Meet 10 rising stars who are rewriting the rules of wine on the West Coast.

Meet 10 rising stars who are rewriting the rules of wine on the West Coast.

American wine is having its welldeserved moment of confidence. Our current generation of winemakers has found a particular sweet spot between diversity and quality, and The Chronicle’s 2015 class of Winemakers to Watch perfectly reflects that.

You may notice some changes this year. The main one: We’ve doubled the size of the group, from five to 10. There’s so much talent right now that it was important to broaden our roster. (In some cases, we are resurfacing talents who’ve appeared in our pages over the past year.) The net effect, hopefully, is to give you more names and wines to seek out.

I lobbied for this expansion in part because of the other change. For the first time, our annual list includes winemakers from outside California: Kelly and Todd Bostock of Arizona’s Dos Cabezas, and Scott and Dana Frank of Oregon’s Bow & Arrow.

In part, this simply matches the full West Coast scope of our Top 100 Wines — and a broader spirit of innovation on this coast. But it also reflects these couples’ crucial work in defining, or redefining, their local wine cultures.

The Franks dared to ask whether Pinot Noir, and Burgundy, should be Oregon’s only inspirations. The Bostocks have advanced not only Arizona wine quality but also its accessibility. Local wine on tap in Phoenix? Now a thing.

Our California vintners are equally pioneering, whether it’s Angela Osborne asserting that Grenache from the high desert could be the base material for exceptional wine; or Craig Haarmeyer being a true believer in the potential of inland California.

Some, like Lisa Togni and Rory Williams, are continuing important family legacies. Others, like Jolie-Laide’s Scott Schultz, have managed to push boundaries while crafting wines that are equally pleasing to amateurs and experts.

Viewed as a group, they represent the daring, questioning spirit that exemplifies the best of our current wine culture. And yet all demonstrate a respect for history and tradition in both the Old and New Worlds.

In other words, they are precisely the sort of women and men who will guide American wine joyously into the future.