Syrah vs. Shiraz - Shoot out of the best
Singapore
Tasted Sunday, August 14, 2016 by Collector1855 with 1,008 views
Introduction
A friend of mine who owns a holiday home (or more like an estate) in the Provence and grows a bit of his own Syrah there as a hobby has staged this tasting together with me on his private Yacht. Ying Hsien Tan, MW curated the tasting. We had a bottle of pretty much all great producers except the Chapoutier Pavillon which one of the our guests was tasked to bring but then forgot it in his car. Not sure he will be invited again... :-)
While most of the attention in French wine goes to Bordeaux and Burgundy, Rhone stands in the shadow. Through that prices of many of the best wines have stayed at very attractive levels. In addition, I think that Syrah produces some of the most characterful and edgy wines in the world and the varietal can successfully cover quite a range of temperatures. From Northern Rhone to Barossa, from Washington state to Southern California and even within Australia it is now also grown in cooler places such as Canberra (see the excellent Clonakilla wine). There is a Syrah/Shiraz style for everyone.
The findings of the evening were:
1. Quality was great across the board of all of these top wines (France and New World)
2. They age well, even when made in a riper, Barossa style
3. If served with food, the fresher Rhone style with its peppery notes, is the better companion
4. In therms of food, Syrah (like CabSav) is really a meat wine and I would even say game is the ideal dish for Syrah.
Enjoy the read
PS: Label drinkers have also been eying Syrah/Shiraz gems more recently as we can see in the prices of Chave, Guigal, Grange and HoG (400-800 USD). However, there are still many top bottles in the market at prices between 75-150 USD. If I had to name a few:
Rhone:
- Jamet, Cote Rotie
- Rene Rostaing, Cote Rotie Cote Blonde
- Alain Voge, Cornas
- August Clape, Cornas
- Garon, Cote Rotie Rochins
- Guigal, Chateau d'Ampuis
Australia
- Greenok Creek, Seven Acres
- Clarendon Hills, Liandra
- Rockford, Basket Press
- Fox Creek Syrah, Reserve
- Henschke, Mount Edelstone
- Penfolds St. Henri
2010 E. Guigal Ermitage Blanc Ex-Voto 95 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Golden yellow. Expressive nose with ripe aromas of quince, vanilla, some bakery, also lots of oak that needs integration. Full bodied on the palate but fresh, could be Californian Chardonnay but without the butter. Big and young. Needs time to become more subtle/refined. 95 tonight. Let's revisit it with five more years of age.
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2009 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie 94 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Medium purple. Expressive nose of pepper, dark fruit, some tar and game. Medium-full bodied palate with creamy tannins and french oak visible. Warm vintage visible, tannins not full polished. Can be drunk now with a sort decant or better after 2019.
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2002 Torbreck RunRig 94 Points
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Expressive nose of prunes, dark fruit, bonbon, jam, very ripe. Jammy and ripe on the palate, very sweet and full bodied mouth feel. Easy to guess that this was from Barossa. Not oxidative or anything technically wrong with this but just a tad too sweet for most of us during this tasting. Fully mature.
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2012 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 94 Points
Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
Medium ruby. Expressive nose of pepper, cloves, underbush and spices. Very racy acidity on the palate, Viogner portion visible, lots of fragrance and the least color and volume on the palate. The whole group was thinking this was a Northern Rhone. Excellent performance from this great Australian Shiraz which is very drinkable. 94-95
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2010 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 96 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Dark purple. Nose of dark fruit, herbs de Provence, celery, earth, very complex. Full bodied palate with creamy oak, lots of tannins of good quality. Long finish with a whiff of black pepper. Impressive, but of course had a difficult time against the fully mature 1988 Gigual Turque. This has closed down from the last time I have tasted this. Wait till 2020 at least before drinking it. 96+
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1988 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 99 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Medium brick. Mature nose of tobacco, herbs, black tea, cedar wood, barnyard fun, very complex and very much liked by everybody. Soft and tame palate, mature tannins, complex aromatics and fantastic length. A fantastic Turque, this bottle was already past peak. Drink up.
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2004 Cave de Tain Hermitage Epsilon 90 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Medium brick. Nose of dark fruit, smoke, a touch oxidative. Medium bodied palate, very mature aromatics and structure again. The first time I had this wine so I don't know what to make of it. To be revisited.
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1996 Clarendon Hills Astralis 99 Points
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Clarendon
Dark garnet with brick hue. Mature nose of tar, ripe, jammy prunes, smoke, meat, herbs, very complex. Excellent palate, soft tannins, lots of sexy, mature fruit. This really hit all the buttons and was one of the wines of the night. Because of the freshness and structure as well as the herbal aromatics we were not sure whether this was Rhone or Australia. In any case, a superb showing for Astralis which usually is a bit too sweet/heavy for my taste but not this bottle. Mature.
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2001 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 97 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Medium garnet with brick hue. Nose of smoke, pepper, spices, underbush, dark fruit, tar and barnyard, very complex. Dense palate with lots of structure, not for the faint-hearted. Long finish with again notes of tar and leather. A really characterful wine.
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2008 Henschke Shiraz Hill of Grace 96 Points
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
Dark purple. Nose of dark berries, blue berries, bonbon, some red fruit. Very rich and jammy nose, young. Full bodied, sweet and fruity palate, good acidity though which made this rich wine still quite drinkable. Easily guessed a South Australia Shiraz. For many at this tasting, this wine was too sweet as well but I still liked it. I also had older Hill of Grace and the fruitiness/sweetness has then moved into the background.
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2010 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde 97 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Medium-dark purple. Expressive nose of dark fruit with lots of herbs, celery, smoke. Medium bodied palate, present tannins, young. More closed than in my last tasting. This wine is very edgy, still searching its balance between fruit and spices, but so characterful and special. I am very interested to see how this will turn out when mature. Wait till 2020 at least to start drinking this. 97 point showing tonight but there is plenty of upside.
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2008 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard 93 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley
Deep purple. Expressive nose of dark berries, spices, jam, bonbon. Everybody guessed new world. Full bodied, lots of fruit and alcohol but with strong but ripe/soft tannins and enough acidity to balance it. For most people on the table this was too heavy as well.
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2010 E. Guigal Ermitage Ex-Voto 96 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Dark purple. Nose of dark fruit, pepper, herbs, a kaleidoscope of things. Very full bodied, big, ripe, lots of structure and oak. Young/closed. I don't quite see the 100 points in this just yet, but then again it is still young. Will for sure be a very nice wine. Let's see in 5-10 years. Drink after 2025
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2006 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 98 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Medium ruby, purple hue. Nose of dark fruit, spices, pepper, herbs, a touch of leather and barnyard, deep and complex. Enter the palate with sublime balance of fruit, structure and acidity. Not the biggest wine of the the night but the most balanced and elegant one. Excellent precision and length. It showed why Chave is the King of the Rhone. A wow wine. This was well below 200 USD when it hit the market. Can be drunk now with a bit of decanting.
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1996 Penfolds Grange 97 Points
Australia, South Australia
Dark ruby, garnet rim. Expressive nose of dark fruit with torrefaction, tar, rum pot, spices and earth. Full bodied on the palate but with good tannins providing structure. This has Barossa written all over it, in a good way. A very solid Grange.
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