Syrah – the end of an era?

For the past 20 years, the last weekend in April or the first weekend in May has always meant the same thing for thousands of wine lovers in California. Each spring at this time, we hop in our cars and make a pilgrimage to the town of Paso Robles for a round of inebriated bowling followed by two days of Syrah, Grenache, Carignane, Cinsault, and every other grape you'd expect in the line-up at an event named Hospice du Rhône.

The event, which grew out of wine lover Matt Garretson's love of Viognier, has long been the premier Rhône-focused event...