Love Letter to Syrah
Where Syrah comes from
Syrah, or Shiraz if you’re in Australia, is a grape people fall for. I understand why.
The old story says it came from Persia, from the city of Shiraz. It’s a lovely legend. DNA tells a plainer one: Syrah was born in the Rhône Valley, a cross of two old French grapes. Either way, it makes beautiful wine almost everywhere it lands.
What Syrah tastes like
The berries have thick skins, so the wines come out deep in color and big in flavor. Think blackberry, plum and dark cherry, then black pepper and clove, and often a little smoke. Time in oak rounds it out and adds layers.
It loves warmth. You’ll find it in the Rhône Valley, in Australia’s Barossa Valley, and close to home on California’s Central Coast.
Blends, and the New World
In the Rhône, Syrah shares the bottle with Grenache and Mourvèdre in wines like Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In a blend, each grape brings something the others are missing.
In the Barossa it goes by Shiraz and comes out full-bodied and sun-ripe. California has so many climates that Syrah can be bright and tangy in one place and rich and ripe an hour away.
Alone or blended, Syrah tells you where it grew. Here are two of ours, from two very different Santa Barbara County vineyards.
LXV 2021 Meso Syrah
Retail Price: $125
100% Syrah from Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley
115 cases produced
This one comes from Bien Nacido Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley. It pours deep ruby with a purple edge. On the nose, blackberry and violet, with a little black pepper. It’s rich and velvety in the mouth, all ripe black cherry and plum with a touch of smoky oak. The acidity and silky tannins keep it in balance. Open it with grilled meats or anything rich and savory.
2021 Reserve Syrah
Retail Price: $95
100% Syrah from White Hawk Vineyard, Santa Barbara County
125 cases produced
Our 2021 Reserve Syrah comes from White Hawk Vineyard in Santa Barbara County, and it tastes the way cool-climate Syrah should. There’s a seaweed and iodine spice on the nose, plenty of finely textured tannin, and generous acidity underneath. Pour it with paella, chicken korma, or raclette with octopus. The vineyard sits on hard, sandy soil close to the Pacific, and you can taste both in how concentrated and aromatic the wine is.
Taste the story Welcome back
Wines in this story
Keep Reading
Bordeaux Grapes Slowly Make Their Way to Paso…from Los Angeles?
Mission grapes came to Paso first, in 1797. Cabernet Franc took a much longer road.
LXV + Sixmilebridge: Full Circle in White
It was an unusually cool summer morning in Paso. Two LXV whites, two from Anthony Yount, two from France.
What the Judgment of Paris Still Gets Right
A story of Bordeaux, Kolhapur, Saint-Émilion and Willow Creek, and why great wine has always traveled.