Spotlight
on Syrah: 25 leading wines, tasted blind
Syrah
is possibly the world’s favourite red grape variety, and one that is
capable of expressing itself in several guises, depending on where it
is grown. In its home territory of France’s Northern Rhône (pictured,
right) it makes
perfumed and often elegant wines. Moving further south it is a key
component of the richer, spicier wines of the Southern Rhône and the
Languedoc, and it reaches its biggest, baddest incarnation as the
Shiraz of Australia. A grape on the move, it is becoming increasingly
important in California and South Africa, and has even begun to appear
in wines from Italy and Spain. This tasting featured an array of
leading Syrah-based wines, which were tasted double-blind. This means
we had no idea what they were, other than they were based on the Syrah
grape. The preconception I had was that this was going to be a
high-quality line-up, but beyond this I had no information. Notes are
as written before identity of the wines was revealed.
The selection was put together
for a purpose: this was a tasting organized by Sam Harrop (a winemaker
working with UK retailer Marks & Spencer) designed to explore the
relationship between Syrah and Brettanomyces (a spoilage yeast
which has the potential to add complexity at very low levels).
Harrop’s MW dissertation is on this subject, and he asked us to try
to identify which of the wines had brett character, and to what
degree. After we had tasted the wines samples were sent off for
laboratory analysis to see how our perceptions matched with reality,
but this is a separate story. Here I’m reproducing my tasting notes
on the (wines minus my brett assessment) as this presented a good
opportunity to taste a line-up of leading Syrah without sight of the
label. It’s always good to do this once in a while.
One point worth mentioning: it
was a warm day, with an ambient temperature in the mid to high 20s
centigrade. The wines were served at this room temperature, and thus
were a little warm. This has the effect of making them taste less
structured and slightly sweeter. Slightly cooler, many of these wines
would have scored perhaps a couple of points higher: I could only
score them as I tasted them on this occasion.
Wines tasted July 2003
Score/100
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Wine
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94
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Sean Thackrey Orion Old
Vines Syrah 1996 California
Deep coloured. Ripe nose is lovely with complex black fruits,
herbs and some olive character. Some smokiness too. Rich,
concentrated palate is very lush but balanced. This is
compelling with lots of rich, spicy fruit. New world style but
with some old world finesse. Very good/excellent
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91
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JL Chave Hermitage 1997
Older wine with an evolved spicy nose and some sweetness,
together with a medicinal edge. The palate is quite ripe with
some evolved spicy character and herbal complexity. Tasty stuff.
Very good/excellent
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90
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Edmunds St John Syrah 1993
California (no further info supplied)
Rich stuff. Lovely ripe fruit on the nose with some medicinal,
herby complexity on the nose, and a roasted edge. Great
concentration of structured ripe fruit on the palate with lots
of oak, but it is well integrated. Great concentration here.
Very good/excellent
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Penfolds
Grange 1990 South Australia
Rich herby, spicy nose is quite evolved and shows a tarry edge.
Lovely spicy complexity to the fruit on the palate. A structured
wine with quite a bit of oak, but it is well integrated. Very
good/excellent
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L’Esprit de Font Caude
1998 Montpeyroux, Languedoc
Distinctive savoury, spicy nose with a hint of medicinal
character and some complexity. The palate is ripe and spicy with
some firm tannins. Good structure here, in quite a new world
style. Rich. Very good/excellent
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Ogier Côte Rôtie 2000
Pronounced, appealing spicy/savoury nose with concentrated
herby, green-olive notes. The palate shows very appealing
savoury fruit with a herby, animal-like character and a green,
meaty edge. Old world style and very typical of Côte-Rôtie.
Very good/excellent
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89
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Domaine Clavel Copa Santa
2001 Languedoc
Quite a complex full, ripe nose with dark fruits dominating,
together with some spice. Sweet herbal edge. The palate is rich
and lush with lots of fruit and a spicy finish. Tasty in a new
world style. Very good+
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Ch de Cazeneuve ‘Les
Calcaires’ 2001 Pic St Loup
Smoky, spicy nose with a savoury character. Quite rich spicy
palate shows a good concentration of ripe fruit. Savoury in
style, and quite new worldy. Very good+ |
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Jaboulet Hermitage La
Chapelle 1996
Midweight herby, spicy palate with nice savouriness. Some
herby/spicy complexity: this is quite evolved. Nice savoury
herbal structure on the palate: this is quite evolved. Very
good+
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88
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Riddoch 1990 (no other
info given; I’ll chase this up – presumably not Wynns John
Riddoch, which is a Cabernet blend, so I suspect it’s a
Riddoch Shiraz)
Sweet herby, spicy nose. Quite evolved but nicely complex. The
palate is soft, rich, spicy and sweet. Some woodiness and some
tannin. Quite appealing: this is an older Aussie. Very good+
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Mount Langhi Ghiran Shiraz
1996 Victoria, Australia
Older wine with a distinctive earthy herbiness to the nose,
together with some appealing spiciness. The palate shows a good
concentration of savoury, spicy fruit. Nicely weighted structure
here. Very good+
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Hardys Eileen Hardy Shiraz
1998
Very forward, minty, lush nose showing intense, over-ripe
fruit. The palate is soft, ripe and displays a huge
concentration of spicy, minty fruit. This is a big Aussie. Very
good+
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Renard Syrah 1999 Russian
River Valley, California
Classy full, herby, savoury, green-olive nose with some
ripeness to the fruit. The palate is ripe and concentrated with
a herbal, olive-like character dominant. Quite tasty. A South
African, perhaps? Very good+
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87
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Domaine Trevallon 1997
Provence
Quite a faded colour: an older wine? Leathery, spicy nose
with a hint of stinkiness. The palate is herby and rich with
some complexity. Evolved old world wine. Very good+
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Rostaing Côte Rôtie Côte
Blonde 1995
Quite an unusual complex spicy, medicinal nose. Midweight
herby, spicy palate with good structure and acidity. Distinctive
and savoury. Some oak influence and a roasted edge. An ambitious
wine: I’d say it was old world in a new world style. Very
good+
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86
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Domaine Pochon Château
Curson 2001
Quite a taut, savoury nose with a spicy edge to the sweet
liquoricey fruit. The palate is plump and savoury with a good
concentration of ripe, spicy edged fruit. New world style with
some woodiness. Very good+
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Tyrells Vat 9 Shiraz 1998
Hunter Valley, Australia
Sweet ripe nose with some herbal notes and a touch of
mintiness. Very ripe, forward palate with a herby character. Not
massive. Definitely Australian. Very good+
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Geoff Merrill Henley Shiraz
1996 South Australia
Deep coloured. Ripe, herby, coconutty, minty nose with a
sweet character. The palate is overtly sweet and lush with an
over-ripe character, together with a little too much wood. New
world style, likely an over-ambitious Aussie. Very good+
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85
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Henschke Hill of Grace 1996
South Australia
Dramatic menthol and eucalyptus nose: really quite extreme
but not off-putting. The palate is lush, soft and herby with a
medicinal edge. Over the top Aussie style. Very good+
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Ch St Martin de la Garrigue
2001 Languedoc
Vanilla and coffee woodiness dominates the sweetly fruited
nose. Savoury edge to the palate which is quite spicy with soft,
rich fruit. New world style. Very good+
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84
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Cayuse En Cerise Vineyard
2000
Very pronounced roasted coffee character to the nose,
indicative of high toast new oak. Rich, ripe, woody palate is a
little unbalanced. French in a new world style. Very good
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Qupe Bien Nacido Syrah
Reserve 1996 Santa Ynez, California
Quite a ripe, soft, sweet nose with a herby, smoky edge.
Soft palate is quite rich and ripe. Midweight. I am not sure
about this one. Very good
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Knappstein Enterprise
Shiraz 1999 Australia
Rich, ripe, minty, liquoricey nose is sweet and alluring.
The concentrated, sweet palate is dominated by minty, coconutty
oak. A little unbalanced. An Aussie? Very good
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Bernard Burgaud Côte Rôtie
2001
Very deep colour. Savoury, spicy, herby nose has a lovely
meaty quality. The palate is soft and ripe with a savoury,
slightly animal edge. Thinning out a little. Very good
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Domaine de Puech Chaud 2001
Languedoc
Very ripe, rich sweetly fruited nose has a caramelly edge.
Soft, rich low acid palate with some sweet, lush fruit. A bit
soft, in a new world style. Very good
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