American Rhone: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink

Thoughtfully conceived and very well written, this is essential somm reading. -The Somm Journal

This is the most important wine book of the year, perhaps in many years. -The Seattle Times Crisply written, impeccably researched, balanced if fundamentally enthusiastic, scholarly but accessible, and full of unexpected details and characters. -The World of Fine Wine No wine category has seen more dramatic growth in recent years than American Rhone-variety wines. Winemakers are devoting more energy, more acreage, and more bottlings to Rhone varieties than ever before. The flagship Rhone 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. There has never been a better time for American Rhone wine producers.

American Rhone is the untold history of the American Rhone 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 forge a triumph of the obscure and the brash. But, more than this, it is the story of the maturation of the American palate and a new republic of wine lovers whose restless tastes and curiosity led them to Rhone wines just as those wines were reaching a critical mass in the marketplace. Patrick J. Comiskey’s history of the American Rhone wine movement is both a compelling underdog success story and an essential reference for the wine professional.