Rhone Rangers

[00:00:06] Howdy Vine Trippers, I wanted to take just a moment to talk to you about the Texas Wine Lover website and their phone app for both iPhones as well as Google devices. You can actually download this app, put it on your phone or just go to the website if you're not an app person. And if you ever want to go visit some of these great locations that we've been talking about in the podcast, this will give you a great information about the place before you go. And you'll be able to find other wineries in the area.

[00:00:33] So if you want to make a day of it, go see several other places as well. You can search by region. You can sort the listings, find ones that are kid friendly, family friendly, even ones that host RVs. All kinds of different sortable listings you can find there in that app and on the website. You can find other things as well in the area like restaurants, accommodations, maybe events that are going on at the different wineries.

[00:00:56] So it's your one-stop resource that goes hand in hand with this podcast to be able to find those great places to go visit. So check out the Texas Wine Lover website. It's txwinelover.com or go to their app. You can find it on the Google Play Store or the Apple Store as well. Enjoy your trips among the vines and use that app.

[00:01:17] Welcome to Texas Under Vine, an exploratory podcast to scout out the best Texas wine country has to offer.

[00:01:47] I'm your wine guide, Scott, and I'm here to lead you on an auditory expedition to the vineyards and wineries across the great Lone Star State. Each episode will cover a different vineyard, winery, or wine-related business operating in Texas. You'll hear interviews, descriptions, and details about each location. It will excite you to visit and experience them for yourself. Ready to plan a wine tour? Use these episodes to choose the most interesting spots for you and your friends to check out.

[00:02:15] Most of all, enjoy hearing about the rapidly growing wine industry in the state and what makes our wines and wineries the best. Hi, Vine Trippers. Welcome to bonus episode six for the Texas Under Vine podcast.

[00:02:41] So today, I have a special interview for you, a special little treat. Before I get into it, though, just to kind of preface a little bit of kind of where we're going today. Texas has had a kind of rough reputation in the past for wine and for producing wine. And it's been a reputation that we've had a difficult time trying to overtake. It's really changed over the last 10 to 20 years, but especially the last 10 years.

[00:03:10] Those of us who listen to this show frequently or who visit Texas wineries already know a lot of this information and know this. But there has been a bad reputation in the past that Texas cannot produce good wines or they only produce sweet wines or all kinds of different things. And that reputation has been kind of a tough hurdle for people in the wine industry here in Texas to overcome.

[00:03:34] Not only to get a reputation outside of the state, but even with inside our own borders. People already have this preconceived notion or thought that Texas can't make good wine or that there's no good wine coming out of Texas. And we know that this isn't true, but overcoming that reputation can be a problem. It can be difficult.

[00:03:55] Now, anytime that we can get some kind of noise, and I mean that in a positive way, going on outside of the state about Texas wines, whether that's in international wine competitions when our Texas wines are winning major medals at amazing places like in San Francisco and other international competitions. All of those things are great and they do start to open eyes here and there with people outside of the state.

[00:04:24] That Texas is becoming kind of a major player for fine wine and the ability to make quality and great wines here in this state. So we always want to make sure that we amplify that noise to really make sure that people understand where Texas has been. And more importantly, where we are now and where we're going with making incredibly great wines that compete with wines throughout the nation as well as throughout the world. And this is one of those times.

[00:04:52] So there is an organization based in California called the Rhone Rangers. Now, this organization's goal is to promote wineries that are producing Rhone varietals for wines. And the Rhone Valley is a very famous region in France. There's a lot of varieties that come directly from that region. Things like Syrah, Viognier.

[00:05:18] There are other blends as well, like Chateauneuf de Paupes, if you're familiar with that, with Grenache, Mouvet, all kinds of other blends as well. And as well as a lot of varietals that come from the Rhone region. And the Rhone Rangers helped to kind of triumph those and really push those forward because a lot of wine consumers are familiar with some of the big names like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay and Merlot and those things. But maybe not as familiar with the Rhone varietals.

[00:05:47] So this organization was founded many years ago with the intent of really promoting not only those Rhone varietals, but wineries that are producing those Rhone varietals as well. Now, we actually have a few wineries here in Texas that are members of the Rhone Rangers organization. And so because of that, because of some interaction of them going to California and so forth, the Rhone Rangers organization has now decided to do a roadshow and bring the Rhone Rangers to Texas for a tasting event.

[00:06:17] We now have over 20 wineries involved with Rhone Rangers and they are coming here at the beginning of April. Just a few days after this podcast is released. So if you're just now watching this or hearing this, make sure you get online quickly to get tickets if it's an event that you're interested in going to. But they are coming to do this roadshow and they're going to be in the Hill Country. They're going to do a seminar about Rhone varietals and the tasting as part of that.

[00:06:43] And then they'll do a grand tasting with not only 20 or so different Texas wineries producing Rhone varietals, but some also from California and Oregon and other really famous and popular wineries that are making these and triumphing these Rhone varietals. And so because of this, I really wanted to spend some time and interview the president of the Rhone Rangers, Larry Schaefer, who also has his own little wine label.

[00:07:09] And kind of talk to him about the Rhone varietals and the impact here in Texas, as well as this event that they're going to be holding here. So if you can go to the event, if you've got enough time, great. If you don't, this is still going to be a very educational podcast about Rhone varietals and the impact that Texas is having on the U.S. scene as well as the world scene for wines.

[00:07:32] Now, because Larry, the president, is in California and he won't be here until the event, I'm doing my very first ever Zoom interview. So as you know, avid listeners and watchers of the podcast, that I do everything in person. I am always on site interviewing people wherever I go. So this will be a first for me. And there were, you know, it was good. I do prefer in person, but it was really great to talk to Larry online and to get to hear his perspective.

[00:08:02] Bear with a few little audio hiccups sometimes as the Internet connection kind of went up and down. But I think you'll get most of the impact of what is being said here. And you'll really enjoy this visit with Larry. Now, Larry, as I said, in addition to being the current president of the Road Rangers, also has his own winery, his own line of wines that he creates called Tercero Wines. But he didn't get started in the wine industry. Like a lot of people, his path was a little different.

[00:08:29] He actually started in the music industry and even got into the publishing industry for a while before going on to pursue more education and degrees in viticulture and enology. And now actually teaches winemaking and classes there at UC Davis in California. When he got started, actually, into the wine industry, he actually worked for Fess Parker Winery, which has Texas ties.

[00:08:54] In that, Fess Parker, if you don't know, is a native Texan who went to the University of Texas. And back in the 50s, he moved to California where he was recruited by Disney to play Davy Crockett. So he was the famous Davy Crockett in many Disney features back in the 50s. And he actually started some resorts and a winery there in California, which is still operational and successful today.

[00:09:20] And Larry actually had a little bit of time in his early career working there. Now, the Rhone Rangers as an organization started back in the early 80s. And they were a group of winemakers who wanted to get together and really give a lot more educational information about Rhone varietals, which are much lesser known, especially at that time when consumers were really focused on Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay and things like that. Those were the forefront of most consumers' minds.

[00:09:47] And they didn't know much about some of these Rhone varietals, so they wanted to triumph those and really share the news of these varietals and really champion those varietals to wine consumers to try something new. They didn't actually come together and formalize as an official organization until the 1990s. And now they've put on all kinds of educational information. They are a not-for-profit group.

[00:10:11] They are loosely based in the Paso Robles area of California, but they have member wineries from California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, and even Virginia, who are making these Rhone varietal wines. And as part of their efforts, they do roadshows where they travel to different locations to promote the Rhone varietals and the wineries that are producing those.

[00:10:35] And so they're making a trip to Texas now, and this is going to be from April 6th to April 8th, the events that they have going on, which Larry will talk more about in the interview, if you can make some of those. But they're here to really talk about those varietals, give you a chance to taste many of those varietals from different wineries, and champion and promote the Texas wineries, especially, that have now joined in to the Rhone Rangers organization and are helping to promote those Rhone varietals, which some of those do very, very well here in Texas.

[00:11:03] There are actually over 20 wineries here in Texas now that are members of the Rhone Rangers organization, and I'm sure that number is set to grow and get bigger because I know there's a lot more wineries that do produce Rhone varietals here in Texas. And so as our industry grows, as the Rhone Rangers come to do this event here, visibility grows a little bit, I'm sure we'll see even more Texas wineries become members of this organization. Now, again, since Larry lives in California and I wanted to interview him,

[00:11:31] we did set up a Zoom conference call with video where we could actually talk to one another, and I could ask him a little about the event, about his background in wines, a little educational information about Rhone varietals and the Rhone Rangers organization. So let's go to that interview and hear directly from him. All right. Well, howdy, Vine.

[00:11:58] Welcome to this bonus episode for the Texas Undervine podcast. And I've got an exciting one today to share with you about a really cool non-Texas-based organization that's coming to Texas and promoting some of the great things that we have here and the wines we have here in Texas called the Rhone Rangers. And so they've got an event coming up here that you'll learn more about here in a little while, but I'm really excited to have Larry Schaefer here, who's the president of the Rhone Rangers.

[00:12:23] And he's going to tell us a little bit about Rhone Varietals and kind of their mission of what they're doing, as well as the event that's coming here to Texas. So you can be a part of that. And so without further ado, Larry, tell us a little bit about yourself. So what kind of got you into the wine industry? What's your wine journey all about? Scott, my wine journey is not a direct route. It's a very indirect route. I didn't grow up in a family that drank wine. My dad was an elementary school teacher. My mom was raising five boys.

[00:12:51] I joked that there was a lot of hard alcohol heading around the house, but no wine. So when I decided to go to college, I actually started at UC Davis, which, as you know, has a wonderful winemaking program, but I had no interest in wine whatsoever. I ended up transferring from Davis to Berkeley, graduated from the business school there. And my first love was really music. In high school in L.A., I took pictures of a punk band in the L.A. music scene. So I really wanted to get into the kind of the A&R and marketing side of music.

[00:13:19] And my first job out of school was at a record company, the largest record distribution company in the world on the finance side. And I like to say it's kind of like going to work for Ben & Jerry's and loving ice cream and never being able to taste any of it. So it was kind of soul-sucking. So I did that for a while. I went into publishing, actually educational publishing and then trade publishing. And I did that for a very long time.

[00:13:43] But I got to a point about 20, almost 25 years ago that life was just not exciting. There had to be more. I wasn't enjoying what I was doing on a daily basis. Started having kids, wanted to show my kids, you have to enjoy what you do on a daily basis. And wine had always intrigued me. As my father got older, he started getting into wine. And so we kind of collectively got into it together. I've never been a wine collector. I'm not a quote-unquote wine connoisseur. I'm fascinated by the process.

[00:14:14] And so I decided to go back to school and work towards getting my master's in viticulture and enology. The problem is I had no science background. I mean, zero. Any class I took in my four years, if I had to take a science class, it was science for dummies. So I started going back to school at junior colleges in the area where I lived, taking classes with kids who literally could have been my kids, taking general chemistry, biology. And then I worked in the Temecula wine region part-time at the same time.

[00:14:43] And after two years, I transferred back to UC Davis and got my master's in viticulture and enology. So I kind of took it head on. I embraced the science of it. Now come full circle, 20 years later, Davis has an online winemaking certificate program that I now teach one of the courses for. So I really have come full circle.

[00:15:07] All that said, even though I have this degree, my love of wine doesn't come from the science of wine. I like to explain that science explains how wine gets into a bottle. Science doesn't explain wine. Science of wine is no different than music or art or food. It hits us all differently. And my goal as a winemaker, as a member of this industry, is to educate people about that and make them feel comfortable at whatever level they want to be with regards to wine.

[00:15:35] So that's kind of my soapbox that I stand on every single day. Cool. And you work for a winery right now? I have my own winery. So when I got out of school, I worked for Fess Parker Winery. Fess has a long tie to Texas for sure. And I worked for that winery for nearly a decade before branching off to do my own stuff. And my own winery is called Tercero Wines. T-E-R-C-E-R-O. Small little winery. I make between 1,500 and 2,000 cases. I don't own any vineyards.

[00:16:05] I buy fruit from multiple vineyards throughout Santa Barbara County. Mainly Rhone varieties. I do. I'm a curious winemaker, so I work with some other stuff too. But my passion is really Rhone's, and that's what kind of led me to the Rhone Rangers. Okay. And being the president of the Rhone Rangers, can you tell us a little bit about the organization? So what are some of its goals? How does it go about promoting Rhone-style wines? Certainly.

[00:16:26] So the Rhone Rangers started as kind of a loose-knit group of wineries, winemakers back in the early 80s, who all had a love for Rhone varieties, but realized that no one knew what they were. No one knew what they were. They might know Chave from the northern Rhone, and they might know Bocastel from Chatsunup, but they didn't understand much about Rhone varieties.

[00:16:49] So these winemakers got together and kind of started doing little roadshows where they had maybe a dozen winemakers that would get on the road and talk about these wines, mainly to the trade. And it was, again, very loose-knit, not organized. By the late 90s, the Rhone Rangers kind of came into their own and created a formal organization, nonprofit organization, whose main goal is to educate people about Rhone varieties. That's really what it comes down to.

[00:17:14] Consumers and trade, we're an advocacy group for these lesser-known varieties that we feel very strongly should be better known than they are. So we've grown from a couple of wineries now. We have about 120 wineries, and we're a national organization. We're based in Paso Robles. That's where our executive director is, but we're not really based anywhere per se. We have our biggest tasting coming up in March.

[00:17:39] Actually, I know this is going to air a little bit later, but actually tomorrow. So this will be a week and a half after this airs, but we'll have 70, almost 80 wineries at this event. So we have about 120 wineries from every nook and cranny of California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, and Virginia. The wonderful thing about Rhone varieties are they grow pretty much anywhere.

[00:18:06] Certain varieties are going to be more temperamental, but varieties like Syrah and varieties like Viognier do well in almost every climate. And therefore, we're really seeing that growth, and we hope to expand to even more states. And there's areas within California that are known, that grow Rhone varieties aren't known for them, that we're trying to bring into the fold as well. Hmm, cool. Well, you mentioned a couple of them, but just for my listeners, can you kind of tell us what are some of the main kind of Rhone grape varietals, and why are they significant to the wine world?

[00:18:37] Sure. Well, I mean, significance, that's an interesting thing. They're no more or no less significant than any other wine variety per se, but there's 22 Rhone varieties altogether. The main red ones that most of your listeners are probably going to be familiar with, Syrah, Grenache, Morvedra. And we were talking about them, and the fact that Morvedra is the third most widely planted red grape in Texas is pretty impressive. Yeah.

[00:19:02] And in perspective, in California, the amount of Syrah grown is greater than the sum of all other red Rhone varieties together. And the amount of Viognier planted and grown is more than all of the other white Rhone varieties planted together. Interesting. And so, with Syrah, Grenache, Morvedra, there's Kunwas, Carignan, Senso, and all of these are planted in Texas. I'm excited because I get to experience more of these shortly.

[00:19:30] And then on the white side, Viognier is probably the most well-known, but there's also Grenache Blanc, and there's Marsant, and there's Roussan, and a variety that there's more planted. The largest planting of Pickpul Blanc in the U.S. is not in California. It's actually in Texas. So, there's Pickpul, there's Claret, there's Burblanc, and there's a whole bunch of other varieties that are not very well-known. The beauty is, and I like to say, Rhone varieties are kind of like an orchestra.

[00:19:59] You can have a little piccolo over here and a French horn over here, and they're beautiful on their own, but boy, they work really well together, too. Yeah, so not just the single varietals, but blends and things like that as well. Well, I was lucky to, on a recent episode, to have been able to interview Dr. Richard Becker, who is, I know that Becker Vineyards, I think, is a member of the Rhone Rangers.

[00:20:24] And he is widely credited as kind of being the father of bringing Viognier to Texas and really popularized that. And many people might argue and say that Viognier may be the white grape of Texas. It does so well in our climate here. But yeah, and then there's also GSM's that you mentioned a while ago, the Grenache Syrah, Mouved, and things like that.

[00:20:47] One of my experiences with Mouved in Texas has been that it seems to really adapt to the terroir and to the winemaking style so well that I don't know that I've had two Mouved. I never know what to expect when I drink a Mouved. Mouved, it's not like one of those wines, like I drink a Capsaub, it's going to taste like a Capsaub. But Mouved can be really bright and fruity or it can be really more muted and soft and earthy. Just the expression of Mouved, to me, is pretty amazing in the way it prospers here in Texas.

[00:21:17] I was going to say with Mouved, actually with a lot of Rhone varieties, the style that the variety is made in is certainly dependent upon where the grapes are grown. But it is definitely dependent upon winemaker intent as well. Because with a variety like Mouved, it can get very bright and fruity. It could also be earthy and feral and then everything in between. And part of that is based on sight. But part of that also is based on whether a winemaker, what the winemaker is trying to achieve.

[00:21:46] And what their benchmark is. So, for instance, if your benchmark is Bandol, a region in the south of France which is known for Mouved, then you're going to be aiming more towards that earthy, feral quality. You're still going to get fruit. I mean, in California and in Texas, you're going to get fruit above and beyond what you might get in other parts just because of the heat that we have. But if you choose to pick Mouved were really ripe, then you're going to end up with something bright and fruity.

[00:22:16] Which to me really doesn't show off the typical characteristics. And that's one of the things that we're excited about as an organization is to show off kind of the variety that all of these varieties can bring to the table. But then show off some of the kind of typical qualities so that people can get an idea of where it hits them right. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:41] Well, what of the kind of popular Rome varietals or things do you think are the most accessible to new wine drinkers? So, many of my listeners maybe, you know, they're familiar with Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, some of the, you know, more popular wines that we've heard of. But maybe they've not. Maybe they've heard of a Chateauneuf de Parfou. Or they've heard of a few things, but maybe not necessarily tried. Or I'm like, I don't know what Mouved is. Or I've heard of Grenache.

[00:23:04] What do you think are the most approachable or kind of the most easy for new wine drinkers to get started with? It's a great question. And it really comes down to when people are getting into wine, the one question, and I get slapped around for asking this question all the time, but I ask people how you drink your coffee. And I don't know, Scott, if you've ever heard this line of thinking, but do you drink your coffee black or with cream? I drink mine with cream. But you need cream or milk or something. Yeah, yeah.

[00:23:33] So that tells me that if I give you scotch, you're not going to have it neat. You're going to have it on the rocks most likely if you're going to drink it at all. It tells me you're probably going to go milk or bittersweet over really dark chocolate. You might go 70% but probably not much more than that. I like a darker chocolate. Yeah. But not a real dark, not bitter. Yeah. So basically that's what it comes down to, right? So why do people put cream or milk in their coffee? They do it because they don't like bitter things. Well, if you don't like bitter coffee, guess what? You're not going to like bitter wine.

[00:24:01] So people that drink their coffee with cream tend to like smoother wines. They tend to err more on the side of fruity rather than earthy. They don't want something too dry. But again, dry is a relative term. And a bold red wine to somebody who drinks their coffee with cream is going to have a lot of body but no rough edges. Okay. Whereas I'm the opposite. I drink my coffee black. So I'm going to drink my scotch neat. I'm going to go cheese over chocolate. If it is chocolate, it's going to be dark.

[00:24:30] I'm going to have Brussels sprouts raw. I'm going to go for the most tannic red wine that I can and the driest white wine that I can. So we don't use – I think we have a problem in our industry of not relating to consumers enough to understand their palates. Because when somebody says they want a bold wine, you and I are going to want – I'm going to want a wine that's going to taste like I'm drinking coffee grounds. That's not going to taste good to you. And it's not that my wine is better than a wine that you like.

[00:24:57] It's that our taste buds, our objective taste buds are that different. So when people are getting into their own varieties – so if you drink your coffee with cream, you're going to look for something that's more on the fruit forward side. You're going to look for something that's smoother. You're going to look for something that doesn't have a lot of tannin. You might look for something that you can chill. Most people that drink their coffee with cream tend to like their red wines a little colder. Just like you put an ice cube and scotch, this does the same thing. And my whole thing is I don't care.

[00:25:27] I mean you do you, I do me, and we're all good. So I tell people you want to put an ice cube in my wine, go for it. I'm not offended because I understand why you're doing it. You're not doing it to offend me. You're doing it to make it taste better for you. So to me that's a really important point when people are getting into wine to make that connection, to understand that a rating is only one person's viewpoint. Your best friend might think some wine is the greatest in the world, but I'll tell you,

[00:25:56] when people get into wine, they oftentimes drink wine they don't like because they feel they're supposed to like it. Ah, interesting. They feel like, well, I just don't get it. Well, no, you get it, you just don't like it. But it's difficult to, it's difficult for somebody, if I pour somebody a beautiful older Bordeaux that smells like cigar box and leather, and you drink your coffee with cream, you can appreciate it, but it's not your cup of tea.

[00:26:22] And it's okay to say, I don't like something that's $1,000 or $100.1. It doesn't matter. Because if you like it, you like it, if you don't. You know, it's the same as music, right? We can both agree to disagree on music, and there's no problems. But when it comes to wine, oftentimes I find consumers are not as lenient with other consumers about what they drink and how they drink. And I just think it's a shame. I don't think it needs to be that way. So when it comes to road varieties, like Grenache tends to be brighter, fruitier.

[00:26:50] It tends to be a great gateway wine. And varieties that are grown in Texas, like Cunois and Cinso, are lighter wines. And those tend to be gateway wines. To me, they're beautiful wines. I love both those varieties. I make 100% versions of them. To me, I call them acoustic or unplugged reds. They're just light and ethereal. But then if you want something bigger and bold, or something like a Syrah, something like a GSM, perhaps,

[00:27:19] can kind of scratch that itch. But it's difficult with me to say with certainty that style is going to be what somebody's looking for. It depends upon how it's made. Okay. I love that comparison with music because, yeah, I mean, it is subjective, you know. And I've run into so many wine drinkers or people who I have to let them know, you know what, when you're doing a tasting, it's okay if you don't like it. If you take a sip of something and you don't like it, pour it out. It's not offensive to the winemaker, to the winery.

[00:27:47] You don't have to swallow something that you don't like. Pour it out and say, I didn't like this. Can I try this instead? And find those things that are subjective to you. And that whole idea of music, that clicks with me because, you know, my music tastes are so different from even all of my families and my best friends and things like that, even on small details. And I think wine can be the same way. That's a really cool comparison. It is. And it is very challenging for somebody to tell, like, go to a tasting room and try a wine and say, I don't like it and feel like they're not offending somebody.

[00:28:17] Well, first of all, the people that are working at the winery didn't make that wine. Second of all, if you're talking to the winemaker, it's one thing to say. And I really take offense when somebody says I had a bad wine because I'll ask them, was it bad or did you not like it? Because to me, there's very different things. Most consumers don't understand wine flaws, and so they're not going to understand that a wine, it could be a corked wine. It could be a bready wine. It could be a wine that has high volatile acidity.

[00:28:46] But most of the time when they're saying they had a bad wine, it just didn't taste good to them. And so I think we need to use that language as well. And so when you're in a winery, for instance, you drink your coffee with cream and somebody gives you a tannic wine, it's not going to taste good. Pure and simple. Now, they give you a piece of chocolate to go in that's going to coat your mouth in cream and you're not going to taste it. Well, there we go. That's something different. Right?

[00:29:08] But I think if we can get people to use a common language, then when you're in a taste room, you say, you know, this doesn't fit my – it just doesn't sit right. And I don't want to use the word palate because when people are getting into wine, I think that's – I don't like the language we use. We need to find a simpler way of doing it. But if you just say, hey, I don't like this. Can I try something else? It's the same as going into a restaurant. Yeah.

[00:29:30] If a restaurant has a good buy-the-glass list, try something in a one-ounce sample before you buy it to see, does this hit what I'm looking for? I was at a restaurant actually in Mexico and they had Chablis, but they only had it in bottles. And it was my birthday and I'm like, you know what? I want something dry and crisp. And I didn't have a chance to try it. It brought the bottle out, opened it. You know, once you open it, it's mine because it's not by the glass. Right. And it was really buttery.

[00:29:57] Now, when I think of Chablis, I don't think of – so it was this disconnect. But if I had a chance to try it beforehand, I wouldn't have just bought it sight unseen. I would have said, can I have some? And I'm like, that's not what my expectations are. So it's no different than listening to a song on the radio and going, you know what? I don't like that. Let's switch the station. If you try it, you don't like it, move on to something else. You're bound to find something you're going to like.

[00:30:24] And if you're in a tasting room and they're pouring you seven wines and you don't like all of them, well, look at that as a learning experience. Look at that as, why didn't I like this? What is it about these wines? Have a conversation with the people to educate yourself so that the next time you're trying wines, you can understand why you might have liked – because what happens is somebody will try a one Montepulciano, for instance, and they go, I don't like that variety because of the way it was made. Well, it's not the variety. It's that one example.

[00:30:53] It's like people that say they don't like Chardonnay, and I'll pour them in Chablis, and they go, oh, this is beautiful. I'm like, well, that's Chardonnay, but it's made in a different style. So that's where the suggestion about varieties and what you like and don't like becomes a little challenging to say of a specific variety is going to hit every mark for every person because it's just challenging to do so. Well, let's direct our attention towards you guys coming to Texas here now. Very proud of our state. Very proud of our wine industry.

[00:31:24] Us wine insiders here in Texas feel like we should be better known throughout not only the nation but the world, and we're getting there. We're making progress on the world stage in different places. But what drew the Rhone Rangers to coming to Texas? How do you see kind of the Rhone varietals kind of contributing to the growth of the Texas wine industry? Well, you mentioned Dr. Becker. So Becker Vineyards has been a member of our association now for a couple of years. William Chris has been a member. Doug Lewis from Lewis Sellers has been a member.

[00:31:54] And they have come out the last couple of years to the event, the main event that we do, and just shown so much enthusiasm. And they said, you know, we'd really love it because the Rhone Rangers has done roadshows in the past. It's been a while. But we've done them in the past. And so we started talking to Chris at William Chris about can we make something happen? And one thing led to another. And we had four Texas wineries as of January 1st. And now we have closed to 20.

[00:32:24] I did a lot of outreach. Chris was very helpful in recommending other wineries. And so we really want to embrace the Texas wine scene as much as possible. I want to make Texas wine not an oxymoron. Right? There's some beautiful wines that are made in Texas. But when I mentioned Texas wine to winemakers, say, in California, their first thought is, well, you know, you know, blessed be them kind of thing. You know, God bless them.

[00:32:52] But, you know, they don't understand the quality that's out there. And so the goal is, hey, taste the wines. Try this Pickpool. Try this Movedra. Oftentimes we need to think of it in a different perspective because they're not growing in the same climate. We're growing it. They're not growing in the same region. But the wines are really well made. So the event that's taking place in Paso, I think there's four or five Texas wineries that are there. I'm recommending every consumer that comes to my tasting to try all of them.

[00:33:19] When we go to Texas, it's April 6th and 7th and 8th. April 6th, we're doing a consumer seminar at Halter Ranch's new facility in High. And that's in the morning. And then there's a lunch. If you decide to stick, go to that seminar. It's a small seminar. I am moderating it. I'll be going through a tasting of six different Texas Rhone wines. I'm really, really excited about that. Bending Ranch is going to be one of the vineyards that's there.

[00:33:49] They were the ones who brought Pickpool into Texas in 2009. So they're going to be pouring their Pickpool. And then Chris from William and Chris will be pouring as well. And then in the afternoon at William and Chris, we're having a grand tasting with about 32 wineries. So the majority of them, two-thirds of them, are going to be Texas wineries. But then there are some pretty well-known wineries from California. There's a winery named Troon from Oregon as well. But from California, Tobliss Creek is going to be there.

[00:34:15] Domaine de la Terre Rouge, a guy named Bill Easton, who's a Lifetime Achievement Award winner. The Run Ranger is going to be there. Bob Lindquist, who started Coupe and has his own Lindquist family wines, is going to be there. I'll be pouring my wines. Some new upstarts as well. But Ridge will be there. Alta Kalina, Jacob, or some pretty well-known names. So the whole goal is, hey, let's bring as many people as we can, not only to taste Texas wines, but to taste the same varieties made outside of Texas so we can compare and contrast.

[00:34:45] So that's on the 6th. On the 7th, there's a couple of winemaker dinners that a couple of the individual wineries are working to put on. And then on the 8th, we're doing a trade seminar and trade tasting at Wunderlust in Austin, their East Austin location or Shady Lane location. And then we just finalized details to extend it to do a consumer tasting that evening. So if you're not able to make it on April 6th out to Fredericksburg,

[00:35:13] then on April 8th, if you're in Austin, from 5 to 7, we'll be doing a tasting at Wunderlust. There'll be a few less wineries there. There'll be about, I think, about 26, 27. There's a couple that are not able to stay for that event. But all of this information is on the Rhone Rangers website. So that's rhoerangers.org. So all the ticket information is there. And our tastings are very reasonably priced as well. Our goal is really to break even. It's not to, quote-unquote, make a killing.

[00:35:42] We want to continue doing what we're doing the way we do that and make it reasonable. The table fees we charge, the wineries, are very, very reasonable compared to a lot of other events to try to get as many wineries there and as many consumers there as possible. Okay. And that, you know, a lot of those wineries that I've seen from the list that are going to be there, especially on that April 6th date from Texas, my listeners have actually heard about on this podcast. I've done interviews there.

[00:36:09] And so, listeners, if there's any of those wineries that you haven't yet to get out to, you want to try, this is a great event to have them all in the same room and get to taste some of, I think, some of those great wineries from California and Oregon and these other places that you haven't had a chance as well, being here in Texas. So what an amazing event. That sounds like a really, really fun experience. And then they can go to the website that you mentioned a moment ago, and they'll have the links to get tickets for all those there?

[00:36:37] Correct. The RoanRangers.org website will have links to get tickets. William Chris is handling the tickets for the April 6th event, so it'll link you back to William Chris's website. Halter Ranch is handling the tickets for the Consumer Seminar. So that seminar, again, is going to be in the morning. It's going to feature six winemakers. And so you're going to have winemakers. And the other thing about the RoanRangers events is the winemakers tend to be the ones out front pouring. So for your listeners who might have become familiar with some of these wineries,

[00:37:07] maybe you had that winemaker on the podcast. Well, that same person is going to be at this tasting. So I like to say, one of the things I love to say about Roan varieties and Roan wines, I like to say we are wines without pretense. Roan varieties are the everyman wine. You know, if you go to a Pinot Noir event, sometimes you feel like you have to kind of get dressed up. If you go to a Cabernet event, you know, you kind of feel like, Roan varieties, it's like, listen, wear whatever you want to wear. We don't care. And come in with that attitude.

[00:37:36] Because when you're trying these wines, these aren't wines necessarily to put up on a shelf and say, I'm going to age this for 60 years. Drink the bottle. It's going to go well with food. You're going to enjoy it. It's going to put a smile on your face. Not pretentious at all. We try not to be. Cool. Well, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to get on as soon as we finish this interview to go get my tickets, because I can't wait to be there, especially for that Sunday event for both of those things. That'll be a lot of fun. Larry, thank you so much for your time.

[00:38:06] Thank you for sharing Roan varietals with the world, for everything that you guys do there to advocate for Roan varietals with the Roan Rangers. And thank you for validating and helping to validate our Texas wine industry by bringing that roadshow here to Texas. I hope many of my listeners will get out and get tickets and come see it for themselves. Well, I was going to say, understand this is also not a one-off. I mean, our goal is really to continue to come back to Texas. This is kind of proof of concept in a way.

[00:38:36] Texas is not the easiest state for wineries outside of Texas to do things with. And that's not a bad thing. It just is. And so we've had to jump through a lot of hoops to understand the process this first time. Now that we have. The other thing is we're inviting other wineries that are not members to come to the tasting to experience it so that hopefully they get involved in coming years as well and will grow this. And the goal is to have Texas-based wines poured at these events, right?

[00:39:05] There are wineries in Texas. I know there's a huge, huge movement in Texas. And I applaud it entirely that if you're pouring wines in a tasting room, it's great to have Texas wines, Texas grapes. And we're hoping to embrace that as well as much as possible. I would just say, please come to the event. If you don't come to the event, go onto the website. It's an educational website as well. We go through all 22 varieties. We talk about the varieties themselves.

[00:39:35] There's a YouTube channel that the Roan Rangers has. We put on Zoom seminars throughout the year as well. And they'll be targeted with either a varietal or wines for a season or a region. So we'll most likely be doing a Texas-based one sometime later on in the year. And it's an hour conversation of winemakers talking about the wine that they produced, why they did it. It gets somewhat technical, but not too technical. I won't let it. I tend to moderate them.

[00:40:04] I don't let it get too technical. If I can't understand it from a layman's perspective, I don't want to talk about it. We just start losing people. But the Roan Rangers really aims, again, to educate. So yeah, get involved. You can join the Roan Rangers. You become a sidekick member. And just put your email address, and you'll get updated about all of the events that we put on. And you can come to... We're doing... So we do events in Paso Robles. We're doing a big event in Sonoma at the end of June.

[00:40:32] We do events in Santa Barbara County. And we're hoping to do more roadshows as well. As we continue to talk about these varieties and find wineries in different regions that are excited about kind of coming on board, we want to support that as much as possible. So we plan on doing more of that. But we are, as an organization, we are just so excited about coming to Texas. We are very much looking forward to it. But, you know, we've already had a couple of wineries, other wineries say that they'd like to host in 2026.

[00:41:01] So the hope is that this again becomes an annual thing. And we start seeing more California wineries wanting to go. And we see more Texas wineries wanting to join. And then Texas wineries wanting to come to California and expose their wine to this market as well. It's a win-win. I definitely say it's a win-win for not only the Road Rangers, but for our Texas wineries here.

[00:41:30] And really helps put a spotlight on the world stage to the incredible and amazing wines that we are producing here in Texas that are at the level of many other locations around the United States and the world and can compete with any others. And hopefully kind of getting rid of some of that bad reputation I talked about at the very beginning of the podcast and helping more consumers see that we are a valid player in the wine industry as a whole. Now these events are ones that you don't want to miss.

[00:41:59] So go now out to the Road Rangers website to get more information on those events. But even if you can't make the events or you're listening to or watching this after they have occurred, you can still go to their website and become a Sidekick member like Larry mentioned to get information. Larry said this is not the only roadshow they plan to come to Texas for. So there will be hopefully future events here as well. And by becoming a Sidekick member, you'll be able to get that information ahead of time and you can make those next events. Make sure and check out their website for all the event information.

[00:42:29] And to join as a Sidekick member, it's www.roanrangers.org. You'll find on their website there all the information on their events, things like their educational experiences that they provide and webinars. And then you can even join the organization there on that website. All right. Just to reiterate for the actual events, if you're wanting to go, if you go to the Road Rangers website, you'll see the links.

[00:42:53] There is a, on April 6th, there's a lunch and a seminar hosted by Larry where they're going to go through six different wines and a panel and talk about each of those different varietals paired with the lunch. That's going to be at Halter Ranch Winery there in the Stonewall area. And you can actually find the link. They can't host that on the Road Ranger site. So it does send you to the Halter Ranch website to purchase your tickets for that, if that's something that you're wanting to go to.

[00:43:20] And then following that, they're going to do the Grand Tasting event at William Criss Wines in High, Texas. And that'll be about a three-hour event where they'll have, again, over 30 different wineries in place tasting these great wines. 20 or so of those are from Texas and a smattering from California and Oregon and things like that. Again, not something you want to miss, but if you go to the Road Rangers website, you'll find the link for that one. Those tickets are sold through William Criss's website and you can get those tickets as well.

[00:43:48] Now, some of the wineries are doing some dinners on April 7th. That would probably be through that winery if you've heard about that or know about that. But on April 8th, they are actually doing another event for trade partners at Wanderlust during the day. So people that work in the wine industry can actually go to that event at Wanderlust here in Austin. And then that evening, they're going to do another consumer tasting there at Wanderlust.

[00:44:13] So if you can't get out to the Hill Country this weekend, but you'd like to go on the 8th, that may be a great option for you. And again, there on the Road Rangers website, you'll find the link that takes you to Wanderlust's website. For ticketing for that event. And I think it's easiest probably, again, to just go to that Road Rangers website than to go to each of those individual wineries websites. Because the link will take you to each one directly from that central location at theroonrangers.org. So that's a great place to go.

[00:44:38] And if you come out to the Sunday tastings and the seminar on April 6th, I'm going to be at both of those events. So if you come to either of those, make sure and look me up and say hello. And if you're interested, I've got a great podcast sticker for you to show your love for the Texas Undervine podcast. And make sure you just say hello if you see me at that event. All right. That's going to wrap up this bonus episode. However, before I go, make sure and tell all of your wine-loving friends about this podcast.

[00:45:06] So that they can find great locations to visit as well. Hey, they may want to go and check out this Road Rangers event. And that gets them more info about great locations to visit here in Texas. As well as if you would like to consider sponsoring or donating to help me with my costs for the podcast. It's not free. I put everything out of my pocket and don't make any money. I lose money actually on this podcast. But it's out of love because I love doing it so much. So I will continue to do it even if I'm having to foot all of the bills.

[00:45:33] But I do have a great set of Patreon subscribers that really help me offset some of those costs. Thank you to those current Patreon subscribers. If you're interested, if you go to my website, www.texasundervine.com, go to the top. There's a link called Become a Patron. And it will take you to that Patreon site to check out what's offered there. For just a few dollars a month, you can support the podcast. And it entitles you to some extras that you don't get if you're not a Patreon member. So you can find things like sneak peeks to where I'm going next.

[00:46:03] You'll find video walkthroughs of the wineries. You'll find photo galleries that I take when I'm at each of the different wine destinations. So you can get some kind of extra bonus content there that no one else gets as a Patreon subscriber. And again, my heart goes out to you guys that currently subscribe. Thank you so much for helping me offset a lot of these costs that I incur by bringing this great information to you. And if you don't want to become a monthly subscriber, you can always just make a one-time donation as well. Any of that would be helpful.

[00:46:31] And if you're in the wine industry and you would like to consider advertising on the podcast, feel free to talk to me as well. We can talk a little bit about that. And I've got some room as well to be able to put some ads in if needed. But I'm not the kind of podcast that's going to put ads for skincare or roofing or things like that. If I do add any advertisements to my podcast, it would definitely be something wine-focused and wine-centric. That would really benefit you guys, my audience. Also, if you're watching this on YouTube, make sure and like, follow, and subscribe here.

[00:47:01] And leave a comment down below. If you have had some Rhone varietals and you have a favorite, let me know. What is your favorite Rhone varietal in a comment down below? Or if you're not sure, but you're thinking about going to these events, tell me what you're most looking forward to about checking out these events with Larry and the Rhone Rangers there this coming weekend. Just put that in the comments again down below. And with that, my time is up. So don't forget, subscribe to the podcast and follow my socials to be notified anytime a new episode is released.

[00:47:31] And until next time, happy trails and bottoms up, y'all. Thanks for listening to Texas Undervine. We strive to provide you with the best information about wine businesses all over Texas. Be sure to check out our website at texasundervine.com and follow us on our socials at Texas Undervine to stay up on all the upcoming episodes. Please email us with any suggestions or feedback.

[00:47:58] Also, contact us if you're interested in donating, sponsoring, or advertising on the podcast just to help us cover our expenses and bring even more great info to you in future episodes. Above all, travel safely and most especially, drink responsibly.

[00:48:49] Howdy, Vine Trippers. So this is your Tasting Through Texas, Texas Undervine Season 1 t-shirt. It's only going to be available for a little short amount of time. On the back, it has all the different locations like a band tour t-shirt. So this is a limited time item and you can go out and get it now. And one of the great things about that t-shirt is a portion of every sale goes to support the Texas Hill Country Winery Scholarship Fund.

[00:49:13] So you know that by buying that t-shirt, you're also investing in the growing and flourishing of an amazing wine industry here in Texas and all of those people that are going to come and make it even better. Check out that merchandise store. It's on my website at texasundervine.com. Just go up to the top. You'll see the link for the merchandise store.