New to the list after signing up pre-2015. As I sit here sipping an ethereal 2015 Armada, I am going to have to add Cayuse to the list. Wow. Mentioned above, but Piedrasassi still makes the top of the list too.
Top winery in Paso makes very good Syrah. They have a Paso based Syrah as well as a Carneros Syrah that both are fantastic and fun to taste side by side to see how different the regions taste even when made by the same wine maker.
My first new world syrah was an 1998 Alban Reva. From then on, I was hooked. I’ve bought from Alban, Saxum, SQN, Ledge, Lillian, Andremily, Cayuse, Reynvaan and K Wintners and many more. My group has done many syrah blimg tastig and we have discovered that they are all good. Remarkably consistent. Most require 10+ years of bottle age to be at peak. The lesson I learned is that the best syrahs aren’t most expensive. The sweet spot for me is Andremily. $110 a bottle. Alban Reva is stil there as is Saxum, but $110 get sme a great syrah that is approachable in 5 years, so why pay more?
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Other than SQN or a few Napa wineiries, and maybe one or two WA wineries, who else is charging north of $100 for domestic Syrahs?
$110 is quite expensive when you have folks like Jaffurs, Tensley and Piedrasassi coming in much much cheaper.
Just an observation.
Cheers
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Don’t be sleepin’ on Villein.
Fortunately Syrah is a resilient varietal even if bottling conditions were not perfect. Sounds like they may not have had good vacuum (pulling air out of headspace prior to cork insertion). Not sure if they have their own bottling line or not but if you do not check frequently (a few times per hour), sometimes a little bit of cork debris can render a vacuum tube ineffective and suddenly end up with positively pressured bottles coming off the line. If positive pressure and bottle neck stored upside down, gravity and pressure does its thing. Takes some time for a cork to recover it’s elasticity post bottling so all the more crucial to watch your corker vacuum like a hawk
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I agree. That 1998 Reva was $38. And the 2007 Saxum James Berry was $67. Now the cheapest Saxum is
$138, Reva is $118. The short-listed Albans are $200. I agree Tensley, and Carslisle are good values, but most other producers are north of $80. That includes Torrin, Booker,Epoch, Law, L’Avdenture, Turtle Rock and Ledge.
There is no value wine to be found in Paso.
I guess I was comparing Andremily to SQN. I’ve had all of these wines and I think Andremily beats an syrah under $100 and it’s just as good as those that are far more expensive.
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Check out Alban Patrina. It can be had for $55-65/btl and delivers in a major way. I do not think of it as a true second wine but, less dense vis-à-vis their other bottling (still plenty dense) and fresher style from the estate. I’ve had the 2013 and 2015 in the past few months. Both still have a very long ageing curve ahead of them.
For my money Carlisle, Tensley, Caliza, Dehlinger, Arnot-Roberts, Peay deliver high on the QPR scale and run the gamut of styles.
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Which is why you should head south towards Edna Valley andmfirther south to SBC - or north to then Santa Cruz Mtns or Chalone area.
Cheers
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That makes sense. Thanks for this interesting nugget of winemaking information.
I opened my last bottle of 2009 Three Foxes Syrah, from Swartland in South Africa last weekend. This was a joint venture of Chris Mullineux of Mullineux, and Pascal and Olivier Schildt. I had the good fortune to meet Chris and Pascal, and Chris’s wife Andrea, several times a dozen years ago in NYC and taste their wines (both Three Foxes and Mullineux) alongside a bunch of other SA wines they selected from other producers.
This wine went the distance and showed a very Northern Rhone syrah character on the nose, with just a trace of reduction and classic syrah dark fruits. It was quite concentrated and still has some tannin, but it was quite elegant, and very definitely on the Old World rather than New World side of the line. It was quite masculine – somewhat reminiscent of a Cornas or Hermitage.
I gather the partnership that made these wines hasn’t continued, but this wine has lived on, and the website for Pascal’s US importing firm indicates there may still be few of their older wines available, though I’m not sure if that is really live.
This wine made me want to return to exploring South African wines, which are largely overlooked here in the U.S.
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If one drives by Alban vineyard, you can see many of their blocks on the hillsides and they are super low yielding/ struggling. They have amazing color and concentration in the reds as a result. As a winegrower, they totally deserve the prices they are fetching, especially since John is a great winemaker too. If you are paying $100+ a bottle for Syrah that is cropped at 4+ tons to the acre, you are not getting your money’s worth imho.
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A great point, but you and I both know that lower yields do not necessarily equate with ‘higher quality’ right. Just as an example, I believe part of To Kalon is cropped at 3-4 tons/acre and pricing in these is still crazy high (and anyone, please correct me if I’m incorrect).
We also agree that John is a crazy good winemaker and his wines are certainly priced fairly. 
Cheers
I did a near full lineup of Alban last year and the Patrina probably shouldn’t have been opened, but there was one on hand so it was opened as a comparison. I love Patrina but wouldn’t group it with these again (Reva not shown). I’m pretty sure we only tasted it and the bottle barely was dented.
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Noted!
Will have to keep my eyes open for Amerighi in the US market. Syrah is my favorite variety, while Italy is my favorite wine producing nation. There’s some overlap already from larger Tuscan producers (Isole e Olena, Fontodi), though I have yet to dig into this area.
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I would NEVER guess domestic Syrah, nor does it hit like WA St Syrah. Subtle, driven by earth, ultimately satisfying in a deep way. Fuckin’ aye.
Bravo fellas!
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Hi Larry,
Too low of yield on vigorous sites is not ideal (veggie flavors/tannins at high sugar) however on low vigor sites, I have yet to see an instance of lower yield and lower quality. In referencing Alban, I can tell he is not getting much yield off those hills, especially given how dark I have seen his wines when I had a chance to taste with him years back. If he were able to carry 3 tons per acre on those vines, his wines would not have the color or concentration, nor perceived quality imho. In reference to To Kalon, Cabernet market can get away with higher yields however if I am faced with a decision to buy a very nice bottle of Cab, I would support guys like Ketan Mody who are farming really neat sites (at lower yields) and pushing the viticultural envelope of sanity. To Kalon has a great reputation but I am a native mountain farmer and prefer steep hills and the blood, sweat and tears that go into farming them 
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Great post my friend. My point is that it is not necessarily black and white
Who in WA charges over $100 a bottle for Syrah other than Bionic Frog from Cayuse, anyone?
Not only directed at you Larry.
Overall, I think these are still great value, but I believe that both K Vinters Royal City and Reynvann In the Rocks are probably right at $100 or slightly more.