By George Heritier

Hospice du Rhône is the brainchild of
Mat Garretson, Brand Manager for Wild Horse Winery and Owner/Winemaker for Garretson Wine Company.  We asked Mat a few questions shortly after the festival’s completion to find out a little more about him and HdR. 

Mat and his son, Jack

GoP: How did you get into the wine business? 

MG: The short answer? Freud. The slightly longer one? Well, during my freshman year at the University of Georgia I had a dorm mate who was a 3rd year law student. He was really into the "finer things in life." Pipes, killer audio system, and wines. He had a copy of a Hugh Johnson book. Every week we'd read about a different area, then on Friday we'd go out & buy a bottle of wine from that area. 

Turns out not only was I intrigued by the varieties and the differences, but I found that my dates were REALLY impressed when I could say "a bottle of your finest Chateauneuf-du-Pape, my good man" when we were out to dinner! 

I decided to learn more, so I worked in the retail business while I put myself through school. 

GoP: Why Rhônes? 

MG: Well, I'd always been a red wine fanatic since I got into it. Syrahs intrigued me more than the "other" wines. Cab/Bordeuaux varieties lacked grace and fruit; Pinots had grace but sometimes too green (both in taste & the COST). Syrahs & red Rhônes delivered the best bang for the buck. 

In 1982 a buddy of mine gave me a bottle of Condrieu for a birthday present. "Wow, WHITE wine!" I thought. Tucked it away in a wine rack & forgot about it. Then, a few months later, I was preparing a fish dish and pulled it out. When I popped the cork I was immediately hooked. "What in the HELL is that???" Well, I tried to find as much information as I could about Condrieu. That was all of about a handful of sentences. I needed to know more, so I started buying Condrieu/Viognier whenever I found them. 

GoP: When and why did you start the Garretson Wine Company? 

MG: Our first commercial vintage was 1997. I'd done a little home winemaking over the years, and knew before I even moved to CA that I wanted to get my hands purple. It's one thing to promote, market, package wine...quite another to make it. I wanted to do both.  

In my "real" career, I've inherited established brands (Eberle and now Wild Horse). With GWC I can perform a little "counter-intuitive" marketing and production. I have the pleasure of working with growers, making wines in a different style, and packaging them to reflect me and my family. It's fun. 

GoP: How did you get started with HdR? 

MG: I got out of the Atlanta retail scene in 1988 & went to work for my father. While his business was very secure and profitable, I missed being involved in wine. I thought, "maybe there's something I can do to keep my involvement in my passion (wine) while still keeping my day job?" 

I quickly thought of Rhônes. I could see that they were being planted and produced throughout the world in increasing numbers; however, most consumers couldn't even pronounce Viognier much less know what it was. I thought that SOMEBODY better start beating the drums or Rhone wines will never emerge from cult status, and enjoy the commercial success they deserved. That's why I started this organization (originally called The Viognier Guild). And it quickly took over my life...for the better, I think.  

GoP: What was the biggest success of the weekend? 

MG: You mean other than the fact I survived it? Well, it's hard to put a finger on a single event. I think the success of HdR is to be found when you look at who's there. We had arguably the finest collection of Rhone winemakers gathered anywhere; Chapoutier's talking with Steve Edmunds, Bob Lindquist is over there with Charlie Melton, Manfred Krankl is sharing a bottle with Pascal Roux. For me, it's like being at Cooperstown rubbing elbows with Lou Gerhig, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle...you get the picture. 

Then, you take all these folks, and you see they're having FUN. They're not always behind a table or podium. They're interacting with the rest of the attendees. Wine lovers from Tucson, a restaurateur from New York, a wine retailer from Kansas. They're all bowling, celebrating, having a good time.  

THAT'S the success of HdR. 

GoP: How much did HdR raise for Hospice this year?  Is it only the auction proceeds that go to them? 

MG: We're still crunching the numbers, paying our vendors, etc. We raised $150,000 in the auction, and the proceeds of this will go to Hospice. It's my plan to expand our giving to encompass Hospices throughout the state. For example, say next year 10% of our participating wineries are from Sonoma County. Well, then 10% of our gift giving will go to the Hospice there, and so on. 

GoP: How did this year’s event compare with last year’s? 

MG: In terms of attendance, we were up slightly. In terms of winery participation we were again up. The overwhelming difference from 2000 as compared to last year was that this year we had a dedicated staff (up until this year, it's been pretty much a one or two-man band). That made for a much more organized event for everyone. 

GoP: What’s in the future for HdR?  Do you want it to grow into a bigger event, perhaps like ZAP? 

MG: Like I keep telling my wife, bigger is not always better. Do I see the event itself growing like ZAP? Nope. We're limiting the number of wineries to 200, and number of full-weekend attendees to 500 total. We'll then allow approximately 1,000 additional folks in for the open tastings (Friday's Library/Auction and Saturday's Grand). 

I try to see HdR from the everyone's viewpoint...which is easy to do, because I'm a producer, a marketer and a consumer of these wines. From the consumer's point of view, I don't want it to get too crowded. It's important that we do not lose the ability for attendees to interact with the producers. 

From my producer's viewpoint, it's critical that we continue to have quality winemakers and wines, with exciting seminars. One of the nicest compliments I receive each year is invariably from a winemaker who comes up and says, "You know, I make better Syrah (or Viognier, etc.) each year by what I learn here." 

Too often wine marketers judge success of an event by the number of people. That's a mistake. I've been to way too many events where there are thundering hordes of folks waving there glass in your face saying "give me something red." Chances are, the following day, 98% of them don't remember what they drank. It LOOKS good, but doesn't result in sales, which is one of the primary reasons a winery signs up to pour at an event. 

HdR by its nature attracts consumers. BUT, they are extremely knowledgeable, educated and motivated consumers. I doubt any of our consumer attendees walked up to a winemaker and asked for Chardonnay!  

I've also tried to design an event that - by bringing the best winemakers, incredible wines, intriguing/educational seminars, barrel auction, etc. – in turn brings the retailers and restaurateurs. THESE are the folks who can effectively get folks into Rhônes. Get 100 good retailers/restaurateurs at your event, and they'll do more good for a winery than 5,000 consumers will. 

GoP: Do you plan to keep festivities at the Fairgrounds? 

MG: We've had discussions about this, but nothing's been agreed upon, one way or the other. I like the informality of the venue...nobody's ever going to mistake it for the Napa Wine Auction (especially the bathrooms...WOW! Like an acid trip without the acid.). There are a few things we'd like to change there. We've also been approached by folks in San Luis Obispo. We'll see. I fully expect to announce the date and the location of the event by the last week in July. 

GoP: What exactly are Old Bridge Cellars Shiraz/Syrah Trophies and the coveted Coat-du- Rhône, and who won them? 

MG: Two years ago we decided to provide participating winemakers with the opportunity to meet on Thursday before HdR starts. This gathering takes the form of a luncheon where it's pretty much an "open mike." Information, ideas and wines are exchanged. It's pretty stimulating. 

Well, you can't get a group of winemakers together without them getting into a pissing contest about who's wine is best. So, we devised a blind tasting of Syrahs/Shiraz for the winemakers. It's a simple hedonistic judgment of what wine they like best. Rob McDonald (owner of Old Bridge Cellars) offered to sponsor a trophy for the wine/winemaker whose wine garners the top votes. This year’s OBC Syrah/Shiraz Winemaker's Trophy was awarded to winemaker Chester Osborn of d'Arenberg Winery. 

I'd like to point out though we've kept it as non-commercial as possible. Each year, the vintage being tasted is no longer in wide distribution (this year was 1996, next year's will be 1997, and so on). That way, it DOES give you bragging rights, but the commercial benefit is minimal. 

The "Coat-du-Rhone" was something we devised to again give winners bragging rights after the auction. There are actually two coats: one for the winemaker and one (if appropriate) for the grape grower whose barrel fetches the highest bid. It's kind of like winning the Masters...except you only keep the coat for a year; then it's passed on. 

Last year's winning winemaker was Manfred Krankl (Sine Qua Non), using John Alban's Syrah grapes. This year it was Ehren Jordan (Turley) for his Roussanne...again from John's grapes. Try as he may, John can't seem to get rid of that coat! 

GoP: When and how did Rhône-N-Bowl start? 

MG: How can you get together such a group and not think "bowling?"  

Seriously, we started RnB in 1997 when we moved the event to Paso Robles. I thought it'd really set the tone of the event. Unpretentious. Party. Celebration.  

Have you ever heard the old saying, "A pet looks a lot like its owner?" Well, the same is true of Rhone wines. The wines and the folks who make them are, for the most part, laid-back, unpretentious and FUN. Why not provide an atmosphere where that could prevail? 

GoP: Who were the official winners of Rhône-N-Bowl? 

MG: Almost every team sports some kind of name. d'Arenberg has the Dead Arms, Bill Easton has "Rhonesome Dove," Tom Hill's is "Only the Rhonely." This year's winner was an unnamed (for now, anyway) team consisting of Bill Wathen & Mike Carhart of Foxen, Chuck Carlson of Curtis, and another person whose name escapes me. 

You know, it's funny. The event thrives on informality. That being said, I think we're going to have to formalize Rhone-N-Bowl. What we MAY do is have elimination rounds...like Wimbledon, etc. Perhaps next year it'll all come down to 2 teams, bowling for prestige (and a VERY ugly trophy) while the crowd cheers them on? 

GoP: And what about the Rhône-N-Bowl Trophy?  Wasn’t it Gangloff and Villard who hijacked it? 

MG: The trophy was indeed "stolen" by Yves Gangloff and Francois Villard. Since Bill Wathen's team wasn't around for the award, these Frenchies decided THEY'D be responsible for decorating it for next year. 

Rules allow for the winning team to "own" the trophy for the year, AND they have the right to build upon its splendor...ah, ugliness. I built the original. It was then awarded to Tom Hill's team, Only the Rhonely, in 1998. They added the greenery & chilli peppers. The d'Arenberg Dead Arms won it in 1999, and they sawed it in half, placed a bottle of "The Dead Arm" Shiraz in it, and added the Aussie flags.