Notes from a blind tasting of syrah based wines:
2019 Dom. des Ouleb Thaleb Syrocco – nice varietal nose, dark wine with a slight jamminess up front, but balanced and with a nice dry finish that belied the jamminess. Founded by Alan Graillot who made syrah in Crozes Hermitage and though that the climate in Morocco was suitable – made within sight of Casablanca? A decent likeable wine.
2009 Domaine Courbis Cornas Champelrose – lighter colour, excellent nose of red fruit and spice, excellent fruit levels on palate, and a lengthy finish.
2009 Craggy Range Syrah Le Sol Gimblett Gravels Vineyard – fairly dark colour, a very pretty nose of flowers and dark fruit, and excellent length with a clean finish. Excellent entry from New Zealand.
2014 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie – this wine had a delicate nose of tar with a bit of bacon, was smooth in the mouth and elegant. It seemed to be pretty much fully mature.
2010 Pax Syrah Griffin's Lair – this Sonoma wine atill quite dark, with an interesting nose of sweet fruit with elements of pepper, rubber, and met broth. It was tasty with a nice smooth finish. Fully mature, I think.
2004 Clape Cornas – one of my favourite producers, the wine was showing nice bacon and tar notes and was surprisingly ready with soft tannins and a smooth medium length finish. A bit of a pussycat when one normally expects a lion, but nonetheless a nice bottle.
2021 Clape Côtes du Rhône – pulled out as an extra by one of the attendees just for comparison. It was very nice with a lovely nose of earthy fruit and black pepper but at a ridiculous price (around $75 Can.)
2016 Time & Direction Syrah Solaksen Vineyard – this Columbia valley wine was dark with a slight peppery nose with a possible hint of sulphur, sweet fruit on plate and a medium length finish. Decent
1998 Fox Creek Shiraz Reserve – I had held this one to last as I didn’t anticipate any other Aussie wines. Hearty mint and coconut nose with some spice, I found it interesting and complex but it was not the preferred style of others as they tend to be Eurocentric. Still dark and showing good balance, this was just what it should have been and worked well with cheese.
Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny- made from 20 year old shiraz using a solera system, mostly shiraz but also some grenache, mataro and cabernet. Mixed fruitcake nose, and very good length. Not too sweet and nice with cheese.
