American Syrah: 30 top buys

Syrah in the US remains an enigma. Cult brands that emerged during the 1990s – Sine Qua Non on the Central Coast or Cayuse Vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley – are among the country’s iconic and most expensive wines. But by and large, Syrah is still the perennial underdog of American wine. ‘There’s this assumption that Syrah [in America] is just this goopy, overly alcoholic, overoaked and overextracted wine,’ explains Jeff Lindsay-Thorsen, the winemaker-sommelier who produces WT Vintners’ Syrah from vineyards in Washington and Oregon. The benchmark for Syrah is still encapsulated in the northern Rhône ideal. But to critics who claim that Syrah’s otherworldliness, its haunting florality and sanguine, sauvage complexities, can’t be found outside France, America’s Syrah growers have a firm response... Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 30 of the best Syrahs from across the US [subscriber-content]‘Sorry, that’s just ignorance,’ says Christopher Bates MS, the winemaker and owner of Element Winery in the Finger Lakes region of New York state. The greatness that we tend to associate with the northern Rhône, that perfume, that spice, that earthiness, ‘isn’t necessarily derived from just one specific place’, he explains. ‘It’s linked to a style and mentality of wine-growing and winemaking, too.’ While pioneering Americans have been championing Syrah since the 1980s, in the broader scheme of history Syrah is barely nascent here, suggests Nikolas Krankl, whose parents Elaine and Manfred established Sine Qua Non in 1994. Today, Nikolas and his wife Julia, founders of Fingers Crossed Wine in Santa Barbara County , are among America’s next generation of Syrah champions. ‘The gift and the curse is that we don’t have that history,’ says Julia. ‘But that also means we can be as creative as we want.’ The most provocative Syrahs grown in America are still a testament to that pioneering spirit – explorations of untried sites, blending from different climates and terroir , experiments in whole-cluster ferments and earlier picking. [caption id="attachment_528071" align="alignnone" width="600"] Christopher Bates MS, Element Winery. Credit: Scott Frances.[/caption] Across the spectrum From Washington and Oregon to California and New York , the kaleidoscope of American Syrah is vast and wildly unsung. California is where you’ll find the greatest spectrum of diversity. In the chilly, windswept pockets of Sonoma or the Central Coast – San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara or sub-regions such as the Santa Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley – you’ll find Syrah that’s often shockingly spry, laser-etched and perfumed. And, unlike in the northern Rhône these days, there’s an abundance of exceptional Syrah at a compact 12% alcohol. Those seeking wines with more muscularity are directed further inland to warmer areas of Santa Barbara, such as the corridors of the Ballard and Happy canyons, or Paso Robles , where Syrah is intense and ripe but moored to that resinous, smoky allure of chaparral. [caption id="attachment_528075" align="alignnone" width="600"] Above from left: Casey and George White, partners in WT Vintners, and winemaker Jeff Lindsay-Thorsen with his wife Cortney Mills. Credit: WT Vintners.[/caption] Further north, Syrah also flourishes in the Columbia Valley – particularly in areas such as the Yakima and Walla Walla valleys – which straddles the border between Washington and Oregon. Syrah here ‘is never short on fruit but can go into this feral, spicy place that’s an interesting bridge between the Old World and the New World’, says Lindsay-Thorsen. Click here to see tasting notes and scores of 16 additional top Syrahs from across the US The alluvial plain of the Oregon side of the AVA, littered with cobblestones reminiscent of the galets roulés of Châteauneuf-du-Pape , is an epicentre of Syrah in the Walla Walla Valley. Made famous by Cayuse and designated with its own sub-region, the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA, which is home to a roll call of standout producers and winemakers, including Sean Boyd, founder of Rotie Cellars and Proper Wines. ‘There’s this fingerprint here [in the Rocks District],’ Boyd asserts, ‘this Rocks-funk that’s deeply savoury – like earth and olive tapenade – that can be so polarising and visceral.’ And yet so distinctly American, too. [/subscriber-content] See notes and scores for 30 of the best American Syrahs [wine-collection] Related articles Sonoma wine country property with Syrah vines listed at $9.4m Paso Robles’ Saxum Vineyards: Producer profile and 10 wines to try Washington GSM: Panel tasting results

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American Syrah: 30 top buys

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 30 of the best Syrahs from across the US

See notes and scores for 30 of the best American Syrahs

Related articles

Sonoma wine country property with Syrah vines listed at $9.4m

Paso Robles’ Saxum Vineyards: Producer profile and 10 wines to try

Washington GSM: Panel tasting results

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