These were huge syrahs, almost zin-like. Should that be the case?

WINE TALK
1

I seem to hear this phrase more and more.
Is this what we should expect going forward? Is this what you want to see? Is it a crime for syrahs to taste as jammy as zinfandels?
Thoughts?

2

I sure hope not but I am not surprised. I think the jammy sweet like fruit is something that is appealing to the masses.

This is not what I want to see. I would like to see more traditional syrah producers thrive such as ESJ, Lagier Meredith ect.

It is not necessarily a crime for syrahs to taste jammy but its not a style I can appreciate.

3

Speaking only for myself… while I can appreciate that style time and again, my question is why I should pay the kind of money that seems to be asked for many of those type of Syrah when I can get similar Zin much cheaper. I just don’t understand the niche that some are trying to fill.

4

I have a cellar full of wine. When I buy a syrah I want it to taste like a syrah, not a zin or a cab.

What really pisses me off is when winemakers try to make a pinot taste like a syrah! deadhorse

Why is jammy fruit so in? A crude attempt to hide the other obvious flaws in the wine?

5

Good points. Like everything else in America, wine needs to be dialed-up to 11, bigger, sweeter, flabbier or it loses mass appeal. That’s the American way. Super-size it! I guess it’s the Aussie way too. Cali Syrah is quickly becoming my favorite but not when it tastes like over extracted Pinot Noir that tastes like Zinfandel. Restraint is not a sign of weakness. Winemakers, are you listening?

6

I don’t mind a big Syrah. There have been big Syrahs being made forever, esp. from the Southern Rhone. I do like them, though, to have some Syrah qualities, like the pepper, meatiness, smokiness, etc. If it’s really just sweet and jammy, then it’s not well made, IMO.

7

Wait, you can tell when a wine tastes like a wine that tastes like another wine? Now they know that we know that they know that we know! neener

Just being a jerk - I agree with everything you wrote. Here’s the challenge with CA Syrah in my eyes: It’s never going to be Northern Rhone Syrah, and it shouldn’t be. Different soils, climates, etc. So the question is, what natural characteristics of Syrah will show up in CA, and what attributes will come from its place? It seems that winemakers can easily turn CA Syrah into a jam or pepper bomb, and that doesn’t appeal to me, but would some argue that this is Syrah’s true CA personality? Invariably when I pour a CA Syrah next to a Cote-Rotie or Saint-Joseph, it’s no contest.

8

Argument against = ESJ. I can deal with relatively ripe Cali Syrah (or blends) but my $$ almost always goes for Northern Rhones.

RT

9

Certainly if you want northern rhone, you should buy northern rhone… but there are tons of producers experimenting with cool climate spots in california. Ojai, Broc Cellars, Lucia, Big Basin, IO, Vino V wines, just to name a few off the top of my head. I think there’s more than enough diversity to go around.

10

Jeb;

Your point is well made. However, it doesn’t matter if they are grown in cooler climates if the fruit is left on the vine until mid November and ripens to near raisins. It’s the jammy nature of so many of the CA wines many of us complain about.

To me it seems that we/I are the very vocal minority. I think most people like the candied sweet red wines we’re seeing on the market today, and we are getting out voted at the winery. Most Rhones are sold in Europe to that market. How do you believe that our 15+% alcohol zins would sell in Europe? Not well I’m sure. Hope the dollar doesn’t go so low that I can’t afford good Northern Rhone syrahs in the future. Choice is a good thing!

11

I wonder. There are apparently those in France who consider ripe Cali wines to be a novelty. It’s hard to ignore the big WS and WA ratings they can garner.

RT

12

This was my exact thoughts when I tasted through the 05 Sea Smoke line up a week or so ago. However, those seemed like huge syrahs that almost tasted zin like [shock.gif]

13

This is very true, but even among wine geeks, sometimes they go for sweet more than they might care to admit. For example, I have had the Lillian Syrah at 2 offlines now (I believe they were both '05), and most of the people were raving about it. I found it like Syrah candy. Way too sweet for me. Go figure.

14

Zinfandel is actually a much lighter varietal than Syrah.

15

Yet Americans love Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Light, Corona…

16

Not the most encouraging news I have heard regarding trends in wine. Considering that it took years for tastes to begin to move away from the sweetness in chardonnay, hopefully it will not take that long for that trend to take hold in the reds.
[berserker.gif]

17

“I just don’t understand the niche that some are trying to fill.”

Easy, that niche is: People with lots of money who did not grow up drinking wine, do not like classic styles and want to buy / serve pricey wine.

18

“Restraint is not a sign of weakness!”

I can imagine a Berserker T-shirt with that on it…with our berserker character holding the severed head of (insert wine maker here)…

19

My thought exactly… lots of ESJs I would assume to be Northern Rhone if poured blind.

20

While I drifted quite a bit from CA Syrah because of the huge style of the wines, I’ve begun coming back to them as I’ve noticed some scaled down examples that go less for the jammy fruit and more for the purity, meaty notes, and bright acidity. It’s most welcome. I enjoy how these wines develop over time. I’m going to start laying down more CA Syrah as a result.