TomHill wrote:PatrickComiskey, one of my most favorite of wine writers, has been laboring for a goodly number of yrs on a book on the US Rhone movement. It is due to be released in Oct:
American Rhone: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink".It is available for pre-order on Amazon:
Amazon:ComiskeyBook I suspect "How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink" subtitle may be a bit of hyperbole and an attempt at humor, much like "How I Saved the World from Parkerization" was, but the book itself should be a very good read.
Tom
I finally completed my reading of Patrick's book last night. One of the best wine books I've read in years. Of course, part of that is because I followed the American Rhone Revolution from the very start...the '94 Phelps Syrah...a wine that almost killed the Syrah market in Calif.
The book is incredibly well researched and very well written. Patrick's take on the RhoneRevolution pretty much mirrors my take on the situation. He leaves no stone unturned and turns over a few that I never peered under. I actually learned quite a lot from the book. I think he's given credit where credit is due to all the right people.
A few general (and specific) comments:
1. Based on the footnotes, he did most of his research for the book in the 2006-2012 time frame, tying up a few of the loose ends in the 2013-2015 time range. So the book is a pretty accurate take on the US Rhone scene thru early 2015. The concluding chaptre "What We Talk About When We Talk About American Syrah" is a very well-written chapter and has a lot of insightful comments. I wish Patrick would have said a few words about what are his predictions for the future of the American Rhone market and, particularly, the impact of Rhone-style wines from other/emerging countries.
My thoughts on that subject below.
2. It is well-known about the decline/stagnation of the Syrah market in this country. His chapter on "The Rise and Fall of American Syrah" pretty accurately charts the course of that market. Early on, the Syrah market was highly touted by the US wine writers (Parker/Laube/Steiman) as "the next big thing", something these guys are always looking out for and wanting to be the first kid on the belock to discover "the next big thing". This led to a lot of winemakers, especially NapaVlly Cab producers, jumping on the Syrah bandwagon...having no clue or vision as what they wanted to do with Syrah...they just knew it was the "next big thing". Patrick (rightfully) attributes the Syrah decline to: a.) the impact of big/ripe/jammy/overblown Oz Syrahs, and b.) the impact of Parker/Laube's preference for overripe/oaky/over-extracted/alcoholic Syrahs (though we are, of course, told by Parker that he does, indeed, appreciate elegant/subtle/finessy/complex/nuanced wines...a statement that always amuses me) and their award of big points for this style as distorting the style of Syrah. Consumers eventually found that these kinds of Syrahs are really not much fun to drink. Though this style still has its adherents (SQN/Alban/Saxum/Konsgaard), many winemakers are recognizing the folly of this style...that it's a dead-end.
3. "The Curious Case of American Petite Sirah" is a particularly noteworthy chaptre and very well researches all the confusion behind this grape and its history.
4. "The Pioneers and Players" chaptres accurately captures the early proponents in Calif of Syrah (Phelps and Eberle, in particular) and their important contributions to the movement. I remember well when I tasted the first Phelps Syrah '74 and the great disappointment I had. It wasn't until I tasted the first Eberle Syrah from barrel that the light blinked on.."Calif can, indeed, potentially make great Syrah". The "Artists and Iconoclasts" chaptres accurately describes the contributions of Grahm/Edmunds/Thackrey/Krankl and their personalities.
5. The "Boomtime" chaptres very accurately describe the birth of the RhoneRangers and Hospices du Rhone. Most people attribute the "Rhone Ranger" term to RandallGrahm, but Patrick accurately traces its lineage to SteveEdmunds.
The "The Movement Starts to Move" chaptres address the usage of "suitcase clones" and their contributions. Patrick attempts to unravel the mystery of Randall's Roussanne/Viognier screwup, with the conclusion that we'll never have the accurate details on that subject. Extremely well-researched,
6. The "Academic Backup for the American Rhone Movement" details the important contributions of RobertMayberry and his influence on the early Rhone movers & shakers. This is a topic about which I was entirely clueless. I'd read his book and was not very impressed by it. But it was vitally important to those Rhone pioneers. So now I know & plan to go back and re-read the book.
7. All in all....this is a must-read for anyone w/ an interest in Calif wine and Rhone wines, unless your sole interest is NapaCabs and RRV Pinots. One of the most important and best wine books I've read in years.
So....back to #1. Where does the US Rhone movement go from here?? Clearly, Rhones are not going to ever be the "next big thing". But they will continue to occupy a (less than) small and important niche in the US wine market. And, for me, that's just fine. The people who are making really/really good, terroir-driven Syrahs and Rhones will continue to thrive (at least, at some certain level). SteveEdmunds/AdamTolmach/BobLindquist/CraigJaffurs/EhrenJordan/PaxMahle/CaroleMeredith...we all know who they are. Those who are making the Syrahs that garner huge Parker-points will continue to thrive, based on those scores. Which is fine with me and clearly has their adherents. These wines just don't much interest me anymore.
For the Rhone Movement to truly thrive, it's important to expand the market. I think that RhoneRangers taking their show on the road can be an important contributor to this growth. What role HdR can play is not altogether clear to me. Whether it will thrive or just limp along is a question to me.
But, still, when you look at Syrah and other Rhone varieties, particularly in comparison to NapaVlly Cab and RRV Pinot, these wines blow away, in value, those latter two. It's a great time to be drinking American (and French) Syrah, I think.
Tom
