Syrah: A grape you can have your way

Jon Bonné • Profile

It’s hard not to like syrah.

Perhaps that’s because winemakers in so many corners of the world have found ways to make it their own, even to the extent of giving it an alternative name. In much of California and Washington and Argentina, they call it by its original name. In France's northern Rhône valley, they tend not to mention grape varieties at all, preferring to talk about appellations such as the rarified Côte-Rotie and Cornas. In Australia (and certain marketing-savvy corners of the United States) they call it shiraz. It’s all still the same grape.

Granted, syrah has plenty of distance yet to cover, but it’s making major strides against the two big boys of red wine, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Between April 2004 and 2005, U.S. shoppers bought over 2 million cases of syrah and shiraz, 24 percent more than in the previous 12 months, according to ACNielsen Scantrack data.

Syrah’s appeal rests in its versatility. This fact stood out ever so clearly at last month’s Hospice du Rhône, a gathering in Paso Robles, Calif., of winemakers from around the world who are true believers in syrah and all the grapes that made the Rhône famous.

When considered side by side, earthy French syrah stands out in stark contrast to jammy Aussie shiraz and the many shades of U.S. syrah, which ranges the gamut from France’s more austere flavors to approximations of Southern Hemisphere fruit bombs.

While a grape like merlot almost always tends to channel similar notes, syrah, like chardonnay, is a bit of a chameleon — expressing itself across a huge range of locales and winemaking styles.

Find out about 'Today' in your e-mail Sign up today! Each week you'll be first to know about upcoming show segments, top stories and more.

“One of the nice things about syrah is that it does well in a variety of climates,” says Bob Lindquist of Qupé Cellars, a syrah-focused winery north in Los Olivos, Calif., north of Santa Barbara. Even within California, Lindquist notes, syrah can be found from hot climates like Paso Robles and the San Joaquin Valley to cooler climates like the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

The areas outside Santa Barbara where Lindquist gets grapes are better known for more delicate pinot noir, which helps explain why his wines tend to be more restrained than those made by some of his California counterparts. 

Paso Robles syrahs tend to express a heftier style, with enormous fruit — and alcohol levels to match. Rare is the Paso Robles syrah under 14.5 percent; 15 and even 16 percent are not uncommon. These are big wines — often with price tags to match, starting at $30 and going north — though winemaker Matt Trevisan, whose Linne Calodo wines fetch at least that much on the shelf, acknowledges that Paso Robles may eventually adopt a more modest style.

“If you want to drink these wines every night, you need to find a middle place,” he says.

Other winemakers have fled the state’s hotter sites for cooler areas more reminiscent of France.  Bill Easton picks fruit from the Sierra Nevada foothills west of Sacramento for his Terre Rouge syrahs — planting his flag in a more temperate corner of the state still largely unheralded for wine.

“Unfortunately, the trend in the wine industry is toward this bigger-is-better kind of thing,” Easton says. “You get more of those jammy notes and less of the terroir and the earth and the smoke from warmer sites.”

Perhaps you’re more accustomed to drinking $6 Yellow Tail, a popular shiraz from Down Under. Fear not.  The joy of syrah (and shiraz) is that its easily moldable nature means there’s almost certainly one on the market custom-tailored to please your palate.  If the Aussies have been making you happy, there’s no reason to start buying St. Joseph, though if you’re already a syrah/shiraz fan, you have the luxury of being able to choose among a spectrum of styles from around the world. 

Dive in where you feel most comfortable, and spread your taste slowly from there. 

While syrah used to be easy to break down into simple divisions — notably a French style that highlighted the grape’s salty, mineral, almost animal qualities, and an Aussie style that often was like a big jar of berry jam — its global nuances have become more difficult to parse.

If you’re partial to the Australian taste, rest assured that many U.S. vintners have acknowledged Aussie successes — right down to the quirky, colorful labels — and have emulated it. 

And excellent examples of Australian shiraz can be found in a restrained, complex style closer to the French approach. You can find it in some bottlings from the cooler Clare Valley, for instance.

At the same time, areas of the Languedoc in southern France are starting to make syrah that tastes more like shiraz (and often call it that too). California and Washington state are making syrah in a full range of styles along every point of the spectrum between French restraint and Aussie indulgence.

The rules are even being revised in the northern Rhône, where some of the region’s most famous winemakers are planting syrah on heretofore unheralded patches of land that share the same climate and schist soils as Côte-Rotie. Three of them — Yves Cuilleron, Pierre Gaillard and François Villard — are bottling top-notch syrah (and viognier) under a new label, Les Vins de Viennes, that invokes American pragmatism but retains a very French style of winemaking.

MORE FROM WINE

Wine Section Front

Sauvignon blanc: A perfect white for fall meals Long Island winery quickly makes its mark Spaghetti, meatballs and an $8 Italian red wine Italy’s diversity shows off in these top red wines With a chill in the air, a hearty red wine For a lunch party, crab cakes and crisp wines These lighter white wines are hardly lightweight Try this trio of top Australian red wines For the beach party, don’t forget the bubbly Give a bouquet of rosés for this Mother’s Day Wine Section Front   Add Wine headlines to your news reader: