American Rhône

"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 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. With each passing year it becomes more characterful, interesting, and higher in quality. There has never been better time for the American Rhône wine producer. 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 create a movement, a triumph of the obscure and the brash. But, more than this, it is a story of the maturation of the American palate, 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 Comiskey's history of the American Rhône wine movement is both a compelling underdog success story and an essential reference for the wine professional."--Provided by publisher.