October Wine Focus: Wine 401 - Syrah & its blending friends

Chianti's white grape requirement is sort of like vermouth to a fan of extremely dry martinis. A friend of mine's dad used to just place the bottles of gin and vermouth side by side on the shelf and allow osmosis to add the appropriate amount of vermouth to the gin.

White grapes in Chianti very much went out of fashion at the end of the 20th century but were still required by the DOCG regulations. Eventually major producers such as Isole e Olena started producing 100% sangiovese wines. Despite being labeled as merely Italian table wine, Super Tuscans such as Cepparello got a lot of acclaim and became wildly popular. Nearly everybody was using the minimum required white grape blend in their Chianti anyway, so eventually the authorities moved with the times and dropped the white grape requirement. Since 2006 white grapes have been prohibited in Chianti Classico, which must be at least 75% sangiovese, up to 10% canniolo, and at most 20% of other approved red grapes (syrah is one of these).

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

2014 Wind Gap Wines Syrah Nellessen Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Floral nose with Jolly Rancher Watermelon candy on the palate that segues into charcoal for the finish. Yes, charcoal, not that pleasant tarry note most syrahs get but a hard, ugly flavor that doesn't integrate with anything that comes before it.

I've never met Pax Mahle, but I hate him for making this wine (I bought a case on reputation).

[David M. Bueker]

2014 Wind Gap Wines Syrah Nellessen Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Floral nose with Jolly Rancher Watermelon candy on the palate that segues into charcoal for the finish. Yes, charcoal, not that pleasant tarry note most syrahs get but a hard, ugly flavor that doesn't integrate with anything that comes before it.

I've never met Pax Mahle, but I hate him for making this wine (I bought a case on reputation).

Having been down this road a number of times, I am beginning to think his winemaking style makes early drinkers. Even Tom Hill, explorer of wine tombs unknown often mentions middle aged Wind Gaps being over the hill.

[Jenise]

Actually, the road we've been down concerned his pinot noirs, not the syrah.

We couldn't finish a first glass so set the remaining half bottle aside to see if the watermelon candy aired out. Meant to get back to it a day or two later, but alas five days passed in which it didn't die, and about 80% of the watermelon went away. But the other 20% was still enough to annoy. What staggers me is that this syrah and his '15 pinot resemble each other more than they resemble anything else ever made called pinot noir and syrah. It's like he has a bottle of some artificial flavoring he adds.

1988 Hermitage Rouge "La Chapelle", Paul Jaboulet Aine

Deep brick-red color. After a little airing out complex, classic syrah aromas of dark fruits, smoke, and roasted meat rise up to greet you. Classic Hermitage flavors on the palate. This wine is absolutely seamless, graceful, and a delight to drink. Long, complex finish. This is not as powerful as the 1985 and 1989 Chave, but 1988 was the lightest of the four great vintages of the 1980s ('83, '85, '88, '89). Double Curly.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

Sigh. La Chapelle was “so cheap” back then that I had no qualms about just drinking it.

Yeah, those were the days before the Rhone got Parkerized. I'm a big fan of Condrieu, Cote-Rotie, Cornas, and Hermitage, but they're all hard to find now and hideously expensive when you do find them.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, I love those old Jaboulets. Of course, who doesn't. You will not be topped this month, I predict.

[Jenise]

Two more from the past week:

1996 Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz E & E Black Pepper
The dill and pine resin notes of American oak jump at you from the getgo and don't let go. (Might have receded somewhat if decanted longer.) Sweet, caramelly fruit make it a surprisingly good match for tiramisu. Very very good showing for a 25 year old wine, but you better love your American oak.

2016 Thomas Gerrie Wines Syrah Les Collines Vineyard Walla Walla Valley
Took a chance, which one should never do, with buying a mystery wine from Garagiste wherein I committed to a whole case of a supposedly $50 syrah for around $17 ea. All I knew was the vintage (terrific) and vineyard (terrific). The bottles came home last week and I'm a happy girl: though this essentially has none of the characteristics I associate with northwest syrah, what it does have is a bright, deft medium-bodied delicacy not unlike tempranillo. A very good tempranillo in fact, highly likable if one changes one's expectations. Red cherry and berry fruit with a bit of orange rind and a minty nose supported by tame tannins and acidity. Equally good as either sipper or food wine. Bottom line: not what I think of when I reach for syrah, but I need and want wines like this in my cellar.

We opened another one of the Gerrie Syrahs above. Similar impressions but thought this new bottle had a bit more heft than what I reported above, yet still in flavor more like a rioja than a Washington syrah. As before, fine by me: it's very more-ish.

[Jenise]

Two more from the past week:

1996 Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz E & E Black Pepper
The dill and pine resin notes of American oak jump at you from the getgo and don't let go. (Might have receded somewhat if decanted longer.) Sweet, caramelly fruit make it a surprisingly good match for tiramisu. Very very good showing for a 25 year old wine, but you better love your American oak.

2016 Thomas Gerrie Wines Syrah Les Collines Vineyard Walla Walla Valley
Took a chance, which one should never do, with buying a mystery wine from Garagiste wherein I committed to a whole case of a supposedly $50 syrah for around $17 ea. All I knew was the vintage (terrific) and vineyard (terrific). The bottles came home last week and I'm a happy girl: though this essentially has none of the characteristics I associate with northwest syrah, what it does have is a bright, deft medium-bodied delicacy not unlike tempranillo. A very good tempranillo in fact, highly likable if one changes one's expectations. Red cherry and berry fruit with a bit of orange rind and a minty nose supported by tame tannins and acidity. Equally good as either sipper or food wine. Bottom line: not what I think of when I reach for syrah, but I need and want wines like this in my cellar.

We opened another one of the Gerrie Syrahs above. Similar impressions but thought this new bottle had a bit more heft than what I reported above, yet still in flavor more like a rioja than a Washington syrah. As before, fine by me: it's very more-ish.

Sigh. La Chapelle was “so cheap” back then that I had no qualms about just drinking it.

Those were the days. I remember buying a case of the 1983 La Chapelle for $156US ($13/bottle) in early 1985. That's less than the price of a bottle now.

[Jenise]

Last night with grilled sausage and a green tomato salad:

2014 Domaine Auguste Clape Le Vin des Amis Vin de Pays Syrah
Tart and reserved upon first opening, but pops with food. After reading a recent note on CT I see I should have set it aside and waited a day or two, but this just didn't seem to have anything in reserve. Either way, should have opened it sooner.

Sigh. La Chapelle was “so cheap” back then that I had no qualms about just drinking it.

Those were the days. I remember buying a case of the 1983 La Chapelle for $156US ($13/bottle) in early 1985. That's less than the price of a bottle now.

Jaboulet Ainé was bought in 2006 by the Frey family, owners of Château La Lagune. Under the ambitious Caroline Frey, a qualified oenologist, modern Bordeaux methods of wine making were introduced alongside Bordeaux notions on prestige pricing. I believe that the Freys have now branched out into Burgundy, in particular Aloxe-Corton.

I have had several La Chapelle vintages from the mid and late 90s in my cellar and have found the bottles very variable, e.g. a bottle of 97 in advanced decay followed a few months later by another bottle which was a superb example of Hermitage in its prime. The 96s are also uneven. There is no doubt the Frey regime will have brought a technical improvement and greater reliability to these wines but, from my memory of tastings in the late 00s, they have become a lot suaver and more oaky as well as much more expensive.

To turn to a less prestigious N.Rhône, here is a TN of a young Crozes-Hermitage (usually 100% Syrah in the reds). Partly under the inspiration of Alain Graillot, standards in Crozes-H have improved greatly in the last two decades. Graillot's wines age beautifully up to 15/20 years. Alas I only have one bottle left, a 2001 Guiraude.

IMO Syrah in the N. Rhône valley, even from lesser appellations like Crozes and St.Jo, has a freshness and elegance lacking elsewhere, except for a few in Switzerland & New Zealand and from high altitudes in Languedoc and Tuscany. This is a good example-

2019 Domaine de la Ville Rouge Crozes-Hermitage Inspiration - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage (29/10/2021)
The bouquet on the nose contains beautiful floral notes, including violet, as well as the more usual N.Rhône griotte cherry, olive and grilled meat. The palate is medium++ bodied, plays variations on the aromas from the nose and is full of bright fruit, fine minerals, fresh acidity and enough firmness on the finish. There is still an element of rawness due to youth which I guess will smoothen out with a little time. Good+.
Posted from CellarTracker

[David M. Bueker]

I think they have had to moderate some of the aggressive price increases at Jaboulet, at least for some of the lower cuvees. When the Frey family first took over they priced the Crozes Hermitage Thalabert at $75, double its prior cost. It has since come back into the $40s, which given general inflation is much more reasonable.

2014 Domaine Auguste Clape Le Vin des Amis Vin de Pays Syrah

At my local wine store I asked the sales assistant, who knew me well, for six bottles of Clape Cornas. He grinned from ear to ear and then asked me, "you mean you don't want a case of the Clape?"

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Dad joke!

On the wine merchant's part, not mine. That event actually happened.

Regarding Jaboulet, the winemaker, Gerard Jaboulet, died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1997. Perhaps the inconsistency you saw in the '97 La Chapelle was due to the change in the winemaking regime? I know that the post-Gerard wines had a reputation of not achieving the heights of the wines Gerard Jaboulet made. I haven't had any of the wines from the Frey regime--too expensive. Has there been any change in the character of the wines? Gerard Jaboulet's wines were squarely old-school Rhones.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

2009 Domaine Courbis Cornas Champelrose Syrah
Modern; great nose, nice on the palate with only minor secondary development, but fruit drops out in the 2nd glass and it lacks the stuffing for further aging. Fun last night, but drink soon.

This Gigondas is made from a cocktail of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. From its taste, I suspect that Grenache dominates and it could hardly be more different from the fresh and bright 100% Syrah Crozes-Hermitage on which I posted a few days ago.

2018 La Compagnie Rhodanienne Gigondas Clos du Bois de Menge - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas (31/10/2021)
Like in previous years this is crowd pleasing but without spilling over into vulgarity. Quite full bodied its fruit is dark complexioned, rich and slightly sweet (Grenache predominating, I guess) with a sprinkling of pepper and other spices, enough acidity for balance and finish veering towards liquorice and liqueur but without its 14.5% alcohol becoming obtrusive. Gigondas can be much more classy, complex, challenging and structured than this but it is good in a suave vein.
Posted from CellarTracker

Courtesy of Mr. Hill's bottom-feeding, we have:

2018 The Originals Syrah, Washington State

Very good clarity for a dark, purple wine. Medium legs. First aroma impression: this is a young wine. Primarily black fruit, then red fruit. Just a hint of eucalyptus for a night or two, by Day 3, seemed more like spearmint. Palate intensity much less than that of aroma. Had to work to find spices, definitely no smoke. Overall impression: a young, hard and/or closed wine. QPR is clearly above average for a Syrah. Bought a second bottle and will not try that until 2022 or 2023. Screwcap.

After Tom posted about this wine, I sought it out on my next TJs foray. There were no boxes to get a bonded winery number. There were just 2 bottles on the shelf. $5.99. I grabbed both of them because juice like that can sometimes vanish quickly. Sure enough, next trip it was gone and so was the sign.

Even the nearest TW lists WA Syrah prices beginning at about $11 for Chateau Ste. Michelle. And fwiw the Charles Smith Boom Boom (noted for label similarity by Mr. Hill) goes for $13. I have tasted very few Syrahs below this price, mostly Australian. While the Aussies do good Shiraz, WA is preferable to me.

[Jenise]

Pat, the profile sounds like Yakima fruit, and I like what you have to say about it. Still hasn't shown up in our TJ's, likely never will. (sigh)

In the meantime, dear friends brought a gorgeous syrah to dinner last night so I have one more to slip under the finish line.

2018 Block Wines Syrah Ankleroller Block Stones Speak Vineyard Walla Walla Valley
"Ankleroller" refers to vineyards full of large rocks. Exuberant black raspberry fruit, canned tomato, bramble, allspice and fennel seed fill this gorgeous Rocks syrah that leans away from the super funky types typical of this AVA. Bright, not heavy, with no overt oak. Will acquire sensuality with more time in bottle. Made by Morgan Lee of Two Vintners fame for Full Pull's Block line.

I add this Rhône type blend from Languedoc which is in complete contrast to the sweet fruited and suave Gigondas on which I recently posted. In the Corbières-Boutenac appellation 30-50% Carignan is required (50% in this cuvée) with the balance being made up by Mourvèdre, Grenache and Syrah (30% max). Some Languedoc purists consider Syrah an interloper but not at this estate, I think.

2019 Château Ollieux Romanis Corbières-Boutenac Cuvée Aristide - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Corbières-Boutenac (01/11/2021)
This seems fresher, more herbal and mineral than my memory and notes of previous vintages. It is medium/full bodied showing savoury fruit, Mediterranean herb and garrigue notes, fresh minerals and good moreish acidity with smooth texture and decent support and length on the finish. Good+.
Posted from CellarTracker