While plenty of ink has been spilled in praise of red Rhône-style wines from California’s Central Coast–including my own–the white wines of the region have been stealthily gaining popularity among savvy buyers. Not long ago, most New World white wines made from Rhône grapes like marsanne, roussanne and grenache blanc were curiosities at best; in too many cases they were merely dull. To be fair, the same criticism could be leveled at most of the white wines of the Rhône Valley itself, a problem that only began to be corrected in the last decade.
The major issue with most California whites based on Rhône varieties was a lack of succulence, or sweetness of fruit, a problem that many producers attempted to remedy with the use of new oak. Oak can lend a sense of sweetness to a wine when used with a light hand, but too often it simply gives the wine an excessive vanilla and coconut character. Heavy-handed oakiness obliterates complexity and subtlety and makes a wine almost impossible to pair with food.
Overripeness is also a challenge in much of the Central Coast, as this is a very warm—often quite hot—growing region, and too many vines were planted in sites that are better suited to cactus than grapes. Thankfully a growing number of producers began to address the oak and ripeness issues in the late 1990s, mainly by fining sites that allow the grapes to ripen thoroughly without cooking. This has resulted in a growing number of not only drinkable but genuinely high-quality wines, often made in commercially viable quantities.
Here are a few of my favorite reasonably priced examples, taken from my extensive coverage (nearly, 1,000 tasting notes!) of the Central Coast in the current issue of the International Wine Cellar.
Qupé was a New World pioneer of Rhône-style wines, releasing their first bottling in the mid-1980s, and they are still leaders in the category. Their wines are seldom overdone or excessively rich, which makes them ideal companions for food. Their 2009 Bien Nacido Cuvée Santa Maria Valley ($20) is a 50/50 blend of viognier and chardonnay that offers lively lemon and nectarine character, with a sexy floral quality. While it possesses a lot of rich fruit it also has a dry edge that will make it a fine complement to lighter seafood dishes. Made in a similar dry-edged style, the 2009 Denner Vineyards Theresa White Wine Paso Robles ($30), which is based on 50% roussanne (along with grenache blanc, marsanne and viognier), boasts very good clarity to its floral-accented pear and peach flavors. Its dry, dusty citrus qualities remind me a lot of some of the better wines from the Rhône Valley.
I was also impressed by the 2008 Adelaida Cellars Pavanne White Wine Paso Robles ($22), a roussanne-based blend that offers exotic, floral-accented orchard fruit scents and flavors and good heft. It would work well with richer fish or poultry dishes. Bonny Doon Vineyard, which is owned by the widely acknowledged Mack Daddy of California Rhône-style wines, Randall Grahm, has been a reliable producer since the early 1980s but the wines of recent years have been noticeably more inspired, as the 2009 Le Cigare Blanc Beeswax Vineyard Arroyo Seco ($22) amply testifies. Made from a blend of 57% roussanne and 43% grenache blanc, it has lush, expansive pit fruit character and a bracing citrus quality that allows it to work with either rich or lighter foods. Already complex, it is also balanced to age for at least a few more years.
The 2009 Ecluse Wines Prelude White Wine Paso Robles ($28), made from viognier, roussanne and grenache blanc, with emphasis on the first two varieties, packs a solid punch of nectarine and orange flavors, with intriguing floral and herbal nuances. This wine has the depth and ripeness to work with buttery dishes or roasted poultry and would also be great with creamy risottos or pastas.
Another viognier-centric wine that shows well vintage in and out is the Tablas Creek Vineyard Côtes de Tablas Blanc Paso Robles. Based on 45% viognier, with roussanne, marsanne and a little grenache blanc, the 2009 ($25) offers ripe orchard fruit and citrus aromas and flavors and an impressive blend of richness and energy. In its price range, it’s one of the better values in California white wine from any variety that I tried this year. It will age well too, if you have the inclination.
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