Guides

Articles

Media

E-Learning

Resources

Community

Explore

So, Syrah?

Rod Smith

So, Syrah?

SO WHAT’S UP W/SYRAH?
          I’m pleased to have a guest spot on this site. Sommeliers have become a powerful positive force in the wine world and I’m glad to participate in your discourse.
          I’ve been thinking about California Syrah lately, and how disappointing it’s been. More than two decades ago it was so up-and-coming—but it never really got here. The grape and its wines are wine royalty, yet few California producers hang their hats on it, and fewer still have made consistently strong showings.
          I remember when the first “true” Syrahs (as opposed to Petite Sirah or whatever) came out of the gate in the early 1980s. It was really exciting, to a new generation of wine geeks at least. We’d plan dinner parties around new releases from Duxoup or Joseph Phelps. (Fred Dame—do you remember how intense that early Syrah scene was?) In fact, it was Joe Phelps, the inveterate Rhone ranger, who established our first significant true Syrah plantings.
Within a few vintages there were enough varietal Syrahs on the market to mount meaningful comparative tastings. Those early wines were exciting, not just as novelties but as credible echoes of the Rhone. I was particularly interested because I’d been getting Syrah religion at the source in Rhone caves with vignerons like Clape, Guigal, and Jaboulet, tasting with the Druids (that’s how it felt, anyway) through barrels of wine that clearly spoke of varying terroirs and vintages. If California could produce expressive Syrahs like that, I thought, we might actually have a new dimension in California wine.
          Then we all watched in horror as the early promise—of a new tool for exploring and expressing different terroirs in our magnificent coastal and mountain terrains—was broken by a flood of rather syrupy, high-octane red wine labeled Syrah for no apparent reason. Many strike me as little more than grape-flavored booze. Perhaps not coincidentally, I’m hearing reports from the field that Syrah is increasingly a tough sell. (Note: I feel like something similar has happened in eastern Washington, although that’s probably a topic for another post.)
          Can we count the paving stones on the downward path? Start with indiscriminate planting, overcropping, and excessive manipulation—particularly oak overkill. (Why do so many California winemakers think they have to make Napa Valley cabernet out of every grape variety?) I’m aware through contacts in various cellars that quite a number of highly-regarded winemakers freely doctor their wines with enzymes, tannin, concentrate, etcetera (all of which I consider substance abuse). And of course, these days it’s pretty par for the course to pick the grapes overripe and then add acid and water, which is like trying to balance a table by sawing a little off this leg and a little off that. And then there’s what I consider excessive ripeness. I’ve heard several winemakers say, “Twenty-six brix is the new twenty-four!” Personally, I liked the old twenty-four. If the variety matches the site and the vines are balanced, the grapes will be plenty ripe and the wine won’t taste like a mess of mismatched adjectives.
          Voila--there in my glass the other night was an Arnot-Roberts Syrah (Clary Vineyard ’06). It had that whole peppery, leathery, minerally thing going on, intense but not dense, with cut-glass definition and brisk natural acidity that cut right through my friend Sebastian’s pork rillette. All at just 13 percent alcohol, without de-boozing. And I thought of other classically-styled Syrahs I’ve enjoyed recently, from Dehlinger, Edmunds St. John, and the like. I wonder whether Syrahs like that will always be anomalous, or if they finally signal a trend toward the coalescence of some Syrah ideal?
          So where’s it all going? Will California Syrah producers continue following the score-mongers toward one size (extra large) fits all? Or will they rally around nuanced expression and distinctive character, perhaps leading the way toward the paradigm shift so many of us have been hoping for?
Parents

  • Rod - great article and one that is very in touch with the market.  Selling Syrah is an uphill battle.  The Aussies and now the Californians did/are doing a great job of manipulating the varietal to the point that the consumer has no idea what to expect from the varietal.  It’s the first varietal where the ”formula” doesn’t work.  Formula = high brix/late picking, excessive manipulation and additives, RS and copious new oak.

    Syrah is NOT Cabernet.  In fact, in my opinion it is much closer to Pinot Noir.  It is a varietal that require minimal handling and will quickly be dominated by oak.

    Syrah requires early picking - if it tastes sweet in the vineyard, its too ripe.  In Washington, we are almost always the first winery to pick Syrah at our contract vineyards.  Many pick as much as a month later.  Syrah should smell a bit green when it is fermenting.  In fact, I have a saying that if the fermenting Syrah didn’t at one point scare the heck out of me, I picked it too late.  All those green fermenting flavors turn into smoke and pepper with age.  I also think Syrah require some whole cluster/stem during fermentation, but lets not get too carried away.   Syrah is deeply disturbed by racking.  Too many wineries throw it in a tank at the slightest hint of reduction.  Syrah fights back by closing up aromatically.  With risk of sounding like a cliché – minimalist handling.

    I do believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel however. But it requires a big leap for most winemakers/wineries/corp execs. Stop thinking about the score and make a wine that is distinctive and balanced with minimal oak influence.  But too many in the wine business are too afraid to make wine like this.  What if we only score an 89?  Disaster!  And something that most wineries won’t be able to stomach because making wine in the above style will hurt point scores.

    We have been very successful selling Syrah. It takes some coaxing to sell – lots of flights, many rejections, but we are willing to trade some short term hardship for long term greatness. We love when people say “Wow, this actually tastes like Syrah.” Or “This doesn’t taste like California.”  So there are some of us out there fighting the fight, because we believe that Syrah does deserve a place on the American wine list.  And it’s a grape that reeks of “terroir.”  There I said the word.  So it might require many plane trips and speeches at wine festivals, but we’re up for the fight.  It’s a worthwhile grape that deserves respect and celebration.

Comment

  • Rod - great article and one that is very in touch with the market.  Selling Syrah is an uphill battle.  The Aussies and now the Californians did/are doing a great job of manipulating the varietal to the point that the consumer has no idea what to expect from the varietal.  It’s the first varietal where the ”formula” doesn’t work.  Formula = high brix/late picking, excessive manipulation and additives, RS and copious new oak.

    Syrah is NOT Cabernet.  In fact, in my opinion it is much closer to Pinot Noir.  It is a varietal that require minimal handling and will quickly be dominated by oak.

    Syrah requires early picking - if it tastes sweet in the vineyard, its too ripe.  In Washington, we are almost always the first winery to pick Syrah at our contract vineyards.  Many pick as much as a month later.  Syrah should smell a bit green when it is fermenting.  In fact, I have a saying that if the fermenting Syrah didn’t at one point scare the heck out of me, I picked it too late.  All those green fermenting flavors turn into smoke and pepper with age.  I also think Syrah require some whole cluster/stem during fermentation, but lets not get too carried away.   Syrah is deeply disturbed by racking.  Too many wineries throw it in a tank at the slightest hint of reduction.  Syrah fights back by closing up aromatically.  With risk of sounding like a cliché – minimalist handling.

    I do believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel however. But it requires a big leap for most winemakers/wineries/corp execs. Stop thinking about the score and make a wine that is distinctive and balanced with minimal oak influence.  But too many in the wine business are too afraid to make wine like this.  What if we only score an 89?  Disaster!  And something that most wineries won’t be able to stomach because making wine in the above style will hurt point scores.

    We have been very successful selling Syrah. It takes some coaxing to sell – lots of flights, many rejections, but we are willing to trade some short term hardship for long term greatness. We love when people say “Wow, this actually tastes like Syrah.” Or “This doesn’t taste like California.”  So there are some of us out there fighting the fight, because we believe that Syrah does deserve a place on the American wine list.  And it’s a grape that reeks of “terroir.”  There I said the word.  So it might require many plane trips and speeches at wine festivals, but we’re up for the fight.  It’s a worthwhile grape that deserves respect and celebration.

Children
No Data
App Store Google Play
© 2025 GuildSomm

Join to continue reading.

GuildSomm members enjoy exclusive access to educational content, classes, and a robust professional network. If you're a wine professional, GuildSomm is for you! Our members represent every facet of the industry and stage of a beverage career.

Join now