Hard to sell Syrah over $20/bottle? Have they seen Kosher?

[Craig Winchell]

http://www.wineindustryinsight.com/ex_n ... /120619888

A glut of Syrah wine in California, leading to a glut of fruit, and some probably not sold in 2012? Difficult to sell Syrah above $20? When you get right down to it, what does that say about the prices of Kosher wine, where Syrahs regularly go much higher?

[Daniel Kovnat]

I guess that's the story with supply side economics. Huge supply drives the price down. Will we see that here in Israel what with the large number of new plantings that I see going on all about me in the north of Israel? Is there any kosher Syrah coming from California where the Syrah glut seems to be occurring?

On the other hand, the article may be misleading, as pointed out by the comment by one William Allen, as I have pasted here:

This article was right on....about two years ago.
It did well in Australia as the big jammy style suited their palate, and paired well with the rustic food. As misguided as the US consumer palate can be a la Parker, thankfully it didn't go here.

The multitudes who tried to chase the next great white hope, and planted in wrong places, made poor quality wines got burned. I have to laugh in a long term industry, especially for red wines, at the trend chasers.

The syrah market went through a much needed correction, and is in the hands of those who know what to do with it and appreciate it.

You are, spot on, that one of its challenges is that it produces two very different wines, grown in hot climates vs cool. That average wine consumer likes the warmer climate bigger style, but experienced syrah aficionados learn to love the Northern Rhone, cool climate, balanced Syrahs, and usually can't go back.

Not sure if Arnot Roberts, Wind Gap, and many of the quality producers would say Syrah is hard to sell at $20...or $40.
Syrah grape prices haven't changed or gone down, from quality growers in Sonoma, the last 3 years, and the good, cool climate stuff is hard to get.

if you think, to sell your Syrah, you need to blend it, go for it...I'd question the quality and yield. Make a blend, and don't even describe what's in it....if you are producing high yield wine, its not going to be varietally specific anyway, so give it a fanciful name, sell it and move on.

The rest of the Rhone advocates will keep buying Syrah....which does, blend fabulously, with other Rhone reds!

[Shawn Johnson]

Syrah at any price usually does not sell in the kosher market.

[Gabriel Geller]

This is really too bad, while I think of some of the excellent Syrah produced by GHW, Ella Valley or Binyamina to just name a few. That said, in my experience while marketed as Shiraz it sells quite well, at least in Israel. High demand for Bravdo and Psagot in particular, and Carmel Kayoumi of course. More education and tastings for the crowds around Syrah is certainly necessary IMHO.

[Isaac Chavel]

I think that the market for syrah/shiraz is a "work in progress" --- at least, in my local crowd. One sees it rarely on someone else's table; but when I serve it, albeit not often, it is always well-received.