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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?

  • A little Washington perspective here:

    The state is certainly not immune to the world's fascination with points based on (seemingly) big wood, ripe phenolics (inky color!  round tannins!) and a rich mouthfeel (based on glycerol due to higher alcohol)...and Syrah has been a part of it.  The heat units and light (sun) intensity in a desert climate combined with a grape heavy on phenolics and sugar  certainly adds to the potential for overblown styles.  However...

    The saving grace Washington has will always be its perceived alcohol and overall balance based (mostly, though not solely) on the acid generated by one of the most dramatic diurnal shifts (up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit on average during the growing season) in the wine world.  Combine that with the renewed appreciation in the press for "cooler" climate versions of this grape and more folks felling confident in producing a Rhone-esque version (like Gramercy, Bunnell, Waters, Seven Hills, Otis Kenyon, Va Piano, Cougar Crest, Buty - try their Peter Canlis Cuvee against a Cote Rotie blind and see what ya think, Betz, Hedges, Owen Roe) and I think the region will realize some amazing juice.  Even so, the richer styled wines (like K Vintners and Cayuse) with the huge extract and bigger mouthfeel can still capture the meatier/floral/peppery side even at 15 plus alcohol based on the diurnal shift.  

    At the moment, Walla Walla Valley, Red Mountain, Wahluke Slope and Yakima Valley have shown great promise with Syrah grapes.  Vineyards like Boushey (*** is one of the top Syrah growers in the country, bar none), Ciel du Cheval, Red Willow, DuBrul, Les Collines, Lewis, Seven HIlls and Pepper Bridge are all amazing sources of balanced grapes.  I am currently writing an article looking at the various AVA's and what they might bring before viticultural/vinification techniques take hold, and will share an abridged version for the GuildSomm.com site.

    Will Syrah ever compete with Cabernet for popularity?  Doubtful, but no one thought Pinot would smack Merlot upside the head, and lookee here!  Will Washington ever be seen as one of the top regions in the world for the grape regardless?  Most definitely.  For those of you able (a great challenge, as Washington state continues to build its national presence but lags behind California - though probably not too far behind teh smaller producers mentioned by Geoff and company), I highly recommend a comparative tasting with Australia, California, the Rhone, South Africa and Chile.  In a very short period of time, with relatively very young vines, Washington's best (!) Syrahs have established themselves alongside the upper tier.  Maybe not quite Chave Hermitage or La Landonne...but, not too far behind.  

    I was a huge fan of Thackerey and Phelps and Dehlinger in the late 90's/early 00's.  I have yet to smell a better New World Syrah than the 06 Arnot Roberts Sonoma Coast (forget the vineyard) - and also enjoy the Ramey, Copain and Ehren Jordan (name now?) work these days.  If you do too, you will certainly dig some of the Columbia Valley efforts from Washington's best producers - and I say that as an MS who loves wine, not the Washington Wine Commissioner Education Director.  

  • Oh yeah, Red Mountain and Walla Walla both have it going on w/syrah. Walla Walla especially. Amazing combo of climate and geology, soils laid down by a cataclysmic flood, good restaurants, and a wine community that’s made a real commitment to syrah. But sorry to say most of those producers seem to be chasing scores just like the Californios. I have as much trouble distinguishing among the WaWa fruit-bombs as the Cal ones. I agree w/both of you about Gramercy and Waters, though. Both are terrific. Would like to think the producers on Geoff’s short list are leading a stylistic charge. And yeah, Fred, I used to love those tarry, leathery, peppery Mirassou petites!

  • It has been great to see the recent new wave of Syrah over the last few years. Unfortunately there are only a couple dozen that really impressed me. For those who prefer a leaner more classic wine, I would definitely check out Copain, Arnot-Roberts, Wind Gap and Peay from California and Waters and Gramercy Cellars from Washington state.

  • Hello Rod,

    I sure do remember those early days of the Syrah discovery.  Although I have to say some of the Mirassou Petite Sirah's were pretty good, as was Santa Cruz Mountain's Duriff.

    I really like the Ramey wines as well.  I just finished doing the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival and we had a program called Walla Walla and Cheese.  Wow, are those Eastern Washington guys stepping up to the plate!  Gramercy, Va Piano, Waters knocked us out with their Syrah's.  I think there's a great future there.

    I just hope we don't go the Zinfandel route and try to make everything from white to pink to red to port.  

  • Lucky.. I would love to hear about your take on it...Like the real facts..my visit there was not planned out so well more of an afternoon impulse..I would like to thank the gentleman that directed me to the old vines though I didn't get his name..He was in his truck at their entrance gate.. which was apparently knocked down by a Big Rig overloaded with hay....Anyway it was a memorable nice warm late afternoon.. taking picture's of the Gnarled Old Vines across the street behind the production facility..I would have never found them without his tip..Cool Guy..

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