the south of France as a starter anyway, or go high end and then go for a Tavel France Rosé. Much of it does come from the South of France but certainly all of France is notable. The Rhone Valley is famous for it as well and outside of Provence, Tavel is often on the finest wine lists (across France for sure). But if you want to look for something specific at your favorite wine store read this WE look into French Rosé. This excellent post goes far beyond just Provence or the southern Rhône. You have to remember my orientation and biases, they are towards Rhône varieties and southern France and Alsace. Other places that have some heritage and specialty in higher end Rosé, are

Spain
Italy
Austria
South Africa
Greece
Sicily

To name a few, but for many of these places you will have to go there to really immerse yourself.

Much of the Rosé I find in El Dorado County is just that. It barely exists.

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Oregon’s Willamette Valley is not ready for Mourvèdre just yet. Give climate warming some more time. However, it can be found in the Rogue River regions of Southern Oregon which are plenty hot enough and also provide the soil attributes it loves.

Mourvèdre goes from spicy, to sultry, to earthy, and deeply so, but can also be subtle, lively and herbaceous. It is hard to pin point Mourvedre, in all of its directions. It has surprised me, both for its acid and its tannin. But maybe now as Mourvedre gets ever more serious and pricey, we are catering again to the Cabernet drinker that loves tannin rich wine. So the winemakers respond, and the varietal has moved far beyond obscurity and lower price points, to a more serious varietal. Exotic spices, and herbaceous tones are the distinct characteristics you should always find in a good Mourvèdre. Or Monastrell, Mataro, wait what is it? Mourvèdre has lots of synonyms and a complex history.

In the under-rated geographic zone, and for the budget minded, maybe it is time to find out about Monastrell. From a region than rarely overcharges for wine, Spain. Spain offers excellent export bottles of this varietal, which in Spain is called Monastrell. Jumilla, is a wine region that is expressly committed to producing the Monastrell grape, and some very elegant ones often mixed with Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is worth searching out some wines from Jumilla Spain, I have yet to be disappointed, especially in the $15-25 price point that is often “exported”. It’s a great way to budget start this journey.

However you discover Mourvedre, and whatever price point, the spectrum’s are vast. Be sure to open up the wine for a while, and it will change. Mourvèdre is often one of the wines most receptive to decanting, and of course to serving with a rich spice filled meal.

So where do you go for some varietal focused Mourvèdre in California? Well you can hit up Tablas Creek which has a plethera (at least 5) renditions of this grape in their offerings. Tablas Creek is the grandfather of Rhone varietals within California. A truly exceptional winery, with a lab, an amazing staff and the support of the Perrin family that birthed modern Rhone varietals within the state of California.

Oak must be complimentary to the complexity of this varietal. How often is oak not overdone? Not often enough, and when you jump into the Mourvèdre pool this becomes especially interesting. An example of Mourvèdre from fruit to savory notes is Edio Vineyards which consistently ranks very high with this varietal. We are talking winemakers that pick their fruit at peak flavor. All critical factors in creating a wine that stands on its fruit and terroir pillars first and then layers in savory notes. Edio sources its grapes from the grandfather of Northern California, namely grapes that were planted and managed by Ron Mansfield.


Holly’s Hill is somewhat rare in that its number one varietal in terms of total acreage planted is, you guessed it, Mourvèdre. That is right alongside the Tablas Creek playbook. However that is still rare. This is a winery that sourced from the Tablas Creek nursery over 20 years ago. Carrie and Josh Bendick the winemakers continue to experiment deeply with this varietal. If you stay committed to them through the wine club you will be able to taste a spectrum of Mourvèdre that is hard to match across California.

California Mourvèdre is typically earthy in its flavor tones, with hopefully a “slight” amount of toasted oak. Savory notes of mushroom, truffle-like notes, or some unique tones out of the oak blending in with the grape. You can try a rich, yet young feeling Mourvedre when you try Holly’s Hill Poco Loco variant. Is there a wee bit of residual sugar in that varietal? The focus with Poco Loco is a “drink it now” varietal that is both juicier and yet opulent. Overall, Mourvèdre is quite expansive in what it can deliver, and I have given you a range of wineries here to try to be purposeful on what this variety can deliver. Mourvèdre is hard to pin down in this AVA. It gets even more crazy on a global scale.

Speaking of young Mourvèdre, the first-ever Mourvèdre release from Jonathan Lachs at Cedarville is a remarkable study in restraint and polish. Eschewing the rustic intensity often associated with the grape, this wine is centered on pure, refreshing fruit. With high quality integrated oak, the structure supports a beautifully complex, savory-earth core that drinks like a classic, fruit-spectrum French benchmark. This is a triumphant niche addition to the Cedarville repertoire that reflects years of thought and dedicated effort.

If you spend time looking for wine, you’ll appreciate spending more time looking for unique Mourvèdre’s, once you make friends with it. It is more complex and diverse than say (some leaner) Grenache and should last longer in your cellar as well. It is an under appreciated grape in the world of wine today. Mourvèdre loves lots of sun and heat so its future is bright. Mourvèdre sometimes ripens slowly if the harvest time gets too cool, delivering some of the spectrum I laid out for you in this blog.
Cheers!

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https://www.cedarvillevineyard.com

http://www.hollyshill.com/

https://www.lavacap.com/

https://www.bellagracevineyards.com

https://davidgirardvineyards.com/

https://gracepatriotwines.com

Why try Grenache? … you may ask, I am a Zinfandel, or Syrah hard core. Well if you like really opulent deep ruby, power wines, it might not be for you.

Grenache when artfully made in California is an open fruit grape, with amazing red berries complexity and acidity, with light and long spice on the finish if done correctly. It tends to be lighter since the skins hold less colors and thickness so the really best Grenache of the foothills will be picked at the peak of ripeness and offer a lighter pale ruby color, yet lots of structure and layers of complexity. From that woody spice and anise, to raspberry, strawberry, pomegranate and black cherry fruit notes.

It can work as an aperitif, or a table wine, (it works great at Thanksgiving since it pairs super well with turkey). Traditionally in France, Grenache is used in blending wines that are of exceptional high end quality. My experience shows up to 5 years is about the max for getting the peak youthful fruit and acidity from this varietal at the wineries you see portrayed here. Opinions on aging Grenache vary, but if you are new to it, you won’t be setting it aside anyway. I prefer the vibrant nature of Grenache, so that means drink young!

Grenache when it overproduces is less amazing than the lean years, I have found. It is good to ask the grower if he has a had a small harvest, and drought years and underproduction can be especially good for that exceptional Grenache vintage. Excellent Grenache is also grown in Sonoma County, and the Paso Robles region, so those are areas where the terroir is well suited. To try one of the truly exceptional Grenache’s of Paso Robles, please try, https://tablascreek.com/. I think Tablas Creek is some of the best California Grenache I have ever tasted, and they veer towards the elegant side of being grape forward, as many Grenache fans love. Neil Collins and his team, are masters at Grenache. And Neil himself has been at this for about 25 years and is highly recognized.

The grape does not do well with too much oak, so the masters of this wine, think Lewis Grace and Tablas Creek here, do not apply very much oak in their process. Grenache used to live in the shadow of bolder grapes, especially the venerable Syrah or the earthy Mourvedre, but in today’s market it is seeing a fan club all to itself. Producers are figuring it out, and that’s a wonderful thing.
As one long time French producer of wine once said:
“Grenache delivers what Pinot Noir promises…”

Before heading out, maybe consume this deep dive to remember a few things before jumping into the car for the tastings.

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If you are a starter at this, I have found good Viognier can be had from Australia’s mass production wineries that will show the typical minerality, robust acidic profile but never too acidic, and these wines are not highly oaked. They are an easy step into the Viognier world. Viognier’s from Australia are an excellent value. Both Australia and New Zealand produces Viognier, as does South Africa, France, Croatia, Greece and South America. In North America its plantings are as diverse as Virginia, Texas, British Columbia and the Baja Peninsula. So its diversity in regions is phenomenal.

What can you expect from Viognier?
For me, the bouquet usually includes:

Stone fruits (typically apricot) honeysuckle, roses, flowers, light pineapple or mango, light citrus, tangerine. And oh yes, not really any lemon like a lot of other whites.

Other expert notes, include almond extract, toasted bread, fig, anise. Viognier can be flowery, yet still be a standup dinner wine. That’s the amazing part about this varietal, a nuanced bouquet, but also highly structured, somewhat big and plenty dry (because the vintner wants it that way).

The color usually looks like this, a medium or light-medium gold from punch downs and pour overs the wine will extract more stone fruit flavors typically and the complexity may improve.

A key aspect I have found with Viognier is that the wine is quite susceptible to oak and the tangential flavors a barrel will bring. Hopefully you find a lightly oaked Viognier as this is important in my experience. This is one of the reasons I recommend a quality Australian or more low cost Viognier that is highly rated, these will not be over oaked, have the proper acid and bouquet notes, and provide a gentle introduction. Some mass produced Viogniers to get started with that are available across the USA, are from Cline, McManis, and Yalumba (Australia’s largest producer). Any of those three will get you started properly.

A classic example of the grape if you are willing to spend a bit more, is how Tablas Creek makes their Viognier. It is classic, clean, yet very complex, not a lot of oak at all. Tablas Creek is essentially direct to consumer so you will have to use their website, linked above.

In the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, where I live, our AVA’s produce some amazing Viognier’s, as the terroir is well suited to the varietal. If you thinking about a heartier Viognier, probably more robust than coastal Viognier, than you have found the appellations that will deliver this experience. The Viognier’s of the Sierra Nevada are for wine geeks, highly sought after.

Some of the best producers that I have tasted (come back to for Viognier) in the Sierra Foothills are in no particular order:

Element 79 Vineyards

Casque Wines

Cedarville Vineyards

Miraflores Winery

Holly’s Hill Vineyards and Winery

Lava Cap Winery

In fact, Wine Enthusiast rates the Lava Cap and Cedarville Vineyard Viognier’s as Cellar Selections and both of these producers know Viognier extremely well. The Viognier at Lava Cap is done in a very Burgundian way.

If you have never had Viognier and you prefer a dry white wine with hints of apricot, stone fruits, flowers, (lighter) citrus and excellent minerality and for some a creamy mouth feel thanks to Malolactic fermentation. It’s time to get a bottle of Viognier, and chill out on a summer’s night! I drink a lot more Viognier than I do Chardonnay or anything Sauvignon Blanc or related. But like anything when done right Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc can be fantastic too. As will Riesling or Gewurztraminer.

The Sierra Foothills however is Viognier Country, just ask one of our local winemakers. Sometimes they tell you.

“My Viognier does better than all my other varieties” and that should stand for a lot, since the fruit is the start of a great wine.

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This blog is about very select GSM makers across California who I am familiar with. GSM is perhaps most prevalent in Paso Robles where all 3 varietals have taken significant hold and Paso Robles is probably now the Rhone capital of California as the wine industry there is quite big, especially high premium wines. The Paso area has done extremely well for the Rhonists. I live in El Dorado County, and therefore try to visit all the wineries I can, of the Sierra Foothills, but we are 200 strong, and hitting 20-40 is more realistic. For coastal inhabitants, the Sonoma to Santa Barbara coastline is also very strong in producing these three varietals, so you can find GSM’s probably in all the major California regions I just mentioned. For the Foothills wineries these are my favorites that perennially focused on producing a top quality GSM blend.

El Dorado County – Pleasant Valley wineries

Holly’s Hill – this is a purest Rhone vintner that focuses only on Rhone varietal on their large 40 acre estate. Their Patriarche and Lover’s Leap are both excellent blends of M-G-S. Josh and Carrie Bendick, the winemakers here, love Mourvedre and often blend in more Mourvedre into their blended wines than you will find at other wineries. Their wines and their Syrah’s as well are just delicious. Patriarche is their flagship product.

Sierra Vista – this is the grandfather estate that dates all the way back to the 1970’s when Barbara and John MacCready started wine making up on this hill, pretty far from downtown Placerville (30 minute drive). It is now run by a new owner, Jim Czachorowski, and things have been changing here since Jim took over. There are two GSM offerings here, namely a more classic GSM called Fleur-de-Montagne, and the robust and age worthy Outlaw which is Syrah forward and much darker, heavier and richer.

El Dorado County – Fair Play wineries

Bumgarner Winery – The Fiona wine from Bryan is a very nice expression of complex, and textured GSM, and he’s been making it for years. In Fair Play this is one of the two you should try. The Fiona is not a big (dark, robust) GSM, but rather a finesse GSM that shows of the herbal notes that are so common with mountain Rhone grapes. This is a tremendous accomplishment for our area, and simply one reason to visit this beautiful family run winery that has two tasting rooms. One in Camino and another in the high hills of Fair Play!

Gwinllan Estate – Directly in the very heart of Fair Play on Fair Play Road is this family run winery with innovative winemaker Jonathan Pack. Jonathan has a GSM that he considers his most complex and textured wine. Give it a try and enjoy the tasting in his tasting room cave, where you might find Jonathan’s mom Chris pouring with their dog by her side. Jonathan calls his GSM the Winemaker’s Selection. Make sure you taste this wine carefully and slowly.

Amador County – Shenandoah Road

Terre Rouge/Easton wines – If you know anything about Rhone and the Rhone Ranger clan that helped bring these varietals to the forefront in California. Then you have heard of Bill Easton. He’s a founding member of the Rhone Rangers, and his wines are varied, robust and excellent. My favorite GSM blend from Terre Rouge is the L’Autre, which means the “other” in French and probably his most popular in terms of volume and exposure is called the TÊTE-À-TÊTE, or face to face. His focus on all the varietals that make California great is amazing, but his work with Syrah has earned him 100 points from Wine Enthusiast and Bill Easton’s work is simply too good to pass up. Look here

Paso Robles – Adelaida District

Tablas Creek – founded in 1989 this is definitely a winery of master distinction since it has a deep and family-based connection to Chateau Beaucastel. There are many wines here of Grenache or Syrah mixture so study carefully. From the Patelin to the Gobelin, the choices are rich, varied and generally off the charts good. I discovered this winery about 20 years ago on a trip my wife and I took to the area to discover some great wine and I am still as big a fan as I was that day tasting that amazing wine. Their GSM mixtures are very varied and beautiful. As long as Neil Collins is leading the cultivation and wine making team at Tablas Creek, you should expect nothing but excellence out of this exceptional property and management. This is one of the few wineries that has a full lab and works on the wine chemistry with a complete focus. Tablas Creek tries to do everything to perfection. What a delight of a soup to nuts direct to consumer winery.

Other notable GSMs from Paso Robles (this is not comprehensive at all):
Booker Wines (Oublie)

Derby Wine Estates

Peachy Canyon

Coastal California

I am no expert or even deep taster of this area, but it should not be overlooked as Syrah has branched into the Santa Lucia Range and many of the appellations outside of Paso Robles. So look into the wineries of Sonoma, Santa Maria, Monterey and Santa Barbara Counties to find Syrah and perhaps a great G-S-M blender. I know from my studies of the Rhone Rangers that Bob Lindquist is a master of the Rhones.

You can find his work here:
Lindquist Family wines

Another Rhone wine master is Randall Grahm , he works with a Santa Maria vineyard to produce his Language of Yes experiments, which is not G-S-M but does involve Syrah and Grenache just to his liking. His latest renditions are pretty deep on the complexity scale, as I bought his first vintage of this new experiment, and was delighted with the outcome.

To finish off, here is a picture of the soulful heart of the G-S-M wine region in France. I took this shot in November 2022. The town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, on the hill where the castle ruins barely stand. You are looking at the very nice homes of the tiny town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The chateau for the church elite is no longer there… The GSM components, they are thriving, and ready for a good long rest as well.

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Getting even more specific than just Syrah doing well in the wine cellar, is to look specifically at high tannin, ripe Syrah from Southern Rhone. The most popular region is Chateauneuf-du-Pape (CdP). These wines are almost always made in a “big wine” style, because they command high prices. And with high prices come age worthy wines. If you buy an expensive CdP wine, you should look into how long you should save this wine for. Many of these wines will drink best in the 7-15 year range, and not 2-4 years when you might buy them. So you may need to save them for easily 5 more years, from when you bought them. Don’t just consider CdP, any of the AOC’s in the Rhone Valley could deliver a blockbuster Syrah so look into Cornas, Vacqueryas, St. Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage and so on.

Most Rhone styled wines, especially Grenache varietals, or Mourvedre varietals, you should drink these close to when you bought them. Within the first few years. They simply will not improve much with age. Not all Mourvedre varietals will have enough tannins or acids to age well. Certainly not California style Grenache, which is very fruit forward.

Remember most wine does not improve with age. That’s the overriding takeaway, and why the Wine Master answered the question this way.

So consider aging your expensive Syrah’s, and CdP’s and see where that takes you. I have a number of CdP’s and won’t open them until about years 4 to 8 comes to be. It has been a formula that has worked for me.

Also age wine in a wine cellar (refrigerator). Wine needs to be kept cool (55 degrees Fahrenheit) , away from light, and on its side at all times.

Here is the latest addition to my cellar.

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Bill spoke briefly of the 10 sites that give him a lot of cultivation diversity to work with Syrah, in the highly varied elevations of the Sierra Foothills. His epiphany for Ascent came when he tasted some of these fruits out of the fermentation tank in the late 1990’s. He then realized elevating some of this wine was a long term goal to work up to. It took years is the takeaway, and I am sure he still tries different design tweaks to this day. His only request of his clients was, don’t drink an Ascent young. Let the fruit integrate to 10 years and beyond, and this was going to become evident as we went through the tastings.

Bill relaxed and sharing his journey.

He answered several questions from the audience including what makes a grape noble. Ultimately, in Bill’s words a noble grape needs to have the small berries to start, and the characteristics towards making very diverse and palate pleasing wines. In California, these would be Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Syrah. The long road is often the work to attaining many unique flavors on the palate from one sip, and then the long finish is what all expert wine tasters are especially attuned to. The long pleasing integrating finish is the differentiating factor in most cases, to what elevates a wine above 94 points.

How did we like the wines? They were amazing. We started with a youngest 2018 Ascent, that still had lots of acidic structure clearly in the back of the mouth, and wild, diverse flavor notes all across the palate. A truly amazing mouth feel. The acids were both large and pleasing at the same time, tannins there, but not at all gripping, and definitely not in the front row. That wild fruit flavor that comes with Syrah was still rather fresh and the mouth felt creamy but cut with pepper and more so a diverse Mediterranean spice box. Wow it is just getting started was my thought. To be honest the nose, was subdued, there like a light spice coming off a French food dish, nothing overpowering, or any single dominating note, more spices than any dark cherry or single fruit. An enticing mystery was the first thought. Always breath in the wine before doing a swirl. I notice many wine lovers make this mistake, immediately gyrating the glass with their hand. You must breath the wine in deeply, before swirling to see what is dominant in the air of the glass. Take time to calculate, then swirl and take more notes as the flavors have now integrated and surfaced more fully. This change will go a long way to understanding the wine. No wine is easy to evaluate in just a few minutes either. No expert taster evaluates with only one sip, a tasting always includes two or three sips.

From the 2018, we moved to the 2013’s. We did two tastings, the Ascent, compared to the Terre Rouge DTR Ranch, which was the most wild of the tastings. These 2013’s were tremendous, and many of us thought the 2013 at 10 years was best of show, but in the end we purchased the 2008 Ascent. In a simple sentence, the 2008 was the best for its tremendously long finish and a further smoothness of that spice that is the pinnacle of what California Syrah can achieve. No single unpleasant phenol note whatsoever, simply joy of a finish that you question yourself. “How long did that really last”. Is it still going on? The 2008 wasn’t the most powerful, but it was certainly the most elegant. Some people I know loved the DTR Ranch, for its strong flavors. You hear a real mix of ideas across the audience. That is wine, everyone has their ideas of what flavors makes for them a perfect wine.

And as an important note, all wine ferments rather quickly and then is simply wine, known as free run wine. The elevation happens in pressing and the barrels. Syrah and all wine grapes are susceptible to oak and its strong tannins, especially new oak, which can impart a lot of change in a wine. This is where wine makers often forget to go easy. Grenache especially does not like too much new oak, Pinot Noir can be over-oaked. Part of it is a style thing. Of course Syrah can handle oak, but the oak here may sometimes be a blend of new and neutral oak. The quality of that oak, and the process used is what is key. I have seen a number of long-time winemakers speak and show me that great oak, such as the Francois Freres barrels, which is one major component of the Ascent magic. The Freres barrel staves have been air dried for 3 years before they are coopered, softening them. Other quality barrels can cost just half as much, and the oak used in these barrels is very special within France. The wine is allowed to integrate in the barrels for 22-24 months . As the vines age, the wine becomes more capable of integrating with the oak. Anyone who loves Syrah needs to buy one of these wines, or simply come to one of Bill’s “sold out” seminars and see what a truly amazing wine tastes like. The more you learn the more you enjoy.



Cheers Bill, and thank you, and your amazing team for sharing your life’s work with all of us!

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So what are some other takeaways from the event? I found all the wines delicious and highly varied. There were some real power wines here, as well as white wines with finesse and high acids, and even some sparkling (Cremant). It was very diverse set of winemakers. As far as similarities. It is what you probably would expect from a region that is quite controlled in what it can produce, appellation to appellation. Syrah and Grenache in no particular order were dominant. In fact, GSM blends were all over the room, of course Grenache dominant. Most of the wineries were from the Southern Rhone, as this area in general is much larger in hectares of size than the smaller northern Rhone valley. Therefore, Grenache was more highly represented than Syrah. There was plenty of both, and just enough whites, and rose to keep it interesting.

Here are 5 of the wineries that really impressed us from the tastings. This is not a fair representation of course, because nobody can drink 100+ wines, from about 40 wineries, and come out with any type of rankings or ratings. There was lots of really great wines here, and yes so many of the GSMs were simply too good.

+ Cave de Cairanne

+ Cellier Des Chartreux

+ Alain Jaume

+ Domaine Des Romarins

+ Famille Gassier

Some of these wineries have direct sales on the website.

Two of the wines that had amazing nose, and palate and a great finish at an amazing price were these two. We all agreed these were amazing wines, with lots of value. Certainly value in Rhone is a big thing especially when you leave the small (lower production) zones like Hermitage AOC or Chateaunuef-du-Pape AOC.

What Rhone AOC impressed me the most that I really have not gone deep on yet? I think for very distinct and delicious (and Syrah sultry) red wine from the Southern Rhone, I would have to say.

Let us go into the hills of the Vacqueyras and see what we can find there.

I have to put Vacqueyras on my bucket list.

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Roussanne is medium (to low) acid, with quite a few citrus notes, and many other intriguing notes as well. Intriguing might include some tangerine or tropical hints if the wine was picked younger. Generally, Roussanne is made into a larger, more oak infused wine here in the USA. Marsanne is complex perhaps waxy or oily on the palate, that full mouth feel, and rich with flavors of beeswax/honey, pineapple, pear and melon, some peach and perhaps smoke. The almond notes turn to caramel with age. It is a light in sugar, which yields less alcohol in the bottle, making Marsanne a great blending grape.

Below is how the clusters look, I pulled these images from Tablas Creek so they are American grown grapes. The cluster photos that I saw posted that were grown in France had slightly darker (reddish) hues for the Marsanne berries.

Why has Marsanne become increasingly popular in France? This stems partly from comments made by Bill Easton in his tasting notes about his Roussanne, it may be a difficult grape to work with (for some) during cultivation. I saw this posted several times, not just by Terre Rouge, but have heard other comments saying it is not too difficult in some areas. The varietal can suffer from oidium (a fungus), or wind damage and other problems, and once harvested the grape tends to oxidize quickly.

Roussanne


Marsanne

So where is the Marsanne? Well I found some for you. I got help from Chuck Mansfield of Goldbud Farms, a top vineyard manager here in El Dorado County. Two of his vineyards are producing Marsanne, one is Camino Alto, the other, one of my favorites, a vineyard called Fenaughty. The only winery producing just a Marsanne is Le Casque Wines out of Loomis, California. This is the closest pure Marsanne to my house, and I made quick time getting there. Yes you can definitely go to Tablas Creek down in Paso Robles and get Marsanne varietal bottles as well, but it is harder up here in Northern California.

Marsanne simply isn’t planted very broadly, a wine report of 2019 shows about 100-200 acres exist in all of California. That’s not a lot of wine. That compares to hundreds more acres in Australia, and thousands of acres in France, where it is most loved.

It was stated in some research I did that both Roussanne and Marsanne really took off first down around Santa Barbara County, from Rhone lifetime achievement award winner Bob Lindquist. Bob has a never ending love for Marsanne, and if you live down there give them a visit. The Rhone focused areas of the southern part of California, probably have more than we do up here in the northern regions, still today, thanks to Bob’s influence. It can take decades for a wine varietal to take hold, and certainly a champion winemaker and winery is needed. In 2010, Tablas Creek posted a blog about the improving Marsanne and how they were going to go bigger with it, and they delivered since that post, so things are improving for both Roussanne and Marsanne.

So my advice is try these wineries, for Northern California Roussanne with Marsanne.

– Donkey and Goat (Fenaughty Vineyard Marsanne + Roussanne)

– Le Casque Wines (Camino Alto Vineyard Marsanne)

– David Girard Winery (blended estate Roussanne and Marsanne)

– Skinner Winery (blended estate Roussanne and Marsanne)

–Starfield Vineyards (Estate Marsanne)


But what about all that Marsanne in France? This blog got me on a kick to just try Marsanne from France since there are some incredible ones from there.

An exquisite choice is M. Chapoutier Les Granits Blanc (100% St Joseph Marsanne). I wanted to try some of the very best. Marsanne is most popular in Northern Rhone, and the esteemed St. Joseph AVA and this winemaker are a top duo. Anything higher end from Chapoutier is going to be full of intensity, balance and complex (aromas and flavanoids) for your palate. For certain, I can recommend this first class winery from the Rhone area of France. I tasted there and it was the wine highlight of my trip to southern France in 2022

An alternate Marsanne from Chapoutier that is perhaps more easily found is Chante Alouette, and it is also a great choice for amazing French Marsanne, it is less fruity than the Les Granits Blanc, and highly complex.

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