Return of the Rhone Rangers

You can't taste everything, so I limited myself to a few new wines from old friends and wines from wineries new to me, but there were so many good wines I had to skip last time that I just thought I would return to tell you about some great old standbys such as Bonny Doon and Cline Cellars. Bonny Doon fancies itself an experimental cutting edge winery and they do lots of interesting things, but sometimes they go to far. In fact, many of their wines are too fruity and simple for my taste, but their labels are fun, their wines are fun, and some of their prices are fun, too. Cline makes excellent Zins and Rhone style wines across the whole price range. Columbia Crest 2002 Syrah Reserve won a Gold Medal at the Seattle Wine Society Competition ( www.seattlewinesociety.org) and might be the perfectly balanced Syrah at $30/bottle. The 2003 Dunham is a splurge at $45. If you don't want to spend $45 on a bottle of wine, check out the labels by Wei on the Doyenne Cellars wines. They are a feast for the eyes and you don't have to fork out $45 just to look. You can find the Rhone Rangers at: www.rhonerangers.org .