We’ve been to many of these Rhone Ranger ‘HOT Tuesday’ events in the past but it’s been a while. We fixed that straight away by going to the Viognier tasting at Clautiere Vineyards last week.
If you have not been to one of these events before you really should check it out. They pick one Rhone variety (they do blends sometimes too) and there will typically be around 15 or so Paso Robles wineries pouring that one variety. It’s a fantastic way to see what all of these winemakers can do with that one specific grape.
We tried Viogniers from Ranchero Cellars, Broken Earth Winery, Four Lanterns, Hearst Ranch, Justin, Eberle, Sculpterra, and Mitchella. There were many others there, like Still Waters, Steinbeck, Summerwood, Pomar Junction, and more but we only had so much time and one of the fun things to do at these events is catch up with wine people we haven’t seen for a while.
I actually enjoyed many of the Viogniers we tried, but Ranchero Cellars, Sculpterra, Broken Earth, and Four Lanterns stood out. Four Lanterns was interesting because they were pouring two, a filtered and an unfiltered. Both were nice but I was leaning toward the unfiltered.
So that’s that. Be sure to go check out these local Rhone Ranger events and take a look at the photos below to see all the crazy debauchery that happens when you Rhone.
We also leans towards the unfiltered. We’re Steve or Jackie pouring? Did they explain why they have an unfiltered Viognier? Quite the story. We love them. Last time in we also purchased their rosé. Next time you are out tasting give it a try.