SLO County News BlogGolf, Wine, Real Estate, Business & Travel NewsCould SLO be the next Rhone Valley?Saturday, January 15, 2005Could the Central Coast be the next Rhone Valley?By Mark Johnson - Nashville City Paper, October 06, 2004 When I talk about the Central Coast, keep in mind that this is a huge area of California covering eight counties from Contra Costa in the north to Santa Barbara in the south. Not all of them are the right place to grow the grape that originates from the Rhone Valley in France, but many of them are - especially Livermore Valley, Arroyo Grande, Edna Valley, Paso Robles and the Santa Cruz Mountains. In the late '80s a loose affiliation called the Rhone Rangers was formed to help promote the growing of these grapes. Now in the southern Rhone Valley of France there are up to 13 grapes allowed in the making of their wine, although most of them only use the most popular four: Syrah, Grenach, Mouvedere, and Cinsault, and the best example of this is Chateauneuf du Pape, which is where many of the winemakers of Central Coast try to emulate. In the Northern Rhone there are two regions that influence the winemakers in California and use almost 100 percent Syrah, the elegant and long-lived wines of Hermitage and the powerful wines of Cote Rotie. Every time I visit with a Central Coast winemaker these three areas invariably come off as having tremendous sway over how they produce their wines. While it is difficult to discuss the climate over such a large region - because there are literally hundreds of microclimates - there are a few common denominators. This entire region is greatly affected by a maritime climate meaning mild winters and cool summers with little rain until December. This gives the grapes a long time to hang on the vine. Also, an interesting note is that the San Andres fault runs east of the Central Coast making this region the only one not on the North American plate. And while this means that some day they will all fall into the ocean, until they do the soils are marine sediment that does make the wines a bit softer and more relaxed. Rock Rabbit Syrah '02 Here a winemaker took advantage of using the Central Coast name by blending together juice from vineyards all over the region. The wine shows a moderate ruby color with a whitish rim. The nose is a gentle example of red pomegranate and plum with bits of allspice and nutmeg. It is just as smoothly textured on the palate with mostly fruit and little tannins. The finish is short but balanced making this a good wine for under $15. Qup? "Bien Nacido" Syrah '02 I reviewed the other Central Cost wine last spring when the winemaker, Bob Lindquest, was in Nashville for the Friends Auction. This wine is much darker with an almost blood red core and little rim variation. The nose is dense black currant, black pepper, blackberry jam and spice. It is concentrated on the palate and if you must open a bottle of this wine today let it breathe for a while or decant it first to loosen it up. When you do you will find amazing complexity with gripping tannins and a bit of heat from the alcohol. The finish is long and intense going back and forth from fruit to spice. Read More
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