No wine category has seen more dramatic growth in recent years than American Rhone-variety wines. Winemakers are devoting more energy, more acreage, and more bottlings to Rhone varieties than ever before. The flagship Rhone red, Syrah, is routinely touted as one of California's most promising varieties, capable of tremendous adaptability as a vine, wonderfully variable in style, and highly expressive of place. There has never been a better time for American Rhone wine producers.

In the mid-1800s, fortune seekers from around the world flocked to California, but not all of them ended up in the gold fields. Many settled in San Luis Obispo County, drawn by the Mediterranean climate perfect for planting a familiar crop: grapevines. Local viticulture originated with the Spanish Missions, but it blossomed with the influx of intrepid adventurers. Growers and winemakers like Pierre Dallidet, an immigrant who helped save the French wine industry, and Henry Ditmas and James Anderson, who were the first to plant Zinfandel grapes, established vineyards and set about crafting award-winning wine in the fertile soil of Central California. Then the California wine revolution brought dramatic change starting in the 1960s – new grape varieties, innovation, and world-class winemaking. Join the experts at the Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County as they share the unique stories of these legendary winemakers.