Wine Focus February 2022 - Syrah & Open that Bottle Night(s)

[David M. Bueker]

International Syrah day is February 16, 2022, so our primary wine focus for the month will be the legendary grape of the Northern Rhone. Whether it's Hermitage, Cote Rotie (well hello Viognier!), or something more humble like Crozes Hermitage, Syrah always brings its distinctive personality to the wine. Planted in California it can get richer, but there are plenty of west coast options that have a lot of verve, and can be as austere as a bottle of St. Joseph on a root day!

As a bonus, Open that Bottle Night is February 26, we will take the whole month for opening "that bottle." For synergy sake, why not open a really special bottle of Syrah. It doesn't matter why it's special, just open it! Not feeling the Syrah thing? OK, you can still play by opening a treasured bottle that has always been waiting for the "right" moment. Two years of COVID isolation should have taught all of us that the right moment is right now!

I'm a bit confused about February's WT. It seems to be Syrah, which we did as recently as October, as well as "Open That Bottle".

Anyway even before the month starts, I can offer a couple of candidates.

First Syrah. Unlike Tempranillo (arguably), Syrah has a marked varietal character when grown in the region from which it spread, namely Northern Rhône, which is also found in other cool climate areas such as Switzerland and parts of New Zealand but, like Pinot Noir and Riesling, it reflects well the local terroir differences. I am less convinced that its character is so marked in warmer climates such as S.France, where it is usually blended with Grenache, Mourvèdre...., or warmer parts of the southern hemisphere, where additionally it has often been smothered by heavy oaking. This one is very typical of the best in N.Rhône with about 10% Viognier adding fragrance and elegance.

1999 Pierre Gaillard Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (29/01/2022)
If anything this bottle is even better than the last some 5 years ago. Many commentators find notes of bacon and olives in the aromas of C-R; usually I have to search but this time they are very clear alongside griotte cherry and violets but perfectly integrated. These aromas follow through onto the medium++ bodied palate which shows pepper sprinkled tangy fruit, fine minerals, underlying roundness, silky texture, moreish acidity, good residual structure and length. More and more facets show right through to the heeltaps. Excellent.


This That Bottle was the last Pahlmeyer in my cellar. I was looking for a pairing for lamb and was about to take a Barolo when I saw this solitary bottle. It proved an excellent choice.

1993 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red - USA, California, Napa Valley (30/01/2022)
This bottle was delicious. It is a Bordeaux blend with 87% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from various parts of Napa Valley. If blind, I would not guess such a high proportion of CabSauv nor Napa, which I associate with bold wines. This one was relatively light in colour and body and had an elegant and fragrant character which reminded me of old tawny or Colheita port with rather more colour but without the sugar. Fruit was complex and subtle but at the softer end of the red and dark fruit spectrum with some strawberry notes, there was a little fine minerality, acidity was discreet but provided good balance for the fruit and there was enough residual structure to support the finish. The back label reports 14.5% alcohol but I would not have guessed it so well was it balanced. Very good.
Posted from CellarTracker

[David M. Bueker]

I'm a bit confused about February's WT. It seems to be Syrah, which we did as recently as October, as well as "Open That Bottle".

It's both. Trying to run this year's calendar by whatever grapes have their "international day" that month (just for lack of any better idea), and Syrah was the only decent candidate for February. Also October 2021 was more about blending Syrah with its red friends.

Open that Bottle was added because one day is never enough!

[Jenise]

Here's something fun, opened last night to accompany beef bolognese, thinking the soft flavors of advanced age would be complimentary to a three-hour sauce and more important than the grape involved (and it was):

2002 TOR Syrah Old Clones Carneros
Note: this is the first Cellar Tracker TN posted on this wine in 12 years, and the last notes in 2010 and 2009 were anything but positive. I read those before placing a bid on Winebid, but that aside: good vintage + good producer + 'Old Clones' +
me thinking "Syrah in Carneros? Crazy!" all suggested it would be worth $30 for me to try it. Sure glad I did.

Deep garnet color. Very, very aromatic; silky dark cherry fruit on the palate, long finish. Not a typical syrah in that it doesn't offer any of the roadside/animal aspects most of us associate with syrah. In fact, probably because they didn't skimp on the oak, which has integrated, if I were poured this blind my first guess would have been a cabernet blend. Notably, though there's obvious bottle age in neither appearance nor flavor does it show as 20 years old, and it held up well over two hours. Excellent, impressive.

[Jenise]

Last night I made a version of the stupidly named 50's dish Swiss Steak, wherein I used up half a can of tomato sauce opened for another purpose a week ago and more than would normally be needed for this dish so the gravy was fairly heavy. These days I love syrah with strong tomato flavors, so I went to the cellar for a Pegau but came back with this wine instead.

It literally slithered out of its cubby as I walked by and as I went to put it back I realized this was a 2012 Sangre which I didn't remember owning, not a 2013 Todos as I'd believed. The '13 Todos are a fruit punch of 7 or 9 different grapes this '12 that it's a full syrah. And this morning when I went to CT I discovered that it was stupid expensive--I'd paid $120 for this where the Todos were $45ish. Ouch.

This California producer is owned by the guy who owns Screaming Eagle and a football team, among other things, because he married one of Sam Walton's daughters. The winery has impressive land holdings of historical significance to California even before it was a state and lies just east of Solvang, California, in an area known as Ballard Canyon.

2012 Le Sangre de Jonata Syrah, Ballard Canyon, California
Garnet-black color. Concentrated but not syruppy, assertive flavors of black raspberry, coffee and a touch of eucalyptus, great body, balanced and structured. No sediment, and it drinks well at ten years of age without decanting. Excellent.

[Robin Garr]

Really excellent QPR in a $15 (90%) Syrah from the southern end of the Rhône that tastes like a Northern Rhône.

Domaine Gassier 2017 Fleur de Syrah Costières de Nîmes ($14.99)

So organic and sustainable that even its Smart Green synthetic cork is 100% recyclable, Domaine Gassier's Fleur de Syrah is 90% Syrah with a splash of Grenache to brighten it. Very dark purple in color all the way to the edge, it offers appetizing aromas of plums and black pepper at first. Given a half-hour to open up in the glass, it develops more complex nuances: A whiff of violets, a faint undercurrent of licorice. On the palate it's mouth-filling with good fruit-acid balance. Tasty black fruit and pepper notes last and last, with stony minerality peeking through. Hefty 14.5% alcohol calls for your attention, but the wine comes across as balanced and approachable, with tannins present but integrating well. U.S. importer: W. Direct, Lawrence, Kansas, and other regional distributors. (Jan. 25, 2022)

FOOD MATCH: The back label suggests red meats, stews, and spicy dishes, and that's an easy choice for this sturdy red. The producer's website offers a broader range of pairings, including mushrooms, which worked for us in an intense pasta dish of bucatini with roasted mushrooms in their own sauce.

WHEN TO DRINK: The winery suggests enjoying the wine now or cellaring it for five to seven years, and that sounds about right to me.

VALUE:
Wine-Searcher.com shows a $16 average U.S. retail; I paid a buck less. Frankly, it's an excellent wine and wouldn't be a bad buy for quite a few dollars more.

WEB LINK:
Here's the producer's fact sheet in English on the 2019 vintage; most of the details will be similar to this 2017.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Gassier Fleur de Syrah on Wine-Searcher.com.

Learn more about Costières de Nîmes at this Wine-Searcher link, where you'll find dozens of other wines from the region with price and vendor information.

Browse Wine-Searcher's Syrah info page with its Best Value Syrah Wines.

I too have this Gassier.

[Robin Garr]

I too have this Gassier.

What did you think of it, Bob?

I just saw a varietal Syrah on sale at a local supermarket for <€3 . I abstained.

There are some largish reliable producers in the Costières de Nîmes, amongst whom Michel Gassier (and his Château de Nages) is probably the best known. I wonder how he manages to achieve this quasi-N.Rhône result in that arid, windswept and mosquito infested region.

[David M. Bueker]

Yeah, probably a wise choice to skip that one Tim.

For a period of some years I was very keen on Syrah which I had been taught many years before was an inferior grape. I enjoyed its peppery flavours, then those same peppery notes began to turn me off then I cane to dislike them. I now don't have any 100% Syrah and only a few Syrah blends. I like the GSM type blends where Syrah is rounded and smoothed by Grenache and Mourvèdre.

Last night I had

20220206_Weekend-Wines-Sun-2-small.jpg

2017 The Liberator God’s Own Country (South Africa, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley)

This is 74% Shiraz, 26% Mourvèdre, made by Newton Johnson Winery and exclusive to The Wine Society. The name refers to the county of Yorkshire and Hemel-en-Aarde (Heaven and Earth) Valley. The owner’s father came from the first and the winery is in the second. Owner Dave Johnson married Felicity Newton, hence the winery name. NJ is best known for Pinot Noir.

The Liberator is Richard Kelley MW who seeks out small parcels of wine which he numbers, labels and sells, plus some exclusive to a merchant. He is up to number (he prefers to call them Episodes) 36 and there are also 34 'Special Editions', i.e. exclusives. This wine is limited to 840 cases.

The wine is dark in colour. It's a pretty drink, easy to quaff and ready now. Also a decent abv of 13.5%, closed with DIAM

Fact sheet on the wine here

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for that Peter. "the liberator" sounds a lot like the de Negoce project in California. Find a decent+ batch of wine, and bottle it under the proprietary name.

As I drink through the wines I laid down in the 90s, early 00s and a few before that, I am frequently arriving at my last bottle of a certain wine or vintage, many of which are "That Bottle" candidates, like the Pahlmeyer of a few days ago. This is my last bottle (and probably the best) of my stash of CndP Beaucastel 1998, which was considered a stellar vintage. I have one bottle each of 1995 and 2001, the former of which has disappointed me so far. At a pinch Beaucastel can also qualify for Syrah; the blend contains 10% Syrah, 30% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache and 30% from the 10 other varieties allowed in the appellation.

1998 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (06/02/2022)
In my last TN about this wine in 2016, I described this wine as deep coloured and as quite full bodied and dark complexioned. In the intervening nearly 6 years, it has changed quite a lot, arguably for the better, at least for my palate. Colour has become lighter and more transparent without a lot of bricking. The nose has become more expressive and complex with notably some sweet cherry, rose petal and mineral notes. The palate is no more than medium+ bodied showing brighter fruit than I noted before added to the tar, chocolate, spice, a little liquorice and velvety texture with enough acidity for balance leading to a long finish infused with a squirt of kirsch. The overall character has become more elegant and fragrant. The downside of this evolution was that it had some difficulty standing up to a boeuf bourguignon cooked with young Côtes du Rhône but afterwards all its subtleties came into play right down to the heeltaps. Excellent.
Posted from CellarTracker

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks Tim. I have a bottle of the 1998 standing up right now.

[David M. Bueker]

• 2016 Betz Family Syrah Domaine de Pierres - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (2/7/2022)
  Interesting wine that really needed some air to blossom. When I first tasted it there was a bitter edge on the palate. I almost put it aside for something else. After an hour open it had opened up, and the bitterness faded to a background note, and the deep black fruit took center stage. The tannins clamped down fairly hard on the finish, so I would prefer to cellar quite a while longer, but I am concerned about that bitterness returning to center stage. Not quite sure what to make of this in light of other Betz Rhône grape bottlings that have also struck me as bitter. Is it something to do with the oak treatment?

2018 Domaine des Ouleb Thaleb Syrah Tandem, Morocco.

Nice looking package, $20 Cdn, 13,5% alc. Dark purple color, great looking wine here. Aromatics quite inviting as I swirl with dark fruit, plum, olives and a hint of meatyness. Initial entry thought is soft tannins, good acidity, some pepper and spice too. Not a big concentrated syrah, pretty good length though. Went well with pork ribs peri peri.

2018 Domaine des Ouleb Thaleb Syrah Tandem, Morocco.

Nice looking package, $20 Cdn, 13,5% alc. Dark purple color, great looking wine here. Aromatics quite inviting as I swirl with dark fruit, plum, olives and a hint of meatyness. Initial entry thought is soft tannins, good acidity, some pepper and spice too. Not a big concentrated syrah, pretty good length though. Went well with pork ribs peri peri.

Alain Graillot, arguably the best producer of Crozes-Hermitage, is a partner in this project and must take much of the credit for the good result alongside fresh nights at an altitude of some 500 metres.

[David M. Bueker]

• 2019 Bedrock Wine Co. Syrah Weill a Way Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (2/9/2022)
  Opened the night after the 2019 California Syrah because I wanted to do a reasonably direct comparison. The Weill has more richness, more depth, more everything except more class. Both wines have just as much of that, while the Weill is the long distance runner versus the middle distance California Syrah.

[Jenise]

Bob Parsons--I've had a previous vintage of that wine, and indeed it's impressive. Never expected anything like it. Too IIRC it's the oldest winery on the African continent, or something like that.

David, interesting Bedrock. Didn't know that one existed. I had to laugh, though, in that I instantly recoiled from the name. When I was 17 I worked a summer job in a lawyer's office, where the senior partner, named Weill, was one of the meanest men I've ever met and all the other females were vipers. I'm surprised to realize that after all these years the mere mention of that name sickens me. He didn't have "more class" either.

[David M. Bueker]

Sorry to bring up bad memories!

[Jenise]

Not a problem. Notice I said, "Had to laugh...."

Haven't opened any wine since Sunday. Looking forward to something nice tonight, and just maybe I'll reach for a syrah.

1991 Cote-Rotie La Mouline, E. Guigal

A classic example of why Cote-Rotie is so famous. Very deep red-purple color, but with some brick tones that betray its age. Classic Northern Rhone syrah aromas of dark fruits with smoky overtones jump out of the glass to greet you. Intense, complex flavors follow the aroma. There is a background of acidity and tanning there, but they serve only to uplift the flavor and add to the experience. A beautiful peacock-tail finish. This wine is just hitting its stride and should provide pleasure for 20 more years. Alas, this was my only bottle. Triple Curly.

I said once in this forum that I thought the Guigal La-Las, though superb wines, were international in style and didn't really taste like Cote-Rotie. I take that back. That certainly was not the case here!!

-Paul W.

Too IIRC it's the oldest winery on the African continent, or something like that.

I couldn't find a website for it, but various shippers say it was established in the 1920s

Domaine Ouled Thaleb is named after the tribe that owns the vineyards’ land and works at the winery. It was established in 1923, and the vineyards were planted the same year, with the first harvest in 1927.

So which is the oldest winery in Africa? I don't know. WE know wine was made thousands of years ago in Ancient Egypt but those wineries are no more. The answer my be in John & Erica Platter's book Africa Uncorked - Travels in Extreme Wine Territory which possess but have not read because its printed in pale grey sans-serif and is too hard to read.

I'll nominate Groot Constantia Estate which was established in 1685 with first bottling in 1688 and invite entries for older wineries...
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[Jenise]

Re the Ouled Thaleb wines, here are the two reds I have had--one syrah, one a blend which makes a reference to the winery's antiquity as described by the distributor who brought that bottle. So maybe not oldest, but once the largest.

2015 Domaine des Ouleb Thaleb Syrah Syrocco Zenata
Mark's. Friendly, stemmy black fruit with notes of cactus pear. Very different style of syrah, doesn't resemble any other wine this night. Someone said "Chilean" to which someone else said "but better".

2012 Domaine des Ouled Thaleb Ait Souala Vin Vieux Grande Reserve Zenata Red Blend
Just terrific for the price. Aging well with sturdy dark fruits, iron-rich minerality and some leathery notes just beginning to develop. Made of 25% each Malbec and Tannat and 50% Arinornoa, a 50's era cab-tannat cross and named for the 1931 Ait Souala estate, once Africa's largest winery.