May I please have more Syrah.
I’ve noticed that over the last two years Syrah has been a tough sell. Even under the guise of Shiraz it has seemed to slow down a bit. Retailers I work with are telling me the same thing.
This is a surprise because at a variety of price points I can’t come up with another style of red wine that offers the same quality to value ratio.
It has become an ongoing joke in the California wine industry that Syrah will be the next big thing. Californian Syrah wears a few hats and maybe it’s problems in the market place is that the wine has somewhat of an identity crisis. My opinion is that a good Syrah should show some signs of smoke and or spice, especially pepper. That is always that telltale indicator of the grape in a blind tasting. It’s not wussy wine this is the real deal folks. We are talking about deep purple hues and burly tannins. It should be a bear of a wine, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be one of those really big nearly life sized teddy bears that you want to snuggle with. The bottom line the wine should have guts!
San Louis Obispo and Santa Barbera counties are going to be the places in California for Syrah. Sure there are people growing it in Napa, but lets not go there, but I want focus! So if I’m going to drink Cali Syrah I’m getting it from places that have a track record.
This list is off the top of my head. I’m calling it “Mind Blowing Syrah” each one of these producers makes beautiful expressions of Syrah that will convince the Napa blowhards that there is life after cab.
Qupe, Alban, Sine Qou Non, Baileyana, Eberle, Jaffurs, Melville
I’m particularly fund of Qupe. Their 2006 central Caost Syrah is packed with aromas of hickory smoke, wood violets, and bluberries. This is a haunting wine for the price. in the mouth it is all soft lingering tannins, with explicit flavors of blackberry, prune, and some kind of dustiness that reminds me of the rock quarry about a mile from my house growing up.
They’ve been making Syrah at Qupe since 1982. That constitutes for a long time in California viticulture. Only a handful of other Californian vitners where playing around with Syrah in the 1980’s.
Washington state has been producing better and better Syrahs over the last ten years. Recently Robert Parker doled out 98 and 99 point ratings to Washington Vintner Charles Smith. Smith makes Syrah under The K Vintners label and the Magnificent Wine Co. Take a look at the picture of this guy, he’s the poster child for meritocracy. He’s never going to show up in a suit and start lecturing people in academic wine speak. No matter what your political affiliation is, you have to love that the good old USA produces winemakers like Charles who come out of virtually nowhere, market there wines in fresh new ways, and produce world class stuff.
A personal favortite of his wines is the 2006 Milbrandt Syrah from the Wahluke Slope AVA. Wahluke Slope is within the larger Columbia Valley, but it is the some warmest vineyard sites in Washinton and it is bordered by the Columbia river. Not unlike some of the most famous areas that make Syrah in the Northern Rhone. Get the connection.
Here’s the label:
Here’s a map of the Wahluke Slope:
This wine has it all. From K Vitners website, I believe these are Charles own words for the Milbrandt Syrah:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways, ten to be exact: 1. Smoke 2. Soy sauce 3. Cured black olives 4. Black pepper 5. White pepper 6. Black raspberries 7. Red raspberries 8. Stone 9. Dried meat 10. Violets
My experience with Washington Syrah has been that most of the wines do have a fascinating floral quality to them that gives them a unique sense of place. I could be crazy, But even a super inexpensive $10 Syrah from Columbia Valley called Stonecap was showing loads of purple flowers on the nose.
In as nutshell Washington Syrah is exotic. I can’t reccomned it enough.
Tags: Central Coast, Charles Smith, Downer Wine and Spirits, K Vintners, La Merenda, Melville, Milbrandt, Milwaukee wine, Nate Norfolk, Qupe, Santa Barbera, Shiraz, Syrah, Value wines, Wahluke Slope, Washington
