Rhone Rangers

They are mostly based on the West Coast, particularly California, and have created a not-for-profit organization for the promotion of wines containing at least 75% of the 22 Rhône grape varieties.

In the 1980s, Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard and Bob Lindquist of Qupé Wine Cellars, among others, began popularizing the marketing of the Rhône varieties.

Their success helped to revive plantings of many traditional Rhône grapes that were dying out in California like Grenache, Mourvedre and Viognier.

[3] Beginning around 1998, a second wave of innovation in the Rhone Rangers movement began with John MacReady of Sierra Vista Winery as its executive director.

MacReady credited the new group's success to its acceptance of the use of Syrah as a blending grape,[3] a controversial view in the eyes of some.