Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Part I Preludes and Antecedents 1
1 The Sixties, Headwaters of the American Rhone 3
2 A Place and Its Progeny: A Guide to the Varieties of the Rhône Valley 13
3 How Rhône Varieties Got to American Soil 35
4 The Curious Case of American Petite Sirah 48
5 Rhone Varieties through Prohibition and After 61
Part II Pioneers and Players 69
6 The Path to the First American Rhône 71
7 Syrah's Proud Father: Gary Eberle and the Making of Modern Syrah 80
8 Other Pioneers: From the North Coast to Gold Country 91
Part III Artists and Iconoclasts 101
9 Randall Grahm, the Movement's Cosmic Impresario 103
10 Steve Edmunds, the Quiet Iconoclast 118
11 Sean Thackrey, the Thinking Man's Rhônist 122
12 Manfred Krankl, the First Superstar 127
Part IV The Movement Starts to Move 139
13 Viognier, the Rhone Movement's Flower Child 141
14 The Purloined Rhone: How Suitcase Clones Shaped the Movement 154
15 Tablas Creek, the Validator 167
16 The American Rhône in Washington State 177
Part V Boomtime 197
17 The Birth of the Rhone Rangers, 1987-1990 199
18 The Academic Backup for the American Rhone Movement 208
19 The Bridge from California to France: The Colloquium to Bring the Rhônes Together 216
20 Hospice du Rhône: A Festival to Bring the Rhone World Home 221
Part VI Irrational Exuberance 231
21 The Rise and Fall of American Syrah 233
22 What We Talk About When We Talk about American Syrah 251
Notes 271
Index 289