… and everyone eagerly awaits to see who limps out of the carnage to be crowned champion and slip on the coveted belt, screaming to the world, “I have the best Pinot in all the land!”

To my eye, the consensus on the twittersphere is that many enjoyed some great wine and time with friends old and new throughout the day, which was our ultimate goal.  I think we have achieved celebrating this beautiful grape and building community around it online.  It was good to see so many venues from the land of OZ and the Kiwi’s, to Atlanta, Austin, Washington, Oregon, Sonoma and Napa to name a few.  Saw several conversations about the ageability of Pinot Noir which may come as a surprise to many since it is a “lighter” red, but a well balanced and structured (meaning acid) Pinot can make it 5-10 years in many cases.  Here in Napa, we enjoyed a 2002 from Morey St Denis and 2005 from Gevrey-Chambertin which were cases in point.  Several of the 2008 and 2009 New World Pinots from Oregon and Sonoma were still just too young, but still quite tasty.  Another set of tweets that stand out in my mind this foggy (figuratively and literally speaking) morning is the high ranking of a #CHilean Pinot from the Paul’s venue in Atlanta.  Would love to hear more about that from our pal Joe (SuburbanWino).

So, with all the drama and suspense of an American Idol elimination round sending the audience on the edge of their seats to a commercial break, let’s take a look at some of the “results” of the day’s activities…

Official Stats

• 4042 tweets
• 2351 “votes” for favorite regions via 2-letter hashtag
• 946 contributors

Reach & Impressions

Some various reach and impression stats throughout the day (not comprehensive often due to last 1500 tweet max limit by analysis sites unless you pay big $$ for more):

• Reported by @MastermindTB early in the day around 8:30p AUS/NZ time: 3,352,418 impressions, reached  300,000+ people, 1800+ tweets from over 500 contributors (tweetreach.com)
• My report from this morning: 2,653,219 impressions, reached 236,448 people, last 1500 tweets, 368 contributors (tweetreach.com)
• Last 1,000 tweets generated 2,117,424 impressions, reaching an audience of 484,877 followers within the past 24 hours (hashtracking.com)

And now for the results.  It was a much closer race this year, with the top 3 regions being separated by only 23 TWEETS!

You feel that sting?  That’s pride farkin’ with ya!

#NZ    568    24.2%

#OR    549    23.4%

#CA    545    23.2%

Syrah is a classic grape that, at one time, was made popular by majestic regions such as Hermitage and the Cote Rotie, located in the Northern Rhone valley in France, which are some of the most well-known Syrah-producing areas  in the world.  A classic Rhone Syrah will also have about 10% Viognier co-fermented with it.  The Syrah vine is very productive, performs well in even the poorest soils and tends to favor warm climates. The grape color is very dark due to the high level of pigments (anthocyanins) in the skins, which aids its ability to age along with oak maturation.  In Chateuneuf-du-Pape, Syrah is sometimes added to the Grenache to improve its ability to age.  Unfortunately, Syrah has lost its favor with the wine-drinking community recently based on the recent drop in sales and flattening of acreage (using California as a benchmark).  What is wrong with Syrah?

Drop It Like Its Hot

According to a December 2010 report by Wines & Vines, sales of Syrah wines have slowed further from the previous year, “down by 9% in the recent four weeks, and the same over 52 weeks.”  At the Unified Grape Symposium at the beginning of 2010, Nat DiBuduo, president, Allied Grape Growers had this to say about this honorable grape: “Syrah: Don’t plant Syrah, especially on the coast. Many wineries no longer make Syrah as a varietal. Demand is coming from use as blender.”  Really?  In the search for some kind of explanation, Erin Davis received this reason from Steffanie Aglim of Aglim Winery in Paso Robles: “The variance of styles of Syrah found in California tends to confuse customers.”  Again, I ask, really?  Maybe.  The point here is that Syrah, and especially Shiraz from Australia, has become a huge, jammy, hot and spicy wine overpowering the unique identifiers of this variety such as olives, game, lavender, rosemary, blackberries and raspberries.

If you look at the graph you can easily see the flattening of the acreage curve in CA since the middle of the decade after a huge growth spurt to start the decade due to demand for Syrah surging in the 90′s.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), there is more supply than demand now, so consumers should be able to find great deals as wineries try to clear inventories.

Eric Asimov of the NY Times asked in June, 2010, “Is There Still Hope for Syrah?”  And I say Yes.  Let’s make 2011 the year Syrah re-emerges from the ashes.  Who’s in?

Recent Discoveries

This past week I came across a couple of Syrah producers to add to my list of favorites:  Hamel Wines and Longboard Vineyards.  Kevin Hamel’s 2001 and 2002 offerings that included fruit from both Russian River Valley and Dry Creek Valley.  The aromatics and flavors were commensurate with those from grapes grown in cooler climates (in this case RRV, realizing DCV has a warmer climate), which I think is becoming the key for good Syrah.  While there are still white pepper or other spice notes on the finish, none of these wines were hot or jammy.  The acid level is perfect to allow these wines to age so well, and the fruit still shines through along with gamey and earthy aromas.

The other discovery was Longboard Vineyards, my new neighbor in Healdsburg.  Actually, I am the one who is new to the neighborhood, and I can literally walk less than one block to the tasting room and enjoy some fantastic Syrah.  They have 3 varietal offerings and one blend with Syrah as the main player.  The 2006 Maverick Syrah is made from a vineyard in Carneros and was very round (already!), balanced with a hint of white pepper on the finish.  The 2006 Dakine Syrah from Russian River Valley is also phenomenal and expresses more fruit.  It was here I ran into friend and fellow blogger of Winelog.Net fame, Ward Kadel, who exclaimed how Longboard is one of his favorite wineries to visit, specifically for the Syrah.  Now that’s saying something.

I personally jumped into the world of Syrah back in 2008 when I produced a barrel of what I like to think as a Rhone-like version at Crushpad.  The fruit was sourced from the Alder Springs vineyard in Mendocino, was bottled just this past May and it is already tasting fantastic, though it will most certainly get better over the years.

Only the Beginning

Watch for more from the Rhone Rangers as William Allen, of SimpleHedonisms.com, plans to work more closely with them in the coming year.  Support them if you dig Syrah and join the cause to educate consumers.

I had the pleasure of meeting Darek Trowbridge of Old World Winery the first week into my move to wine country and he is also dedicated to the old world style of winemaking and especially using classic Rhone varieties.  I really like the 2005 Rockin R Ranch Syrah at only 13.7% ABV and using Mendocino fruit.

In March, 2010, we stopped by Wind Gap wines in Forestville where Pax Mahle is dedicated to making more elegant and authentic styles of classic varieties including a Syrah from the Sonoma Coast (more cool climates!).

Please comment below if you think you know why Syrah is on the skids or to show your support for this classic grape and the trend of cooler climate styles.

With the NCAA tourney just ended, I now present the results of our 2nd annual March Madness wine tasting where the host determines what wine-related madness we all will venture into while watching college hoops.  Last year was the inaugural Bordeaux Madness, in which 9 wines from the Bordeaux region of France were pitted against each other in true bracketology form.  The 2005 Ch. Du Glana held it’s own and made it to the finals only to fall to the powerhouse 1985 Ch. Palmer.  Would we have another Cinderella v. Stalwart situation this year, more in line with the actual Butler v. Duke finale?  This year, the focus was Syrah.  The links on each wine below will take you to the community tasting notes on CellarTracker/GrapeStories if there are any.

2003 Clarendon Hills Shiraz Baker’s Gully – This wine showed some age, clear around the edges when viewed at an angle in the glass.  Witnessed stewed/candied fruits and a mineral finish.  When tried again a little later, portrayed some smoky notes, but had a disappointing short finish.

2008 Trader Joe’s Shiraz- The joke of the evening, the 16-seed, if you will.  But, really the test of the evening, to see how it would fare in the competition and see if our taste buds were sharp.  There is a great inside story with our tasting group this night, where a friend at a blind tasting last year swore up and down how Trader Joe’s just blew only to realize the wine of the night he picked was indeed a Trader Joe’s wine.  Talk about egg on face.  Anyway, this wine had a light-medium hue, which was a concern since Syrah is a grape that contains higher levels of pigment, so these types of wines are generally much darker and even inkier at times.  The nose displayed perfume and flowers, had a decent mouthfeel and was a little minerally at the end.  Everyone at the table pegged this one tonight as the dud that went home early.

2003 M. Chapoutier St. Joseph Les Granits- Got a little old world, horsey funk on the nose with green pepper and herbaceousness.  There was mineral on the palate and a nice spicy finish.  A second round a little later showed that the funk had reduced showing more fruit on the nose.  This one had much bigger tannins resulting in more texture and pucker factor.

2003 E. Guigal Hermitage – The hue gave away its age, with red-orange brick colors.  Fruits were stewed on the nose and it was very chewy showing rich tannins and astringency.  A second review an hour later gave way to more fruit and pepper.

2007 D’Arenberg Shiraz The Footbolt- Beautiful deep, dark color.  Very obvious green peppers and veggies on the nose.  Awesome mouthfeel and spice on the palate.  This is smooth, rich and balanced.

2002 Montemaggiore Syrah Paulo’s Vineyard- This was a wine my wife and I had just brought back from our Sonoma vacation trip and were very excited that everyone liked it so much.  It was inky with candied black fruits and pepper on the nose.  The palate presented deep blackberries and raspberries and had the longest finish of the nite.  Just tremendous. 

The top two wines were the D’Arenberg and the Montemaggiore with the Montemaggiore taking the crown.  It has aged well and might still do well for another couple of years.  Montemaggiore means “Major Mountain” in Italian and is a biodynamically farmed vineyard.  They only produce about 1500 cases a year and the wife is the winemaker while the husband, Vince, does the rest.  Their vineyard site is well-suited to the Rhone varieties due to the fact it is 7 degrees cooler than the surrounding areas in Dry Creek Valley due to its elevation.  I will be writing a post specifically about our visit to the winery soon, so keep an eye out for that.

Please share with us more of your experiences with Syrah/Shiraz!

Cheers!

(C) chrisada

Syrah is a classic grape that is very popular in both the old and new worlds.  Hermitage and the Cote Rotie, located in the Northern Rhone valley in France, are probably the most well-known Syrah-producing areas  in the world and produce wines that are the best representation of this powerful variety.  A classic Rhone Syrah will also have about 10% Viognier co-fermented with it.  The Syrah vine is very productive, performs well in even the poorest soils and favors warm climates , but has been known to struggle with poor fruit set.  It tends to bud later than other varieties but will not ripen too late in the season.  The grape color is very dark due to the high level of pigments (anthocyanins) in the skins, which aids its ability to age along with oak maturation.  In Chateuneuf-du-Pape, Syrah is sometimes added to the Grenache to improve its ability to age.

Syrah/Shiraz as all about herbs and spice but can often be very fruit-forward and display dark fruit attributes like blackberries, mulberries and loganberries.  Young Syrah will be particularly astringent, peppery or even have notes of burnt rubber.  Some unique aromas you may also perceive with Syrah include black olives, game, lavender, musk and rosemary.

Syrah is becoming increasingly popular and successful in northern California as well as Washington.  However, Australia has practically made its name on Syrah, known as Shiraz (Shur-razz) down under, where it is often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon to make a big and bold style of wine.  Australian Shiraz tends to be riper, jammy and displays more chocolate and less spice notes.

Some recent Syrahs I have enjoyed:

2006 Bridgman Syrah – Washington– This was a little green and vegetative, maybe even some asparagus from some of the tasters.  Definitely strong with some black fruit, black pepper and a longgg finish.

2007 The Winner’s Tank Shiraz - Nose is pleasant and not hot like many Shiraz’ I’ve had recently. Very fruit forward with distinct blackberries. The spice shows up on the finish.  This went well with chili that ended every bite with a spicy crescendo.

More to come from the Syrah Madness event we attended just this past weekend, where Syrah from several regions went head-to-head.  In the meantime, what do you think of Syrah and have you had one you really enjoyed lately?

Cheers!

Ok, that title was way too easy and quite cheesy, but I couldn’t help myself.  I really love Syrah, recently focusing on the Northern Rhone style, to the point I’ve attempted to make my own using Crushpad‘s winery services.  I won’t know for a while if I even came close until it gets bottled after 14 months of barrel aging.  In the meantime, let’s try a flight of some Syrah from 3 very different regions of the world: Australia, France and Argentina.

2006 Terlato & Chapoutier Shiraz-Viognier Victoria, Australia      $25
Don’t be fooled by the “Viognier” part of the label.  As a matter of fact the wine bar didn’t even list it on their menu, it only stated Shiraz.  Turns out there is only 5% of Viognier added and I’m not quite sure what characteristics it has added.  If anyone knows, please comment.  Additionally, this was a partnership between Terlato and Chapoutier, who produced the next wine in the flight below.

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Vegetal at first, some licorice and violet, coffee. The coffee was faint at first but then became more pronounced 15 min later
Taste: Mineral,  vegetal, some cassis and med tannins

2005 M. Chapoutier “Belleruche” Cotes du Rhone           $17
Color: Lighter ruby/burgundy, lightest of the flight
Nose: Light nose, couldn’t get a lot out of it, maybe some red berries, overall very tight
Taste: Blackberries, more tannin, spice, long finish

I really loved the taste and flavors in this wine and what I expected in a Rhone Syrah, but was disappointed in the overall experience because the nose was so shy.  Overall, the smoothest, fruitiest and spiciest of the three.