Wine with Leslie: Some top Syrahs cost hundreds — but here are some affordable ones
Syrah grapes: a valuable proposition
It’s all about Syrah this week, a warming, complex, and richly flavoured grape that in its finest expressions can sell for hundreds of Euro. Most people probably know it better by its Aussie name, Shiraz, and it is arguable that without the fame brought to it by Australia it would be even less well known.
The grape originates in France and its parents are Mondeuse Blanche and Dureza, little known grapes from the Savoie and the Ardèche. The crossing was likely spontaneous as a result of the two parent grapes being planted in the same vineyard — probably in the Rhône-Alpes region. There was a pleasing notion that it originated in the wine regions near the city of Shiraz, Iran’s most romantic city famed for its gardens, literature and wine. The 300 or so wineries prior to the revolution are sadly no more but at least we still have the wine and love poetry of Hafez and others.
Syrah likes a warm (but not too warm) climate and has a short growing season so needs to be picked as soon as it ripens or it can become overripe and flabby. With softer tannins than say Cabernet and with a more voluptuous rounded character with touches of tar, liquorice and even burnt rubber mixed in with its blackcurrant and dark fruit flavours. In warmer climates such as the Barossa you get rich sweet black fruit flavours (and less rubber and tar) and in cooler areas you get more pepper and earth tones.
Syrah plantings have increased substantially worldwide in the last few decades which can only be a good thing as the grape is always likeable and makes an excellent blending agent. In the Southern Rhône and the Languedoc it adds weight and depth to Grenache and Carignan and is often grown as a varietal in its own right. Gorgeous Syrah wines are now available from New Zealand, Eastern Europe, California and South Africa and Chile is my top tip for the future.
Northern Rhône Syrah from famed vineyards such as Hermitage, Cornas, Saint-Joseph and Côte Rôtie is the best expression of Syrah that I’ve tasted but sadly the top wines are now well out of reach. I remember when Jaboulet’s Hermitage La Chapelle cost around £25 but these days it cost €170. Similarly, Penfolds Grange used to cost about £45 and these days costs between €400 and €650 depending on the vintage.
Thankfully there are plenty of less famous wines to try at all price ranges and I recommend some of them below.
Stockist: SuperValu
I wrote about the Aresti range last Autumn and some of their range are on offer at the moment in SuperValu. This Syrah is normally more than €15 and is a steal at a tenner. Big blackberry aromas mixed with a touch of mint, ripe dark fruits on the palate with a touch of toasty vanilla from oak ageing and good balancing acidity and spice notes.
Stockist: O’Briens
I’ve mentioned wines from this winery before such as the Incanta Pinot Noir and the Umbrele range. Based in the Recas region near Timisoara and founded by Englishman Philip Cox, their range of wines are fruit-forward and always drinkable. Wines are vegan and farming is very focused on sustainability and low intervention winemaking. This is a more lush Shiraz/Syrah than you would expect from Europe, brimming with blackberry and plum fruits and spice notes.
Stockist: Dunnes Stores
This may be entry-level from Laurent Miquel but no corners are cut for this or its sister wines in the Pére et Fils range which include a Rosé, a Chardonnay and a Syrah-Grenache. This is from lower-yielding vines on one of their older plots and gets some oak ageing — berry fruit and spice aromas (allspice, pepper), a rounded fruit-driven palate and dark fruits balanced by freshness.
Stockists: Wine Centre, Vintry, Ely, Station to Station stationtostationwine.ie, Baggot St. Wines, Blackrock Cellar, Clontarf Wines, Redmonds, The Corkscrew, wineonline.ie
Hawkes Bay on North Island is arguably New Zealand’s best site for Syrah along with perhaps Martinborough. Oak and spice hit the nose first, dig a little deeper and you find tar tinged black black fruits, full, dark and ripe, concentrated, structured and full, with a long finish
Stockists: Vintry Rathgar, 64 Wines, Martins, Sweeneys, Searsons searsons.com
This is from Collines Rhodaniennes IGP which can apply to any Northern Rhône wine outside an AOP area. Stéphane Montez is a 10th generation winemaker in the region and a Syrah (and Viognier) specialist. Tobacco, violets, leather and dark fruit aromas, chewy blackcurrant fruit on the palate and mineral freshness and on the finish. A fine introduction to Rhône Syrah.
Stockists: Wine Centre, Vintry, O’Briens, The Corkscrew thecorkscrew.ie, wineonline.ie, widely available.
An icon Australian Shiraz made by one of the country’s most colourful winemakers Chester Osborne — I’d buy it over many an Aussie Shiraz that cost twice the price. Intensely fragrant and aromatic with layers of red and black fruit, tobacco and spice, full and rounded on the palate with darker fruits and integrated tannins and long-lasting layers of complexity.
Stockists: Available to buy online via James Fox, Celtic Whiskey Shop, Irishmlats.com and selected independents. www.teelingwhiskey.com.
This is the third bottling in the Renaissance Single Malt series and to my taste might be the most enjoyable yet, especially for my sweet tooth. Aged first in Bourbon casks and finished in ex-Muscat wine casks and with a limited run of 9,000 beautifully presented bottles. Irish Whiskey is hugely collectible these days but this will be a tough one to resist opening.
Aromas of toffee apples and honey mixed with boiled sweets and a touch of mint, beautifully smooth on the palate with tarte-tatin and a lemony kick and spices, caramel and some heat on the long finish.
