Syrah: The reports of my demise are not greatly exaggerated

Thanks to Geoff and Fred for inviting me to post on this forum. (I do love sommeliers--literally, I'm married to one).  And thanks for flattering me by the opportunity to engage a topic alongside Rod Smith, one of my very real inspirations in the world of writing. 

So California Syrah has been a hot topic for me lately, especially since--perhaps a little late in the game--I got wind of how seriously it’s tanked in the market. The news was a surprise and left me in a grim, melancholy mood, a little like suddenly getting word that an old acquaintance is in the hospital, fighting caner. “Frank is sick? Really, Frank? Seems like it was the other day I saw him looking fit as a fiddle.”

But the reports of California Syrah’s demise are not greatly exaggerated. “It’s unsaleable,” one retailer told me. “Sommeliers won’t even taste it,” a producer moaned. Stories of large-scale re-grafting are rife. So what has happened to this grape that Matt Kramer once opined would be “the next really big red”? 

Well, no doubt, stuff has happened and mistakes have been made since California winemakers started getting excited about Syrah 10-15 years ago. But I also ask myself if these errors don’t all pretty much stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of the grape. But before we get into that, let’s just detail five things that caused Syrah to tumble. 

1. The deluge of lousy, cheap Australian Shiraz--Pardon my diction: But you can talk about pissing in the well, yet what about when the well is already a septic tank?
2. California growers leaping into Syrah before really looking -- i.e. clonal research, climatalogical studies, etc.
3. California winemakers not really knowing how to make it--How may of these guys are actually tripping over to Tain to learn how it’s done? 
4. Pinot Noir -- With Sideways at its back, Pinot came up behind Syrah faster and more unexpectedly than Mine That Bird. 
5. Market confusion -- “Hmm, the label says Syrah, but it tastes like Shiraz.” 

Syrah’s obviously been swallowed up by a perfect storm--not all its fault-- and we’re looking for the wreckage as we speak. But, in my mind, there’s a global misconception about Syrah,  and a lot of this could have been avoided by having a more sophisticated understanding of the variety. 

For one, Syrah is considered to be a wide-bandwidth sort of grape. That is, like Cab or Sauvignon Blanc, it can grow well and make acceptable wine in a number of climates. Um, no. I’ll come out and say it--hot climate Syrah just doesn’t work. (Yes, yes, people drank it up for years--but most kids I know would likewise eat gummy bears for every meal, if given the choice.) Syrah’s way more sensitive to alcohol than people are willing to admit (I end up “watering back” at home quite often); and the line between fine, fresh fruit flavors and jolly ranchers is drawn with a fine point, not a Sharpee. Cool-climate Syrah is obviously the way, but it’s not that simple: There’s a limit to how much feral wolf, wet dog, pepper spray and adhesive wrap I want in my wine; I still like to find a modicum of fruit (or maybe some violets) in a young wine, even if I have to search for it. 

Syrah is also revered for making good wine at higher yields--2 tons to the acre or 6, some growers tell me you can’t really taste the difference in the final product. I have trouble believing this, but assuming it’s true, is this really a grape you want to be growing? Do you really want something so insensitive?  Syrah tanked is because consumers couldn’t tell the difference between a $10 bottle and one that costs $40. Why? Poorly conceived, grown, and vinified Syrah produces nonsensical wine. Worse than nonsensical--few bad wines are as offensive as bad Syrah. Bandwagoners all over are discovering this the hard way. And the sea of bad wine has made things that much harder for people trying to 

Here’s the fundamental misunderstanding: People think because Syrah’s growing spectrum is so broad that the likelihood of scoring a hit is high. The truth is just the opposite. “Drinkable” Syrah may be possible from Modesto to Philo, but it doesn’t make good or even great Syrah any more likely. Rather, great Syrah is a microscopic bullseye on a huge dartboard--it’s harder to find than great Pinot Noir, great Cab, maybe even great Nebbiolo. Look, the red wines of the Northern Rhone constitute only a tiny amount of wine (just 5% of total Rhone production), and even therein, the number of Syrahs I’d consider good-to-great are relatively few. It’s just not the forgiving grape that everyone made it out to be

And here's the kicker--Syrah has to be good. You see, unlike many wines, average Syrah cannot be drunk. Give me average something else if you have to. That balance between savory and fruit, acid and tannin, alcohol and concentration--so difficult to achieve--must be right on, a. And, while we’re seeing a few lovely Syrahs in the US finding those balances, we’re still a ways from anything consistently great on a wide scale. I’m hoping we get there, but am not holding my breath. It’s going to be awhile, especially since the last thing anyone’s doing right now is planting Syrah.