Hospice du Rhone: An embarrassment of riches
If you’re new to wine or just want to see several producers all at once and not have to buy dozens of bottles, then I prescribe you going to a wine festival. There are several different types. For instance, coming in early March annually is the World of Pinot Noir – a great opportunity to explore more than a hundred variations on making pinot noir wine. Or Wine Spectator hosts its Grand Tour, a chance to sample numerous types of wine from all over the world.
Or, if you want to compare and contrast Old World vs. New World on how they treat the same grape varieties, then Hospice du Rhone (aka HDR) is for you. It’s held every other year in Paso Robles. The next one is April 2024.
The wine region in France known as Rhone allows for the cultivation and bottling of 22 different grapes, including syrah, grenache, mourvedre, viognier, roussanne, and 17 others, such as some rather obscure ones like ugni blanc or counoise.
HDR gathers some of the top American producers of Rhone-variety wines like Saxum, Alban, Clos Solene, Epoch and Tablas Creek.
French luminaries also attend, including Guigal, Chateau de Beaucastel, Chene Bleu and several others.
Consequently, for the price of one ticket, you can sample bottles that collectively would easily exceed $10,000.
I went to the HDR held last year. Held outside, the venue was awash with red and white wines from around the world.
In this column, I will tell you about some of the American wines I tasted. In the next one I will focus on the French wines offered at HDR.
Let’s begin with one of my favorite transplanted French winemakers, Guillaume Fabre, owner and winemaker at Clos Solene, a Paso Robles