Decanter World Wine AwardsCalifornian Syrah suffering 'identity crisis'
- Monday 6 June 2011
Randall Grahm: Syrah 'compromised''
Paso Robles in Central California recently hosted some 130 producers for the 19th annual Hospice du Rhône.
Crowds of over 2000 were greeted by California producers accompanied by wineries as far afield as Château la Nerth in Châteauneuf-du-Pape to Barossa’s Torbreck – about 30% of the wineries attending were foreign.
This year’s auction took in a total of US$77,000 from the 20 donated lots, but despite healthy attendance numbers and the festive atmosphere there was concern for the future of California Syrah from some of the State’s earliest growers of the grape.
‘Consumers are put off before they have a chance to really see what Syrah is capable of doing,’ Randall Grahm of Santa Cruz winery Bonny Doon, one of the most prolific and renowned producers of Rhone varietal wines in California, told Decanter.com.
‘I don’t think we are ever going to see anything close to the kind of hysteria about "cult Cabs" and even "cult Pinot Noirs" occur again with any coming New World variety.’
Grahm says Syrah is suffering from poor quality amongst the cheaper wines and overpricing at the higher end.
‘Syrah as a category was damaged both by some very bad wines coming from Australia as well as bad wines coming from California.
‘In addition, as part of the irrational exuberance [around Syrah], some very good Syrahs were priced rather too high. In all, this compromised the viability and potential growth of the category.’
Another veteran producer, Bob Lindquist of Qupé, said even though the Hospice event grows year on year, Syrah is suffering an identity crisis.
‘The consumer can easily be confused with the wide variety of Syrahs available on the market. From Yellow Tail Shiraz, to jammy 99 pointers, even Qupé. They might pick up any of these at random and get slightly confused about the wine, lose patience and drop Rhône all together.
Lindquist plans to soon double the production of Qupé’s most popular brand, the Central Coast Syrah, which made up half of the 2009, 35,000 case vintage.
Hospice du Rhône claims to be the biggest international tasting of Rhône varieties. ‘We might not get huge attendance numbers, but we have a core of faithful followers, who truly appreciate the Rhône,’ John Alban, co-founder of the event and owner of Alban Vineyards, said.
Have your say!
Mary Rocca
June 07 06:15
I agree, a major problem is that when a consumer picks up a bottle of Syrah they have no idea what they are going to get.
Of course this also can happen with other varietals, but the fact that Syrah can grow in a multitude of climates makes it an even more significant factor.
If Qupe can double their production, and not have to bring their price down in order to sell it as a Syrah, then more power to them! As a Syrah producer, I congratulate them, and urge them on to success!
Michael Larner
June 06 19:35
I would have to agree that Syrah is suffering from an identity crisis, but honestly we are to blame. Outside of California the most planted Syrah regions are in the Rhône Valley and Australia. Cheap bulk animal labeled wines from Australia have not dragged down Syrah, they have dragged down Shiraz! In the Rhône Valley there is only a handful of AOCs producing Syrah near 100% levels, and they are marketed under their AOC names, where only savvy consumers are aware of their contents. The crisis Syrah faces is from our, Californian winemakers, inability to define it ourselves, often imitating what they consider a jammy Australian style or a tannic Côte-Rotie style, when we should be focusing in on the varietal's intrinsic identity and how it fits in with all the other reds on the shelf. Californians claim to desire the structure and age worthiness of these northern Rhônes, yet are picking at 25 plus Brix. While I worked at E Guigal in Ampuis, France none of those wines were picked over 25 Brix. Way too many times I taste Syrahs from California that are near bottled plum jam, and just like some other varietals, the high alcohol game has hurt Syrah's image as well. Pinot producers who always talk about "Pinot Envy" aren't helping either making Pinots that can be mistaken for Syrah and sometimes are even blended with it to enhance the color. When I sit down to try those wines I feel like they actually are Syrah makers trapped in a Pinot body - which may be there climatic constraints. Thank God we haven't had Syrah get a boost from a "sideways effect", there are far too many acres of Pinot Noir coming on line in the next few years and that market is already saturated. It would be great to reach a "cult" status like Cabernet, but it is unlikely due to the fact that Cabernet is the world's most widely planted red wine grape, so of course their are those that are held on a pedestal. Pricing for Syrah wine probably hasn't had so much of an effect as claimed, all wines run the gamut of improperly priced offerings. The problem comes from the ability of Syrah to be a "work-horse" grape that makes decent wines at high tonnage, and perhaps producers cashing in on this to capture more revenue. I think a new breed of Rhône Rangers needs to help lead the way to define Syrah and where it fits in the market domestically and abroad.
Terrie Marlin
June 06 19:21
ALERT...Babcock Winery & Vineyards in Lompoc, CA has solved the Syrah Identity Crisis, by creating an Identity Crisis.
Need some couch time Bob?come see Terrie or visit the Babcock Winery website at: www.babcockwinery.com
The Sediment Blog
June 06 16:12
Can't help its identity when half the world call it by a different name...!