While at a recent meeting with my regular tippling posse, someone pulled out a few bottles of really old Syrah, and challenged us to a blind tasting against a fresh new vintage to see if we could tell the difference.
Always up for a challenge, we dug in with gusto, sipping the evening away with delightful little nibbles and noshes. No one really remembers if the old or new bottlings were preferred, but I can confirm a good time was had by all.
For those who may not be familiar with the varietal, the Syrah grape has its origins in Roman times, first lauded by none other than Pliny the Elder in 77CE, in the area of the Roman Empire now known as the Rhône Valley of modern-day France. The grape is thought to be crossing of the Mondeuse Blanche and Dureza grape varietals, both of which are native to the region.
The Rhône Valley runs roughly north-south for 200km, with the vineyards of the northern Rhône dominated by Syrah, while the southern Rhône is dominated by Grenache. The premier vineyards of the Northern Rhône planted on steep slopes that make mechanization infeasible, so the grapes are picked by hand and hauled up the hillsides on trolleys, driving up the labour costs. Fortunately, the just-slightly-below-premier vineyards are very reasonably priced, with many options available at your friendly neighbourhood bottle shop in the $17-$22 range.
Patriotic tipplers may be surprised to hear that we grow a fair bit of Syrah right here in Canada, despite the grape’s reputation as a sun worshipper. Our first domestic plantings of Syrah are less than three decades old, first planted in the Niagara wine region in 1997.
The Syrah grape does best in hot and dry climates, with Australia and California leading the pack in world production, but the desertlike microclimate in the southern portion of the Okanagan Valley of BC has been producing excellent domestic offerings since the turn of the millennium.
Syrah can be quite expressive of terroir, with grapes grown in cool climates like Canada or northern France having a more complex and elegant bouquet due to the longer hang time on the vine providing more opportunity to absorb nutrients and mineral notes from the soil.
Hotter climates like California or Australia produce a much more fruit-forward and youthful jam-like flavours from the accelerated growing and ripening cycle.
Our beloved Canadian Syrah tends to display notes of violets and plums, which marries well with leather and vanilla aromas from barrel aging.
Syrah is commonly blended with small amounts of a distant relative called Viognier, which provides a fuller body and more balanced wine, with notes of peach and jasmine that complement the wine.
This marriage of Syrah and Viognier is an open secret in the winemaking world, with most bottlings of Syrah containing 3-5% of Viognier. This tiny fraction still allows the wine to be labeled as a Syrah instead of a blend, while providing just enough Viognier to round out and balance the flavours in the Syrah.
My favourite domestic option is the Blasted Church Syrah, located a bit south of Penticton in the Okanagan Valley, a location I have visited many times, most recently just a few months ago for a Thanksgiving weekend getaway, in a transparent effort to avoid Aunt Ethel’s terribly dry turkey. Typical of the varietal, it pours a dark and inky into the glass, with complex aromas on the nose, and rich notes of blueberry and plum on the palate.
I can still recall visiting Blasted Church way back in 2002, the year they threw open their doors and were still a new and unknown winery selling their wares directly from the winery door. Now more than two decades later, Blasted Church has grown their annual harvest to more than 25 thousand cases, and have wide retail distribution throughout BC and Alberta, where you can find their wares in the $25-$35 range at your local bottle shop.
Another long-time favourite of mine is the Sandhill Syrah, a bargain daily drinker at only $25, and widely available in Alberta. The Sandhill winery is located in the heart of downtown Kelowna, where they vinify the grapes from their six different vineyards across the Okanagan Valley, allowing them to select the perfect terroir for each grape varietal. Extended oak aging gives this wine notes of leather and spice, making it pair well with braised meats or robust cheeses.
Look for these and other Canadian Syrah varietals on the shelf of your local booze merchant, and see how we stack up on the world stage!
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