A Rhone by any other name

BUZZ: Hey, Marnie, I keep seeing California reds described as Rhone blends. If it's such a good grape, how come I never come across wines made with 100 percent Rhone?

Marnie: Rhone isn't a wine grape, Buzz, it's the name of a river in France.

Buzz: That must be a heckuva river if it ends up in California.

Marnie: European wines have historically been named for their regions, not their grape varieties. The Rhone Valley, between Lyon and Marseilles in the south of France, is known for making spicy red wines, most of which are called Cotes du Rhone.

They are tremendously popular, so you may have tried them before. If not, you should, because they are right up your alley - delicious and reasonably priced.

Buzz: My two favorite things! But if the Rhone is in France, why is it on California labels?

Marnie: That's a little more complicated to explain. In places like California, wines are typically named by their grape, but the law requires at least 75 percent be of a single grape to qualify.

This works just fine for grapes that typically stand alone, like chardonnay or pinot noir, but it creates an awkward problem for vintners who make blended wines where no single grape dominates. Since most blended wines follow established recipes based on those used in famous European wine regions, it's common to see those place names used as shorthand to identify a wine style.

For example, blends of cabernet sauvignon and merlot are made in the image of French Bordeaux and are often described as "Bordeaux blends."

When you see a red wine described as a "Rhone blend," you can be confident that it contains grenache and syrah, the two main grapes of the Rhone Valley, and possibly others grown there, like mourvedre or cinsault.

Buzz: Geez, how many kinds of grapes does a winemaker need?

Marnie: As many as they want to cultivate, and some simply do taste better blended than alone. There are dozens of grapes grown in the Rhone, but grenache and syrah make the most desirable wine.

Syrah has an unusually dark purple color and a cracked pepper scent, but it can taste tart and sharp on its own. Grenache wines have a plump, meaty texture and flavors reminiscent of strawberry jam but can lack syrah's finesse.

Buzz: I understand mixing for taste. My breakfast this morning was a blend of vodka, tomato juice and raw egg. Tomorrow I'll see if these Rhone guys can mix things as well as I can.

wine author known for practical

advice with real-world relevance.. Buzz's musings are interpreted by DailyNews Assistant Managing Editor Gar Joseph.