The "New, Improved (?) Rhone Rangers"

[Randy Caparoso]

Wow! I'm thrilled that you liked it, Jason. It's always a scary thing when connoisseurs of good food and wine test you out. What did you think of our wine list? Ron Patak (our g.m./partner there) and I have been working hard on keeping it short, sweet, and fun.

Addendum: As far as Rhone style whites are concerned, personally I haven't been super thrilled with what I've seen. For instance, while interesting (and certainly extremely perfumed) most California Viogniers have been pretty tough and lean. Recently, however, I've been impressed with the Treana White, a luscious, smoky, minerally, and surprisingly well-knit and balanced blend of Marsanne and Viognier from the Santa Lucia Highlands. It's an unorthodox blend that one would not expect to work; but the Marsanne from that region seems to be intense and viscous enough to round out the wild, hard-edged elements common to most Viogniers and wines with even just a little Viognier. Other than that, the most successful Viogniers that I have been tasting recently have been the Cold Heaven bottlings coming out of the Au Bon Climat compound in Santa Barbara.