By By Stan Torgerson / wine columnist
July 3, 2002
For a grape that many people believe possibly dates back to Persia in 600 B.C., you have to ask yourself why it took the wine world this long to discover Syrah.
The name derives from Shiraz, the capital of a province in Iran. We call the wines from these grapes Syrahs in our country. Australia calls them by their Iranian name, Shiraz. These grapes have been used liberally in the northern Rhone Valley of France to make big, full bodied wines that are loaded with fruit.
But it wasn't until Australian wine makers discovered how well these vines would grow in their country and what wonderful things they could do with its grapes that Syrahs (or Shiraz) became truly popular. It is now being planted all over the world, but it has become almost a fad wine in California and Washington state.
Decanter is a leading wine magazine published in England. Normally, it dwells at great length on French wines with an occasional look at California and other wine growing areas. But to my surprise, I picked up the July issue and discovered a glowing story about Syrah. Since I love the Australian Shiraz, I was pleased to read their comments on what I consider to be the next great challenger in the world of wine.
In 1990 there were less than 100 acres of Syrah planted in the Sunshine State. Today there are about 15,000. Roby claims there is now more Syrah being produced in California than there is sauvignon blanc, a statement I find hard to believe or, at the least, understand.
But it does seem this sudden rash of Syrah plantings has been directly caused by the popularity of Australian Shiraz in recent years. Shiraz is not a collector's wine. You don't put it in your cellar for 20 years and expect it to be at its peak when you go back to it.
It's a wine that should be drunk in its first five to eight years but it is also a wine that can be drunk at the age of one and enjoyed. As a result, it is a wine you can buy at 5 p.m. to drink with a steak at 7 and know that the bottle contains pure pleasure. You can't do that with a 1-year-old Bordeaux and most of the big cabernets. They need time before their tannins stop fighting what is on your table. Not Syrah.
So what California is attempting to do is provide wine for another need the wine lover who is not a collector but loves to drink red wine with a meal or even as a stand-alone pleasure before dinner. It is a growing market and, now that it has been discovered, you can be certain the boom is under way.
It took a long time for us to get here. The first Syrah was made in California in 1974 in the same area that now produces the lovely Meridian wines. Contrary to what some might believe, the problem wasn't that the grape was hard to grow.
To the contrary it responded to California's growing conditions with such vigor that it was difficult to control and to prune. It took years before wineries learned how to get the most from the grape without it just running away out of control.
The flavor of American Syrahs is very similar to the Australian Shiraz, rich, full bodied, with a peppery and spice character. And because the grape is so prolific the Syrahs are several levels below the price structure of cabernets and even the better merlots.
The Mississippi State Warehouse is just now responding to the demand. There are only nine California Syrah's listed in the monthly catalog as opposed to 52 cabernets and 36 merlots. Most Syrahs carry ratings of about 87, meaning very good wines but not classics.
There is only one way to find out the potential impact of these wines for ourselves. Serve them at one of our monthly tastings, and that's what we are planning to do July 25. We may slip in some from other countries just to give us a basis for comparison.
Of course, I may also try one or two between now and then. There is anold saying: "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." In this case, a lot of knowledge may be a wonderful thing. It's my duty wouldn't you say?