page_title: Rhone Rangers
section_title: Styles
hierarchical_section_title: Rhone Rangers / Styles
caption_attribution_description: A white "Rhone style blend" made predominantly of Viognier from the Washington State wine region of the Columbia Valley.
context_page_description: The Rhone Rangers are a group of American winemakers who promote the use of grape varieties from the Rhône Valley. They are mostly based on the West Coast, particularly California, and have created a not-for-profit organization for the promotion of wines containing at least 75% of the 22 Rhône grape varieties. The name is a pun on The Lone Ranger, and was coined by Wine Spectator to describe Randall Grahm for their 1989 April 15 issue, which featured Grahm dressed as the Long Ranger under the title "The Rhône Ranger". The name was subsequently used for other winemakers.
  Originally formed in the 1980s, without the name and with no formal structure or organization, the group disbanded in the early 1990s. It was revived again in the late 1990s and is considered a catalyst in making Syrah more prevalent in Californian wine. The structure is loosely based on that of the ZAP, which has been successful in promoting Zinfandel in the industry. Today its membership also includes wineries from Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, Michigan and Virginia.
context_section_description: While Northern Rhone wines are often monovarietal, Southern Rhône wines are almost always blends.  Rhone Rangers wineries produce both varietal wines and blends depending on their stylistic preferences. Principal styles of red wines are:
  "Châteauneuf-du-Pape" - (also known as GSM) various proportions of Grenache (for fruit and acidity), Syrah (for dark color, spice, and mineral) and Mourvedre (for tannin and structure), occasionally rounded out with minor amounts of other varieties to give complexity.
  "Northern Rhone" - Syrah either 100% or blended with small amounts of Viognier.
  Varietal - Grenache and Mourvedre, rarely found on their own in the Old World, are often produced as varietals by Rhone Rangers winemakers.
  "Hot weather" - Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan in varying proportions for early drinking.
  "Australian" - Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon
  Principal styles of white wines are:
  Varietal - The white Rhone varieties Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne, and increasingly Grenache blanc are produced as monovarietal wines by Rhone Rangers winemakers.
  "Hermitage Blanc" - Marsanne-Roussanne is the classic Northern Rhone blend for whites.
  "Châteauneuf-du-Pape" - Blends based on Roussanne and Grenache blanc, often with additions of other white Rhone varieties.
caption: A white "Rhone-style" blend from a Washington State Rhone Ranger.
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