California Roussannes

[Matt Esq.]

Lately I've become a big fan of California Roussanne, such as those produced by Copain, Alban, Zaca Mesa and Qupe. It's becoming an expensive habit however, as these all come in around $30-50/bottle. Anyone aware of any less expensive California producers with a decent product?

[maria lorraine]

I tasted a pretty one tonight, the Renard. From Santa Ynez. It's in your price range, Matt.

[vinosnob]

The Renard is great although some may not like this leaner style of CA viognier, but I love it. BTW, the '07 is sourced from Sonoma...

[BillB656]

Can't go wrong with the Edmunds St. John roussanne. Sourced from Tablas grapes, wonderfully persistent, and solid minerality.

[VenerableBede]

I really liked the Preston Roussanne. . .and I think it was less than $30. <just checked, the Roussanne goes for $30>

Preston also has a Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier blend that is really good too.

[njfoodies]

We've had them from Pax, Qupe, Andrew Murray, Ojai, Peay. Kongsgaard also makes a nice blend with viognier, and the Tablas Creek and Zaca Mesa recommendations are good ones too! -mJ

[maria lorraine]

Truchard's is nice. Sina Qua Non and Peay are two other producers.
Roussanne a beautiful grape, and you may want to taste the many blends
that use a good portion of Roussanne. Check into the white Rhones as well.

[vinosnob]

SQN and Peay are solid, but even if you were extremely lucky enough to find them at retail (Peay's blend is mailing list only), they're waaaay out of the OP's price point.

[maria lorraine]

In that case, Truchard, Steele Winery, Rosenblum, Sobon, Beckmen, Wild Horse.

[rickym13]

in that price range:

alban
copain
tablas creek

[maria lorraine]

I don't understand your post, sorry. You have listed two wines the OP cited as being beyond his budget. Tablas Creek runs $22-$29.

As clarification on my own post:
Truchard $23
Steele Winery Writer's Block $12-$13
Rosenblum $14-$15
Sobon $15
Beckmen (Roussanne Blend) $14-$19
Wild Horse $14

[bclevy]

In the Sierra foothills: Sierra Vista, Holly's Hill, Cooper, Wilderotter, all
make pretty decent Roussannes. Sierra Vista is probably the most
consistent of the bunch. In addition, Holly's Hill makes a great
roussanne-viognier blend called Patriarche Blanc. It used to be
60% roussanne and 40% viognier, the roussanne percentage
in the latest edition is even higher. It is a great wine, reminiscent
of a white Saint Joseph. All the above wines are roughly in the
$16 to $25 range.

[ibstatguy]

is there a particular reason why you haven't any interest in french wines? I will second the suggestion of checking out Tablas Creek.

[mangefromage]

Tablas Creek! Have not had the current vintage (2007) yet, but the 2006 Roussanne is lovely. Looks like pricing is around $25 retail, though it may be wine club only (I'm in the wine club, so not sure where to find it in stores): https://www.cleverconcepts.net/tablas...

[scrappydog]

Opolo (Paso Robles) has one that I have seen for around $20 in SOCAL. In full disclosure, I have not tried the Roussane, so I cannot recommend it, but I have liked some of their other wines, so it might be worth a try.

[vinosnob]

Nothing immediately comes to mind except Bonny Doon has a blend composed of primarily grenache blanc plus roussane.

Copain also has a blend with mostly viognier and roussane.