Syrah wines from California and Washington, my nemeses

WINE TALK
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Earlier this week we had a few US Syrah wines. And one ringer in the group. Tasted half blind. The host did not specify the selection process of the wines, I assume simply a matter of having access to them.

As much as I enjoy US Pinots, Cabs and older mature Zinfandels, the Syrah wines have always been a bit of a challenge. They often come across as oversized and jammy, not in balance. This is naturally a generalization. I do have fond memories of a Bedrock Syrah that had fruit from Carneros area. That was remarkable.

I could get in trouble here but the Shafer is an example of the challenging type. Big, bold, the frame carries the wine, but the overall sweetness (of fruit) is a mismatch.

The 2012 Nickel & Nickel Darien Vineyard Syrah, Russian River Valley, USA was clear number one for me. This was close to a cool(er) climate Syrah. Same way as the 2011 Big Basin Vineyards ‘Coastview Vineyard’ Syrah, Monterey County Syrah. These two felt lively and savory.

2010 Shafer Vineyards Relentless, Napa Valley, USA
2010 Denner Vineyards The Dirt Worshipper, Paso Robles, USA
2011 Big Basin Vineyards ‘Coastview Vineyard’ Syrah, Monterey County, USA
2012 Nickel & Nickel Darien Vineyard Syrah, Russian River Valley, USA
2012 Booker Vineyard ‘Fracture 24’ Syrah, Paso Robles, USA
2010 Sanguis Couture Proprietary Red, Santa Barbara County, USA
2010 Cayuse Vineyards Cailloux Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, USA
2012 Horsepower Vineyards ‘The Tribe Vineyard’ Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, USA
2010 Charles Smith K Vintners Northridge Syrah, Wahluke Slope, USA
2012 Sami-Odi Baby Tui, Barossa Valley, Australia

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That’s a beautiful lineup for my tastes! Maybe try seeking out some syrah from the farther reaches of nor cal? Like a Pax Alder Springs or something like that. Sadly just not too many syrah vineyards left in places that can grow a halfway decent pinot.

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Most of these seem pretty huge. If you are able, try to obtain Syrahs from Northern California or Santa Cruz. For example, Cabot, Sabelli-Frisch, Tercero, and newer vintages of Samsara.

Cabot has a sweet spot at 8-10 years of age, with nice olive and bacon notes. Sabelli-Frisch hasn’t been around long, but his wines are more restrained and not over-oaked. Tercero has a Rhone style with a lighter touch as well. Samsara started to make a more restrained style around 2018.

@John_Cabot @Adam_Frisch @matt_brady @larry_schaffer

Cheers,
Patrick

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Asko, it sounds like our palates are at least somewhat aligned given your comments above about Syrah and an appreciation for mature Zin. Patrick made some solid recommendations above so all I’ll add is that there is some cool-climate Syrah in Oregon as well.

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Asko,

Where are you located? If overseas, these wines are obviously more difficult to source, but if you’re stateside, there are others as folks have mentioned above to search out.

In addition to the ones mentioned, I would search out wines from the SLO Coast AVA - specifically wines from the Bassi and Basseti Vineyards as well as PIedrassassi’s wonderful Rim Rock Vyd Syrah. You can also rarely ever go wrong with Bob Lindquist’s Bien Nacido Syrahs now under his Lindquist Family Vineyard label.

But I understand where you are coming from - when syrah gets ripe, it becomes bigger, more fruit forward, and less interesting to me as well.

Cheers

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I had a 2017 Piedrasassi Rim Rock last week and it was gorgeous. My only regret is that I didn’t wait another 5 years!

Asko, good California Syrah is among my very favorite wines, and is the wine I have the most of in my collection, but there’s a lot of stuff out there that I don’t particularly enjoy. The Shafer Relentless is a good example - a wine that is clearly not built for me. Massive, monolithic, hot.

There have been lots of good recommendations from posters on here. Of the names mentioned already, I particularly enjoy Pax, Cabot, Samsara, Lindquist, and Piedrasassi. Some others that you might seek out would include Holus Bolus, Peay, Copain (especially pre-2016), DuPuis, Story of Soil, Lagier Meredith, Halcon, Qupé pre-2016, Rhys, Melville, Edmunds St John, Desire Lines, Drew, Terre Rouge, Ojai, Arnot Roberts.

I haven’t had Adam’s or Larry’s Syrahs yet, something I must rectify!

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@AskoKassinen I have some syrah’s from @larry_schaffer , one might make an appearance on our next tasting :slight_smile:

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Surprisingly enjoyed the 2021 alpha omega
2015
2016 Ovid
2015
2016 Morlet
2015
2016 kongsgard

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Aged Copain, yes. I had a 2009 a couple years ago and it was stellar. I think they had a different winemaker back then.

I’m not so sure about Melville. It’s been a few years, but I found all of their reds to be on the bigger and bolder side.

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I am a huge Syrah fan and drink a lot from the N. Rhone. But stateside, I prefer the Syrahs from Santa Barbara County. Check out Tensley, Andrew Murray, Tercero, and Terre et Sand which are some of my favorites!

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Your Washington Syrahs are all from Cayuse (christoff BAron) or charles Smith, that tend to have a funky (some say flawed) style. You would benefit from branching out to other WA producers like Delmas, Gramercy, Dossier, Betz, and a whole bunch of others I’m forgetting about.

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I had a 2018 Donna’s Block a couple years back that was on very fine form, and have had a good Estate more recently. Not the leanest Syrah, but feels well handled and not so big as to be muddy and monolithic. Sort of along the lines of the Bedrock Syrahs.

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Do you consider Cayuse and Horsepower to be oversized, jammy, and sweet?

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Hi
I am from Finland. Our state monopoly is crap when it comes to wines. Fortunately, in this day and age it is a no-brainer to source wines from US, Canada and most of the world. Pricey, but straight forward.

Thank you, and others, for recommendations. I have taken notes

\Asko

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I am looking forward to that!

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Thanks John, noted.
I am not sure how the host selected the wines for this tasting. I will be looking for the ones you, and others, have listed.
\Asko

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I think here the ‘over generalization’ is evident. Cayuse was overly oaky (coffee/mocca, chockolate) and Horsepower had weird candy notes in the mix, and a whiff of ‘merde’ that was strangely intermixed with the candy and spices.

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For me, that means over-ripe, too high Brix.

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I’ve never noticed new oak on Cayuse, but I haven’t tasted this specific one (although, they only used 15% new oak).

I last had that 2012 Horsepower in 2021 blind I tasted paprika, bell pepper, dried cherry, peppered salami, dry herbs, dry forest floor; with a finish of dry herbs, leather, white pepper, clay. Next time I open a Horsepower, I’ll look for candy notes and see if I find anything.

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Thanks for mention Patrick!

Slight shill warning: releasing a Syrah on 1st of Nov from The Bench vineyard in Clements Hills to my BIOGRAF Rhône-variety series (that I started last year). This is the same organic vineyard Pax takes from for his wine. Very happy with this wine. Quite different from Pax’s.

I agree with @S_Rash that Santa Barbara County with its cold climate is a fantastic place for Syrah. Almost every SB Syrah I’ve had over the years have been amazing. Piedrassasi is another great producer there.

But my all time favorite US Syrah has to be Arnot-Roberts Que Syrah. It’s a mind-blowing wine. And again, not to shill again, but I genuinely think Pax’s The Bench is one of the best Syrah’s in CA as well - which was why I chased the same vineyard!

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