Wining with the Rhone Rangers...

Do you know about the Rhone Rangers? That merry band of winemakers whose vision is to expand our knowledge and appreciation of grapes and blends that historically came from the Rhone Valley in France.

From the Rhone Rangers' website: The Rhone Rangers is America's leading non-profit organization dedicated to promoting American Rhone varietal wines. American Rhone-style wines are made from the same grapes that have flourished for centuries in France’s Rhone River Valley, and their growing popularity in the United States speaks to their versatility with food, wide range of rich flavors, and to the skills of American winemakers.

The Goddess of Wine has been a fan of the Rangers for many years, and now that JD and I are living in the Central Coast, it's easier to get to many of the events that are put on by the large and very active Paso Robles chapter. This year, the organization has put together a schedule of "Varietal Nights" designed to enhance, and in some cases, introduce folks to specific varieties and styles of wine.

Wining at year's end...

JD & the Goddess

Hard to believe it's the last week of 2012. The Goddess of Wine and JD have gone to lots of wine tasting events, lots of dinners, lots of gatherings, lots of wineries. There has been good wine and bad wine - some astonishing in both directions - and a lot of drinkable, but ordinary wine. We've made new friends, said goodbye to some old friends, made discoveries both personal and professional.

Rhoning in Paso...

JD & I had the opportunity to head up to Paso Robles a couple of weeks ago for the annual Rhone Rangers Experience - Paso Robles chapter - seminar and tasting. We sweet-talked our cousins in Los Osos to put us up for a couple of nights, and headed up the coast.

Saturday morning, got on the road early, stopping in Solvang to break our fast at Paula's Pancake House. This time we had contacted our friend Lee Tomkow, a brilliant photographer and videographer, to meet us. Over breakfast, we chatted about wines and wineries. On hearing that we were headed to the RR, he suggested that we look up Ambyth Estate and try the wines there. He couldn't say enough about them - biodynamic, organic farming, great location at a high elevation in Templeton. I said we'd keep it in mind, time permitting.

Tasting the Rhone Rangers...in my living room...

Yeah, yeah...I'm complaining because I'm still way behind.  I haven't told you about the delicious wines from Dutcher Crossing in Sonoma, or the charming couple who grow and make the noteworthy Laraneta wines from Paso Robles.  And I haven't written about the Napa Nightlife event from LearnAboutWine at the Elevate Lounge downtown, so all those columns will be coming up shortly, but I really felt that I needed to tell you about the truly fun tasting I did on Saturday afternoon, where I participated in the Rhone Rangers Grenache tasting event -- from my living room!