I am not David (thank goodness) but I recommend Jean-Claude Marsanne, Pierres Seches, and Herve Souhaut Sainte Epine (this last one a bit more expensive)
2 Likes
Syrah is my favorite grape. Especially, when grown in Northern Rhone.
4 Likes
I picked up a 2019 Domaine des Pierres Seches Blanc several weeks ago. Have not opened it yet.
Anyhoo I really enjoy Syrah and have found it to be responsible for more than its fair share of wine epiphanies. Accordingly it takes pride of place in my little wine collection
2 Likes
I think that climate change is likely a boon to this area. In the past I remember some rather unripe and quite peppery Syrahs from these areas and suspect the same wines are likely getting riper in recent vintages. Jasmin’s is good, Faury’s isn’t bad. Gonon’s les Iles Feray is great but labelled as Ardeche.
1 Like
I’ve enjoyed a number of those from Australia. For example, Vasse Felix Heytesbury. I think I’ve had good examples from Tuscany and Paso, too.
I can’t really say whether they would have been better not blended together, nor can I ascribe a particular character to the blend, but they were at least good wines.
I guess my overall impression is I’m not sure if it’s an improvement, but I’ve never had any reason to dislike or to avoid cab syrah blends either.
Sarah, so often I am in the midst of typing a reply and you have said it for me (and better). Thanks for your input.
2 Likes
I believe that Mas de Daumas Gassac had a good dose of syrah with the cabernet in the 80s, and those turned out well. (Now they say it’s “75% Cabernet Sauvignon + 20 rare grape varieties.”)
Love the range of perspectives in this thread. I particularly appreciated Sarah and David’s contributions.
Syrah is my favorite red variety and it’s the most represented variety in my collection, making up about a quarter of total bottles. But I drink more Zin and Bordeaux varieties, which I also love, because I find them to hold more appeal with a wider variety of people and situations. And most Syrahs drink best for my palate when they’re at least 10 years old, so I have a lot of bottles waiting for their prime.
What is so beguiling to me about Syrah is both its distinctiveness and the range of its distinctive characteristics. You can have three wines - one is all black pepper and game, another is all olive brine and flowers, and a third is meaty as hell - savory but so rich - but all three are unmistakably Syrah and nothing else. I love it for its lack of reliance on fruit, though you can also get Syrahs that are fruit-forward if that is your jam. To me, its inherently broad cast of non-fruit characteristics also makes it one of the few varieties - notably alongside Cabernet Franc - that can handle some Brett and in some cases even be improved by it.
Of course, the characters that make Syrah so distinctive can be quite polarizing. It’s not for everyone, and for me it’s not for every occasion.
Syrah is my favorite red variety in the same way that the Aviation is my favorite cocktail: I’m not always in the mood for it, but when I am, nothing else will do.
2 Likes
I love having a relatively broad and balanced cellar, but N.R. syrah is easily my favorite. Nothing else like it.
I think that one will be amazing.
2 Likes
It is.
1 Like
Is anyone familiar with Booker Fracture Syrah from Paso Robles?
That’s healthy. If I didn’t love it so much, I’d eat it only very rarely, too. But I have decided that culinary happiness is what I prefer in life, at least for now.
Had a steak last night, actually: went with a young Bdx, however — 2019 Latour Martillac. The wine was “meh” – hopefully will be better tonight. Syrah would have been better.
2 Likes
I think I’m in the minority, but I’ve found most Bookers I’ve had to be underwhelming. In Paso, I prefer Torrin and Saxum, although I find myself reaching for cooler cliamte Syrahs more often these days.
3 Likes
My biggest issue with Syrah is that my wife hate it as much as i like it. So i have to drink them on my own or with friends who are also very fond of Syrah… oh that hard life.
2 Likes
I feel your pain; I live the same dynamic with my wife, but with Sherry instead of Syrah. Luckily, most sherries will last a while once opened. Sadly (for my mornings), Sherry usually doesn’t last long around me once opened. 
2 Likes
Great diversity of opinions here of which I often have many of the same beliefs. Here are a lot of my different opinions I’ve had of Syrah that is put together in a very long post. Let me preface by apologizing for so many opinions that may be incorrect but as I wrote this is couldn’t stop putting all of my thoughts down together.
I’ve bought more northern Rhone in the past five years than anything else as other European wines have exploded in price and sub $100 Syrah has mostly stayed in check.
With regards to the taste I agree it ranges well from light red fruited to dark blue better than most. Syrah truly has a linkage between both light wines and heavy wines and can play in either sandbox and with such a nice unique flavor profile. Most Syrah though when well picked is really quite awesome. Keeping the flavor profile simple though 100% of the time when I have my wife taste it she always notices the pepper taste and I’m always amazed my palate didn’t notice the pepper until she mentions it. This pepper component leaves your brain once you become a Syrah lover but I think many Syrah newbies never get over the hump on the pepper like many beer people never like an ipa becaise they don’t get over the hops.
With regards to its flaws I see two. First, Northern Rhone does often have Brett of which I agree it marries well with but I always find it a flaw of which I wish it didn’t have the Brett in it. Secondly, another problem of Syrah I am disappointed by a decent amount of northern Rhone that has that glossy, modern flavor that is kind of boring and I hope age makes it more interesting but it may not. Probably 2 out of every 10 bottles I drink is the modern glossy Syrah but I think I’ve researched well and others are subjected to that more. So in summary the taste of Syrah is awesome, you just have to watch out for over clean glossiness and the overly dirty bretty ones, but even those are a better drink than poorly made Pinots or Cabernets to me.
To the color / ripeness level I think that is the beauty of Syrah. All ranges of ripeness color can make great wine which is why so many people on this thread so aptly said it fits all parts of the world. Along with Nebbiolo / Barolo I feel Syrah can still make great wine in hot vintages or cool vintages. Syrah does heat better in my opinion than pinot which is why new world pinot almost never amazes me and it can do cool red fruited better than cabernet though this I feel less strongly about. Because of all of this I have found the new world to make great versions of Syrah; and to me syrah transports across the globe maybe the best other than cabernet franc and Sauvignon. But watch out as Syrah can be a boring wine when made poorly.
With regards to the terroirs of northern Rhone here are my generalities;
Cornas is a great wine which I think even the worst examples are pretty good. I think the magic of certain cornas’s, although rare, is the ability to have a dark black profile, while still being in a dark red fruited / magenta package. I’ve had a couple that are not a dark wine but have like a sprinkle of cocoa powder in it, which is really awesome. I’ve also have had a couple that again started dark red fruited but then open up to a black hole of flavor. With that said Allemand, the iconic producer, doesn’t have that at all and to me always has the lilac/violet/purple flavor that often I associate with Cabernets like Margaux or certain napas. To make it more confusing in summary most cornas has neither of the above referenced cocoa/black flavor profile or the lilac/violet of Allemand, however almost all I find to be a very good wine.
With regards to st Joseph it is the only terroir I’ve found so far that once in awhile has that gonon olive juice flavor that when hits is amazing. As has been said many times St Joseph is like a 100 mile terroir so it’s impossible to generalize but I will say I will say it’s a minefield price wise and as prices have increased into the $40-$70 range it takes a lot of research not to be disappointed.
Cote Rotie to me has a huge range of flavor but the Jamet bacon fat / savory flavor is extremely attractive. I think cote Rotie proves with Jamet that taking multiple vineyard terroirs mixing together can make a more complex wine kind of like how bartolo mascarello or Bordeaux believes mixing grapes or terroirs is more interesting than a single vineyard. I am a purist though at heart so I do still like the single vineyard terroir and I’ve noticed I think I prefer cote brune more than cote blonde as cote blonde sometimes to me isn’t a great flavor while cote brune to me always has redeeming value. Cote Rotie has a ton of single vineyard terroirs and it’s the ultimate example (along with cornas) that producer is everything, especially when you get to $70-$125.
Hermitage is a weird one. As many have said some is bland even though the prices aren’t as the word hermitage is a brand name that demands high prices. I know many pre millennium chaves of the past have underwhelmed and the jaboulets and chapoutiers of the past for me have all been Brett boring bombs that often have tasted horrible. Today hermitages are getting cleaner than some of the past versions I’ve drank and is the area with my least knowledge but my opinion is it seems the hermitages when we’ll made today both have a lot of tannin making them maybe the most difficult to drink young but when they open they seem to open up the most like a merlot. When done well today they are like a super tight Barolo young but open up like a merlot pomerol with age. Chave maybe is the exception as he has mixes all of the terroirs of hermitage and I think in doing so with his wine practices makes a more approachable hermitage that isn’t a tannin bomb young but still ages great. Well researched hermitage I think should be in all cellars but don’t open soon.
With regards to my holy grail of aged wine I’ve never tasted a Syrah that has brought me to the promised land like I’ve had a couple of times with burgundy and Barolo. The closest I ever got to my holy grail of Syrah was drinking a beautiful 1989 gentaz that was light red fruited and didn’t open even after 6 hours. The wine was amazing as it was as tight as a Barolo but red fruited with no Brett and clean. We left it for hours to open up and went to sleep by the time it did and it was gone the next morning. To be clear the gentaz tasted nothing like any northern Rhone I’ve ever had. But it has impacted me to the point where I really think early picked red fruited Syrah May be the holy grail if you allow it to age due to it being tannic like the hardest of Barolo. Other than my luckiness once in tasting a perfect gentaz the closest I’ve seen in light red syrah is barge and sozet but both have always been bretted and not clean.
With regards to producers I am happy to dm people my favorites but my big picture belief is the following. Even though I don’t have really more than ten years experienced I have a couple of times with friends ordered a bunch of old vintage (early 90’s) northern Rhones at reasonable prices of the secondary producers hoping to find some amazing experiences and for the most part I found the wines disappointing. The wines seemed to be not quite having enough stuffing and a bit watery even though I like lighter, red fruited wine. My conclusion is that all the myriad of current producers are making much better wine than the average ones of the past, if you remove like 3-5 of the best past wine makers. I believe we’re in the golden age of producers making better wines and a lot of the northern Rhones from 2010 to today will age and develop into great wines. What I mean specifically is lots of wines in 15 to 20 years will match the over priced guigals of 20 years ago without all of the oak and not costing $500.
Northern Rhone still probably falls behind Barolo and burgundy to me but with the prices what they are I still think a young collector can still with proper research get an amazing cellar at a somewhat reasonable price as burgundy has the left the station and Barolo has mostly also.
8 Likes
IIRC, this is just what the back label says year in and year out. You can find the %s of the grape varieties in the blend from their website.
Apparently Syrah appeared in the blend with the 1980 vintage. This is how much Syrah has been there:
1980: 5,7%
1981: 3,9%
1982: 4,8%
1983: 14% (!)
1984: 5,1%
1985: 7%
1986: 11%
1987: 8,6%
1988: 9,6%
1989: 14% (!)
1990: 6%
1991: 10,2%
1992: 7,8%
1993: 21% (!!!)
1994; 11,4%
1995: 8%
1996: 7%
1997: 5,1%
1998: 8%
1999: 3,7%
2000: 7,4%
2001: 8,8%
2002: 3,2%
2003: 7,2%
2004: 5,8%
2005: 5,2%
2006: 3,8%
2007: 2,7%
2008: 1,4%
Curiously, Syrah disappears entirely with the 2009 vintage, only to return at 6% with the 2020 vintage, after an absence of more than a decade.