The ‘Rhone Rangers’ Ride Into Texas To Showcase Rhone Wine Varietals

Last week, the Rhone Rangers rode through Texas, putting on a roadshow from April 6-8, 2025, to highlight Rhone varietals being grown across the United States, with a special focus on growers in the host locale: Texas!

Bringing a series of Rhone Rangers events to Texas is fitting as the number of producers in Texas making Rhone varietal wines has been steadily increasing—as has the number of Texas producers who are members of the Rhone Rangers (which now numbers upwards of 15).

About the Rhone Rangers and why they came to Texas

In the lead-up to the roadshow, Jason Haas, former President of the Rhone Rangers, and leader of the renowned Tablas Creek Vineyard, told me that the Rhone Rangers were “really excited” to bring their events out to Texas for the first time. He said they were hoping the festivities would create some positive experiences for people and bring some attention to the developing wine scene in Texas, including the production of high quality Rhone varietals.

The Rhone Rangers is a voluntary, 501(c)(6) organization that brings together producers of Rhone varietal wines to ”educate the public on Rhone varietal wine grapes grown in America and to promote the production and enjoyment of these wines” (as per their mission statement)

During one of the events, a Trade Seminar and Tasting in Austin, TX, on Tues, Apr 8, 2025, I was able to chat with current Rhone Ranger’s President, Larry Schaffer (proprietor for Tercero Wines), who told me: “Rhone varietal wines are accessible and unpretentious” and that their goal as an organization is “to welcome people into the wine world and welcome people to try these wines, these grapes, that they have maybe never heard of.” He noted that once people taste quality Rhone wines made in the US, “their eyes are opened, and their minds are opened, and they’re able to really appreciate these maybe lesser-known varietals while getting introduced to the producers making them.”

A warm welcome, and a positive reception

President Larry Schaffer said it was “a real pleasure to be out in Texas, seeing the landscape and seeing how the industry has developed over the past 10-15 years.” He said he appreciated getting to experience Texas hospitality first-hand and taste the quality wines being made in the state. He said he was proud to throw the cachet of the Rhone Rangers organization behind Texas wines and see how the growth in Rhone varietal production has played a role in the continuing development of quality wine in Texas.

Chris Brundrett, co-founder and CEO of William Chris Wine Company, hosted another event in the series, the Rhone Ranger’s Hill Country Tasting on Sun, Apr 6, 2025. He said: “The event was epic! We had some of the best Texas Rhone wines poured next to some of the most iconic West Coast wines, and the energy in the room was electric. The Rhone Rangers event was another example of how a group of Texas producers have earned a seat at the table with the finest wine producers in the world.” Like Larry Schaffer, he also noted that it was “a real pleasure” to be involved and to be able to help make the Rhone Ranger tour of Texas happen.

The series of Rhone Ranger events in early April garnered positive reviews from everyone I heard from, and the success of the organization’s visit seems to be a testament to the Texas industry and its various players.

A chance to put terroir on display

Bryan Chagoly, proprietor of Sandy Road Vineyards, champion for quality Texas wine, and participant in the Rhone Rangers series, told me at the Austin event that, in his estimation: “Terroir is made by the people.” And the Rhone Rangers events held last week offered the opportunity to see terroir in action, to taste how the place of production makes a difference.

These kinds of events are exciting because they offer opportunities for focused varietal comparisons as well as for fostering engaging, educational interactions among participants. In these kinds of sessions, trade professionals and consumers alike can do varietal tastings from different producers and directly experience how place comes through the product.

For example, one white Rhone varietal being grown in Texas is Picpoul Blanc, which I had, by chance, just featured in a didactic tasting of my own days prior to the Rhone Rangers events. In my tasting, I was comparing a Hill Country AVA expression of Picpoul from Seventh Son Vineyards to a High Plains AVA expression from Michael Ros Winery. The two wines were extremely different from one another, and both were delicious!

Then, while I was at the Rhone Rangers event in Austin, I got to talk in depth with Denise Clarke, another Texas wine champion, about a wine she was pouring, a Bending Branch Picpoul (also from the Texas Hill Country). The wine was tangy and zippy (as would be expected of a Picpoul), but it also had a beautiful full-body mouthfeel, which made it a perfect gustatory blend between the two Picpouls I had poured just a few days earlier.

This is the magic of thoughtful, place-informed wine tasting!

In sum, it was really fun to see and taste the differences and similarities between wines via a series of events enacting the Rhone Rangers educational mission. I’ll cheers to that!