Tim Fish on Cali Rhone-style Wines

[Wes_Barton]

@larry schaffer

@Wes Barton

Unbalanced blends come from unbalanced winemakers.

In all honesty, Wes, this is an interesting comment - and perhaps one that we should discuss more.

Blending is done by a winemaker or a winemaking team, and they probably have something in mind when putting it together. I don’t know of any winemaker who would ‘attempt’ to put together an unbalanced blend - why would they?

The fact, though, is that their palates will be different than ours, and what ‘they’ may feel as being a wonderfully expressive blend may smell or taste unbalanced to you or I.

The other thing to remember is that these blends are put together and left to ‘develop’ in bottle most of the time - the blends are not put together like they used to be over in Bordeaux - immediately after secondary is complete. Therefore, might these develop differently than one believes they would? Certainly . . .

Just another few data points to consider.

Cheers!

This thread is about people complaining about Syrah in blends. I’ve had plenty of successful Syrah blends, so that’s my main point. Someone not liking one certainly can be subjective or can be the result of someone judging it before it’s ready to drink. It can also just not be very good for a number of reasons. Outside of our circles there are a lot of not-so-good winemakers out there. There are also a lot of constrained winemakers.

[T_Altmayer]

@Andrew Kaufman

Did not read the article, but if it did not include Tablas Creek, it is incomplete.

Yes

[ClydeUnderwood]

@T. Altmayer

@Andrew Kaufman

Did not read the article, but if it did not include Tablas Creek, it is incomplete.

Yes

For the record, Tim did mention Tablas Creek in the article:
“Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Paso Robles 2013 (89, $20)
Fresh and full of lively fruit,with aromas of raspberry and smoky cinnamon.”

Tim also expanded on the subject in a more recent (Mar 31) article.

[Drew_Goin]

Thanks, Clyde.

Wes, my initial interest in posting this thread was to solicit the opinions of others on well-made blends that didn’t taste like “Syrah + some other grapes”. I have tasted GSM wines where the Syrah character was upfront, center-row, with little evidence of the accompanying grapes.

I wished to hear from others why this might be a commonly echoed sentiment, and I sought out recommendations for well-integrated blends that either display the uniqueness of each component, or exhibit a totally new synergy of flavors, body, etc.

[Wes_Barton]

I think the bad ones are people putting idea ahead of specifics. The best blends in the southern Rhone aren’t the same proportions of the same grapes, from one producer to another. There’s an artfulness worked out over time. Some CA producer trying to replicate a specific Rhone wine like it’s some sort of recipe is probably going about it wrong. If the ingredients suck, how’s the blend going to be any better? You need quality sites for quality wines. Then Syrah from a quality site might be best on its own, so why blend it?

If the Syrah sticks out in a blend, perhaps it shouldn’t be blended. Or, if it needs to be blended, asks you to blend it, you have to pay attention to its strengths and weaknesses and answer those needs. If it’s dense, vertical and tannic, you might want to blend to tone those down, just enough, not add more of the same. Add some breadth and complimentary elements. Some of the best ones I’m thinking of were one-offs. One of these barrels of Syrah is not like the others, one of these barrels of Syrah does not belong. So it’s held out, but the quality is there, attention is paid, and the right amount of this and/or that is added.

[Bart_Hansen]

I thought Bedrock used the Lasseter Vineyard as a source in Old Vine Zinfandel previously…?

Bedrock received the Zin from Lasseter only one year.

[Drew_Goin]

I thought Bedrock used the Lasseter Vineyard as a source in Old Vine Zinfandel previously…?

Bedrock received the Zin from Lasseter only one year.

Thanks for chiming in, Bart!

[Drew_Goin]

…my initial interest in posting this thread was to solicit the opinions of others on well-made blends that didn’t taste like “Syrah + some other grapes”. I have tasted GSM wines where the Syrah character was upfront, center-row, with little evidence of the accompanying grapes.

I wished to hear from others why this might be a commonly echoed sentiment, and I sought out recommendations for well-integrated blends that either display the uniqueness of each component, or exhibit a totally new synergy of flavors, body, etc.

So, 5 years later…

· Which West Coast wineries/vintners expertly incorporate Syrah with Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault, etc, into a seemless assemblage that avoids any hint of Syrah’s potential to overwhelm its companions?


· Are more American winemakers crafting harmonious Rhône-style red blends?


As detailed in the OP, intially I took it for granted that others shared my frustration with Syrah’s propensity to “not play well with others”. I’m not so sure that this is the case.

[CJ_Beazley]

Not sure of the exact makeup of them, but there’s a few Cabot ‘cuvées’ that I really like.

[larry_schaffer]

There are so many more options now than there were only 5 years ago regarding these types of blends, Drew. There has been so much more attention given to other red rhone varieties like Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault and Counoise, to name a few, that lots of non-Syrah dominated blends are out there. Heck, some are even adding Graciano

Cheers.

[markjchambers]

No mention of Saxum? All of their wines are Rhone blends of some kind. Do people think Syrah overwhelms in Saxum wines?

Syrah seems to be playing a lesser role in their wines than it did 10 years ago. Newer releases, like G2 and Hexe have little or no Syrah.

[G_D_y_e_r]

No mention of Saxum? All of their wines are Rhone blends of some kind. Do people think Syrah overwhelms in Saxum wines?

Syrah seems to be playing a lesser role in their wines than it did 10 years ago. Newer releases, like G2 and Hexe have little or no Syrah.

It’s not quite clear how Rhone blends from a producer with focus on a singular, house style fit into the broader discussion. Is Saxum actually shifting its style, or simply finding that for whatever reason Syrah is no longer ideal to achieve its stylistic objectives?

I’d be surprised if its the latter, since Saxum has been very successful with the cult-style, high octane but supple, iron fist in a velvet glove paradigm. Why change and risk alienating their customers?