American Rhone: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink

American Rhone: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink

by Patrick J. Comiskey
American Rhone: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink

American Rhone: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink

by Patrick J. Comiskey

Hardcover(First Edition)

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Overview

"Thoughtfully conceived and very well written, this is essential somm reading."—The Somm Journal 

"This is the most important wine book of the year, perhaps in many years."—The Seattle Times
 
"Crisply written, impeccably researched, balanced if fundamentally enthusiastic, scholarly but accessible, and full of unexpected details and characters."—The World of Fine Wine
 No wine category has seen more dramatic growth in recent years than American Rhône–variety wines. Winemakers are devoting more energy, more acreage, and more bottlings to Rhône varieties than ever before. The flagship Rhône red, Syrah, is routinely touted as one of California’s 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 Rhône wine producers.
 
American Rhône is the untold history of the American Rhône 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. It’s 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 Rhône wines just as those wines were reaching a critical mass in the marketplace. Patrick J. Comiskey’s history of the American Rhône wine movement is both a compelling underdog success story and an essential reference for the wine professional.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780520256668
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication date: 10/11/2016
Edition description: First Edition
Pages: 352
Product dimensions: 7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Patrick J. Comiskey is a wine writer and critic for Wine & Spirits magazine. He has written about wine for many publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Food & Wine, Decanter, and Lucky Peach.

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

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