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In a 2003 Wine Spectator column titled “The Next Really Big Red,” my favorite wine writer, Matt Kramer, said: “The most exciting wine in America today is Syrah. I’d love to say that it’s Pinot Noir, but I cannot tell a lie. It’s Syrah that’s slated for stardom.” Kramer has been right about a lot of things, but his prophecy about Syrah’s popularity was very, very wrong.
In his defense, he couldn’t have predicted the Pinot Noir craze that the movie Sideways (first shown at film festivals the following year) would help ignite. California growers gambled on Syrah’s future popularity too, increasing their acreage by 600 percent during the past decade. But one prominent retailer told me that Syrahs are “unsellable—even the bottles of very good wine.” So what happened?
Another retailer I talked to, this one from a chain store, said that it’s Syrah’s versatility that has worked against it. It grows well in both hot and cool climates, but the wine from each ends up tasting wildly different. Hot-climate Syrah tends to be blah and fruity, while cool-climate Syrah can be quite distinctive and balanced. But unless a consumer is familiar with winegrowing regions, the chain retailer says, “no one knows what they’re getting when they buy a bottle of Syrah. Are they getting something blowzy with jammy fruit, or are they getting something more lean and peppery?” So instead of chancing it, he says, people are “not buying the wine at all.”
The steady, cheap, decade-long flow of the former style from Australia—under the name Shiraz—hasn’t helped. Many Americans now think of Syrah as an inexpensive, disposable wine, as Mike Steinberger recently discussed in Slate. But insipid Syrah is boring no matter where it’s from. It’s also the only wine that pisses me off enough to inspire rants. It’s really that bad; tasting it makes me feel like I’m being taken advantage of.
Syrah needs to ripen slowly enough to develop some complexity. In California this happens in regions like the Sonoma Coast, Carneros, and Santa Barbara County. Syrah also tastes better at the lower alcohol level that typically prevails in cool-climate winegrowing. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of land in these places, and it’s not cheap to make wine there. But cool-climate Syrah is worth seeking out. One clue you can look for is the word pepper in the tasting notes, which often indicates a cool climate; try the 2006 Qupé Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Maria Syrah or the 2006 Cep Sonoma Coast Syrah.
Perhaps Syrah was never meant to be big. As winemaker Ehren Jordan (whose Failla Syrah from the Sonoma Coast is great) reminded me, good Syrah is actually a precious commodity. “Northern Rhône Syrah,” he said, referring to the original cool-climate version, “makes up less than 5 percent of all Rhône wine. That’s not much wine.” To get Syrah back on its feet, California winegrowers need to focus not on being the next really big red, but on being a small, really good one.
In the early 1800s, syrah used to be the most sought after grape, well above Bordeaux. Bordeaux used to blend cab with Rhone syrah.
I'm happy that the world sees syrah/shiraz as a schizophrenic category, and quite happy if it never sees 'Sideways' boom. I don't mind if only 5% of syrah is great. This varietal is well priced in the regions I love (northern Rhone), and I hope it stays that way.
I think zin1953 hit the nail on the head, some just don't appeal to him, not that they are bad wines, but they are not to his taste. I think that both terrior and the winemaker's style have a lot to do with the great differences between Syrah from CA and Rhone wines. Of course, many Rhone wines are Syrah blends, while most (not all) CA Syrahs are single variatal wines.
One should not be...+READ
I think zin1953 hit the nail on the head, some just don't appeal to him, not that they are bad wines, but they are not to his taste. I think that both terrior and the winemaker's style have a lot to do with the great differences between Syrah from CA and Rhone wines. Of course, many Rhone wines are Syrah blends, while most (not all) CA Syrahs are single variatal wines.
One should not be suprised that Rhone and CA Syrahs are very different, after all, look at the differences between CA Pinot Noir and Burgundy, night and day for the most part.
That said, I'm sorry to see that several of my favorite winemakers are giving up on Syrah and sticking to Pinot Noir. I guess it is difficult to sell the Syrah at the price point that they sell PN.-COLLAPSE
just to add my two cents, check on argentinian syrah...especially from Zonda Valley. Small production with a nice quality and great mouthfeel...if you want a more subtle nose look for on the $20 crosez-hermitage, or again in languedoc where between Faugeres and Minervois they make fantastic blends with mainly or high amounts of syrah grapes...really subtle and peppery, white pepper...all the...+READ
just to add my two cents, check on argentinian syrah...especially from Zonda Valley. Small production with a nice quality and great mouthfeel...if you want a more subtle nose look for on the $20 crosez-hermitage, or again in languedoc where between Faugeres and Minervois they make fantastic blends with mainly or high amounts of syrah grapes...really subtle and peppery, white pepper...all the above will cost you half themoney you will pay for a good one from WA or CA...-COLLAPSE
holly1178 writes, "I can't stand Syrah, though I do like Shiraz . . . "
I am just the opposite. Granted this is an overly broad generalization, and there certainly are specific exceptions, but I tend to love Syrah from the northern Rhône Valley of France (and those wines produced elsewhere in a similar style), and strongly dislike Australian Shiraz (and those wines produced elsewhere in a...+READ
holly1178 writes, "I can't stand Syrah, though I do like Shiraz . . . "
I am just the opposite. Granted this is an overly broad generalization, and there certainly are specific exceptions, but I tend to love Syrah from the northern Rhône Valley of France (and those wines produced elsewhere in a similar style), and strongly dislike Australian Shiraz (and those wines produced elsewhere in a similar style).
This can be tricky when it comes to, say, California. I really enjoy Edmunds St. John and Terre Rouge; I tend to really not enjoy wines like Pax, Rosenblum, and Sine Qua Non. It's not that these are bad wines. They aren't. They just don't appeal to me.-COLLAPSE
There are some great CA Syrahs, but they can be expensive. Producers like Alban and Sine Qua Non have been making fantastic, hard to obtain (and expensive) and very highly rated Syrahs for years.
Of course anybody who has had some of the great Northern Rhones knows how wonderful Syrah can be.
If you are looking for more affordable versions, Carlisle, Novy and Neyers make some very good ones...+READ
There are some great CA Syrahs, but they can be expensive. Producers like Alban and Sine Qua Non have been making fantastic, hard to obtain (and expensive) and very highly rated Syrahs for years.
Of course anybody who has had some of the great Northern Rhones knows how wonderful Syrah can be.
If you are looking for more affordable versions, Carlisle, Novy and Neyers make some very good ones that are under $50 and even some that can be had for about $25 . I find that a good indicator of who makes a good Syrah is to look at folks who make good Pinot Noir as some of the best Syrah grapes are planted in the same vineyards that produce great PN.
Other producers to look for are JC Cellars, DuMol, Radio-Coteau, and Rosenblum.-COLLAPSE
This article pretty much gets its right -- there are great Syrahs out there but you have to know where to look. Washington produces some good ones as do a number of smaller wineries in Northern California, I particularly like Culler. Even within regions there can be lots of variability; Paso Robles produces some great restrained Syrah's (and blends) along with many unsubtle fruit bombs.
I couldn't agree more with Vetter. Syrah's from the Rhone or Washington State can be very nice. This article seems to focus on California, which in my opinion has trashed new world Syrah by trying to make it too much like Zinfandel. That being said, there are som very nice Syrahs made in CA, you just have to know what you're looking for.
Maybe Kramer was wrong about CA Syrah, but I don't think...+READ
I couldn't agree more with Vetter. Syrah's from the Rhone or Washington State can be very nice. This article seems to focus on California, which in my opinion has trashed new world Syrah by trying to make it too much like Zinfandel. That being said, there are som very nice Syrahs made in CA, you just have to know what you're looking for.
Maybe Kramer was wrong about CA Syrah, but I don't think he was wrong about the wine overall.-COLLAPSE
Not to mention even an average Pinot Noir is quite expensive. There's nothing worse than a cheap Pinot Noir in my opinion so I don't even like chance it unless I can afford the higher pricetag which means I don't enjoy it on a weekly basis. On the other hand I do like Syrah but I don't see that much of the American variety when shopping for wine.
I can't stand Syrah, though I do like Shiraz. I realise they are the same grape, but I associate Syrah with the South African varieties and Shiraz with Australian-produced wines. I've never tried any of the American varieities.
Speaking of Syrah's, is there anything else quite like Edmunds St. John The Shadow Syrah? Seriously. I loved that wine.
What about Washington syrah? K Vintners comes to mind as a spectacular example of something fabulous and not outrageously expensive.
This was an interesting article to me, because as a Washingtonian wine geek drinking local, syrah isn't poo-pooed here. Our cabs seem to get the press, but our syrahs can be marvels.
Syrah is incredible, and perfect during between spring and early autumn.