Text of Int'l Colloquium on Rhone Varietals

I am reading Patrick Comiskey’s American Rhône and loving it!

In one chapter, he discusses a 1990 exchange of ideas between French vignerons and American pioneers of Rhône-style wines and grape varieties.

The event, The International Colloquium on Rhône Varietals, included numerous presentations/speeches, and I cannot find any of these in print on the Internet. Searches on Google and the Internet Archive have not proved successful. :frowning:


Can anyone help me find out where I could get a peek at one of the research works, if not all of them?

I appreciate any assistance you can offer.



Los Angeles Times
“U.S. Rhone Varietals Earn Praise From French”

by Dan Berger
May 31, 1990

Bump

I have emailed Mr Jason Haas of Tablas Creek Vineyards and the folks at Neyers. Fingers crossed…

Drew,

What a cool article - and certainly a ‘blast from the past’. Kinda amazing how the ‘movement’ was really based more ‘up north’ than down here in the SLO/SB County areas.

I have reached out to Randall Graham and Bob Lindquist to see if they have anything to add as well.

Cheers!

1 Like

I’m not surprised you’re having trouble. We’re so accustomed to everything being on line these days, but that really wasn’t the case before the late 1990s.

In my work as a journalist, I’ve had to try to obtain documents – government filings, commission reports, and so on – and the often don’t exist in electronic form. Same think with academic research and corporate reports and documents. Until the very late 90s, the Web just wasn’t that developed, and far fewer people had access to it. It wasn’t routine to just post everything to the Web.

1 Like

I followed the first generation of Rhone Rangers back in the '80s, so I’m surprised you weren’t aware of that. I’d forgotten about McDowell, but the article mentions the others up north – Grahm, Steve Edmunds, Phelps.

I went to a symposium at UC Davis around that time (early 90s), where a lot of those guys spoke. I remember Steve Edmunds talking about going to the state agriculture department to get info on old mourvedre/mataro vineyards. When he went to the ranchers, he said he kept having the same response: “Oh, I just tore that up and planted chardonnay last year,” or “I just grafted that over to merlot” (this was pre-pinot days).

I have been experiencing the frustration of seeing articles/publications that are only available in print in a library somewhere in Sonoma, Napa, or UC Davis.

My various nerdy research endeavors have included the morphological differences in old-school Californian Mourvedre/Mataro plant material (say, CoCo and San Benito Vineyards) and the newer Tablas clones; the historical plantings of vineyards in the Antioch/Oakley area; and (upon reading American Rhône ) the numerous speeches/presentations of the “Colloquium”.

John,

I was certainly aware of that first generation as well, especially Randall Graham. He was definitely the most ‘visible’ and ‘loudest’ of the group at that time.

Seeing that there was so much grenache and mourvedre/mataro planted up in Contra Costa and Sonoma Counties that went into field blends back in the day, I’m not that surprised about the lack of SB and SLO stuff at all. I am surprised that Gary Eberle was not mentioned or that his wines were not reviewed - I’m pretty sure that he had been at it down in the Paso area by then.

It seems like the ‘movement’ has come a long way since those days - but in many ways, it still has not. So many of these varieties are still relatively unknown around the country - I took part in the American Wine Society’s National Conference a few weeks back and poured 100% Roussanne and 100% Marsanne bottlings that I have, and many of those in the audience were not even aware of these varieties or that they ‘could’ be bottled on their own.

Yep, a long way to go - at least the quality of the wines, for the most part, is not the issue. But pricing for many are starting to ‘get up there’ and when they do, it’s a less compelling story to many consumers.

Cheers.

1 Like

Awww, John… I had my punched card reader connected to the InterNet via a 36 baud USB cable back in the '60’s!!!
Tom

Paso Robles syrah certainly registered with me in the first round of Rhones. I remember a 1983 Chateau Lauren Paso Robles syrah that I think was supposed to have come from Eberle’s vines. It was outstanding. I first tasted it blindly in the mid-80s with a bunch of serious '83 Northern Rhones and it fit right in. And it was $5 a bottle. I bought a bunch. Hell, it was a couple of bucks cheaper than Clape and Verset Cornas at the time! (With some age, it showed more New World fruit character.)

All of this is by way of letting Tom H know that I’ve been following all this stuff since the very beginning.

Wow! That surprises me.

Yep, John there is still a long way to go to get ‘rhones’ into wine discussion for most folks . . .

It’s not a terrible problem to have - the varieties are usually ‘enjoyable’ - it’s just a matter of marketing and perception, right?!? :slight_smile:

Cheers!

You rebel. I was using punched paper tape.

Pshaw…just for the record, Jay…I had my cuneiform tablet connect to the InterNet via a papyrus USB cable back when I was
writing TN’s (long/boring) on the latest Phoenician wines. The speed was not too fast, but fast enough to keep up w/ my
stylus on that tablet. And…ahem…I did post the first TN on the Falerenium wine!! [snort.gif] So…there!!
Tom

Smoke signals.

While you were stampingthe clay, I was translating from the original Babylonian:

Rabbi Jose bar Judah of Kefar ha-Babli said: He who learns from the young, to what is he like? To one that eats unripe grapes and drinks wine fresh from his wine press. But he who learns from the aged, to what is he like? To one that eats ripe grapes and drinks old wine.

Rabbi Meir used to say: Look not on the flask but on what is in it; there may be a new flask that is full of old wine and an old flask that has not even new wine in it

BUMP

Recently, I have been re-reading my copies of Comiskey’s American Rhône and MacCready’s Wines of the Rhône Valley.


Once again, I have become frustrated by the fact that a pivotal document related to the emergence of Rhône-inspired wines’ on the national wine scene remains out of my grasp.

I am going to to try again and see if anyone involved in the event might be able to pass a photo copy along to me.

Wish me luck!! :slight_smile:

Drew:

I suggest you contact Joseph Phelps Vineyards to see if they would make a copy for you. Ashley Hepworth, winemaker, would be a good staring point.

If I have a copy, I can’t put my finger on it at the moment. I’ve stashed much of my reference materials in multiple locations.

Good luck,

Craig

1 Like

Thanks, Craig!!!

BUMP


I have yet to secure a source for a copy of “The International Colloquium on Rhone Varietals” program.

Hundreds of wine nerds could gain a deeper understanding of the exchange of info that took place between European and American winemakers and grape growers.

**I have uncovered a few new details on the internet about The International Colloquium on Rhône Varietals.

I have not managed to track down a copy for myself.**

The event’s speakers’ notes and documents were translated, compiled, then published as a book by the Monterey Institute of International Studies - now the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) - in collaboration with two individuals (Jean and Anne Waddier).

The 156-page The International Colloquium on Rhône Varietals was provided with an OCLC Control Number, instead of bearing the traditional International Standard Book Number (ISBN). Copies theoretically could be located via the WebCat site by students and library patrons across the nation. However, it is unlikely that many copies of this text exist.


WorldCat
Search Results:
**[u]International Colloquium on Rhône Varietals[/u]**Details:

  • Genre/Form: Conference papers and proceedings
    Congresses
  • Material Type: Conference publication
  • Document Type: Book
  • All Authors / Contributors: Monterey Institute of International Studies
  • OCLC Number: 24478893
  • Notes: “Meadowood, Napa Valley, California, May 16 and 17, 1990.”
  • Description: vi, 158 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm
  • Responsibility: translated and transcribed by the Monterey Institute of International Studies and Jean and Anne Waddier

UC Davis Peter J. Shields Library
Search Results:
**“[u]International Colloquium on Rhône Varietals[/u] (1990 : Meadowood, Calif.); Monterey Institute of International Studies. 1990?”**Location Items:

  • Shields Library
  • Available , Bio/Ag Viticulture and Enology TP544 .I68 1990
  • (1 copy, 1 available, 0 requests)
  • Item in place
  • Loanable
  • Material Type: Book
  • Location: Shields Library Bio/Ag Viticulture and Enology TP544 .I68 1990
  • Barcode: 31175018957509

Details:

  • Description:“Meadowood, Napa Valley, California, May 16 and 17, 1990”
  • Publisher: Monterey : Monterey Institute of International Studies
  • Creation Date: 1990?
  • Format: vi, 158 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.
  • Language: English
  • Source:Library Catalog
  • Identifier: OCLC : (OCoLC)24478893
    990017118720403126

The Americans pivotal in organizing the 1990 wine conference were Robert Haas (Vineyard Brands & Tablas Creek Vyds), Richard Keehn (McDowell Valley Vyds), and Bruce Neyers (then-winemaker at Joseph Phelps Winery).


Hartford Courant
“Robert Haas, Influential American Vintner and Wine Importer, Dies at 90”

by Patrick Comiskey
March 20, 2018


“…In 1991, Haas organized the International Colloquium on Rhone Varieties, an unprecedented meeting between French Rhône producers and the dozen or so producers of Rhône varieties on American soil, to compare notes, methods and markets. It led to lasting transatlantic friendships and channels of cooperation that continue to this day.”


Richard C. Keehn: A Biography
by Karen S. Keehn
Created for Rich’s 40th High School Class Reunion, 1995”



“…Rich also served as director of the Vineyard Foundation, the Wine Institute, and as a delegate to the International Organization of Wines and Vines (OIV) during 1983, 1984, 1990, 1993, and 1994. In 1990 he was co-chairman for an International Colloquium on Rhone varietals in Napa, a conference of 22 producers from the Rhone Valley and 23 from California.”


I’ll Drink to That Podcast
Episode 167: “Bruce Neyers”
April 29th, 2014


Google Books
American Rhône: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink

by Patrick Comiskey
University of California Press, 2016

Preview the book: Link

Chapter 19: “The Bridge from California to France”