Comments on paul gregutt's washington wine blog – unfined & unfiltered: washington wine grapes: syrah

Paul, Great words about the Syrah. I agree the gra...

2010-02-22T05:52:51.081-08:00

Paul,
Great words about the Syrah. I agree the grape is the one of the most distinctive varietals. While I think the Walla Walla Syrah has the most character, Red Mountain and Yakima Valley have become my favorites lately. I totally agree that Dick and Luanne Boushey have gotten their vineyard to produce some of the most interesting Syrah's to date. The Red Mountain Syrah's that I think show the true terroir are Ciel du Cheval and Klipsun. When Fidelitas's Charlie Hoppes was making his Syrah, it stood out. Now, with Corliss using their Red Mountain
vineyard, I think it will make an impact on the populace. Syrah may be a tough sell, but it will
always be appreciated.

Jared, Foolish is to continue to believe the hype...

2010-02-17T15:41:25.894-08:00

Jared,

Foolish is to continue to believe the hype and chasing $50.00 bottles when you have had no luck in the past despite repeated attempts. From that standpoint I agree that I was foolish re the betz syrahs and I am now left with bottles that I do not enjoy as a result. I in no way have to acknowledge that Betz Syrah is a well made wine because I dont like it. You can acknowledge whatever you would like and feel free to quote some reviews and spend $50.00/bottle. However if you try to take my clos de betz or betz pere de famille you can have them when you pry them out of my cold dead hands. If you look at how fast the betz syrahs sell out compared to the merlot and cab blends it seems that others would agree. Furthermore the fact that AW is discounting their syrahs, I have recently found long shadows syrah at costco, and PG states "syrah has become a really tough sell. The more it gets made, the less consumers seem to want it." tells you something. Foolish is making more of something people dont want and then wondering why it doesnt sell. The wines you suggest are getting chased due to their high numbers and rock star wine makers in certain wine publications and top 100 lists (no offense PG I am a big fan of the year end top 100) which is true for any varietal. It in no way suggests increased traction with consumers for syrah.

For that matter, many of the K Syrahs have been so...

2010-02-17T13:05:14.069-08:00

For that matter, many of the K Syrahs have been sourced from, and made at, Cayuse.

FYI Reynvaan (which is very good) is made by, and ...

2010-02-17T13:04:31.848-08:00

FYI Reynvaan (which is very good) is made by, and sourced from, Christophe Baron at Cayuse.

Anon, Seems that syrah is not your thing. To call...

2010-02-17T12:27:44.834-08:00

Anon,
Seems that syrah is not your thing. To call Betz syrah a waste of money is kind of foolish. It may not be a varietal you enjoy but you have to be able to appreciate that Betz is a well made wine. By the way, here are some names that have pulled it of...Christophe Baron, Charles Smith, Bob Betz, Caleb Foster, Eric Dunham, Matt Reynvaan, and that's just a few! :)

Art, If you are buying WA syrah that is over the h...

2010-02-17T12:20:42.886-08:00

Art,
If you are buying WA syrah that is over the hill 3-5 years after purchase, you are obviously buying the wrong syrah. I've had tons of syrah from the late 90's and early 2000's that has been youthful and fantastic. Stick to certain wineries and you'll never be disappointed. Betz, Cayuse, older CV bottlings from Dunham, Tyrus Evan, K Vintners. Also, no cough syrup in that bunch!

Art, will do, sometime soon.

2010-02-16T12:36:12.399-08:00

Art, will do, sometime soon.

A number of first-rate WA producers have committed...

2010-02-16T12:31:23.606-08:00

A number of first-rate WA producers have committed to Syrah for the long term, like Alma Terra, Betz, Cayuse, Gramercy, and Syncline, so this can't be a bad thing. Nevertheless, many strike me as tasting more like cough syrup than like their northern Rhone counterparts, and that IS a problem.

To answer your question, I'd like to see some discussion of the age-worthiness of WA wines. This has come up before, and I doubt that I'm the only one who has been disappointed with a bottle that I've stored perfectly for 3-5 years only to find that it's already WAY over the hill.

Thank you all for the comments and kind words. Sor...

2010-02-13T13:22:58.405-08:00

Thank you all for the comments and kind words. Sorry I was late getting remarks posted. I spent 13 straight hours on the road on Friday driving from Sacramento to Seattle in horrendous rain. I'll keep everything current from now on. Glad this 5-part series was so well received. I'll do more - what topic(s) would you like to see me tackle?

Paul, while there are others that should be on the...

2010-02-12T23:34:09.283-08:00

Paul, while there are others that should be on the runner-up list behind Boushey for best Syrah vineyard, I will throw my hat into the ring for Les Collines Vineyard in Walla Walla. So many top-notch Syrah using fruit from that vineyard, including Gramercy, Trust, Amavi, Kerloo, and Rasa to name a handful. Especially for such a young vineyard, the potential there is enormous.

Loved the series this week!

Paul, Another reason may be that many of us who h...

2010-02-12T17:26:39.707-08:00

Paul,

Another reason may be that many of us who have cut our teeth on merlot, cab, and blends of the 2 aforementioned grapes just dont like syrah. With all of the press that syrah has received I have tried many times to find syrahs from somewhere in the world that really excite me. It has been a miserable and expensive failure. I finally broke down this year and bought a couple of the betz 2007 syrahs thinking that this would finally introduce me to what I was missing with all of the hype over syrah. I am sad to say that I wasted $300.00 that would have been much better spent on the cab or merlot blends from Betz. Live and learn. I have noticed recently that Andrew Will has cut their syrah to $20.00/bottle. I think that should tell winemakers pretty much everything that they need to know about consumer demand for syrah. If Chris Camarda cant pull it off who can?

I love Syrah, I think that it is great varietal th...

2010-02-12T16:03:58.226-08:00

I love Syrah, I think that it is great varietal that has all the flavor and aroma profiles I like in wine. And I like more of the fruit forward, smokey, anise types.

In Washington, you can get so many different flavor profiles from Syrah and I believe that wine consumers will start to have fun trying them.

I do think there is a future for this grape in Washington.

Great 5 day write up! Thanx Paul.