Que Sera, Sera

Okay, so the title of this blog is a play on words, but you get the idea.  What is the sixth most planted grape in the world? Syrah. Aren’t familiar with it? How about Shiraz? New wine drinkers are surprised to learn that these are the same grape variety, and also further surprised to learn that Petit Sirah is a completely different grape. Syrah is considered one of the "noble grape" varieties. The following is an abbreviated version of a textbook chapter I wrote for a new wine education program (hopefully to be announced soon in North America).

Syrah has been popular, and highly esteemed in France since the 18th century.  Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, raved about the wines of Hermitage in his diary. In fact, in the early 1800′s, Hermitage was the most expensive wine in the world. The Shiraz name is also not particularly new either, as it has been grown in Australia since the early 1830’s.

There are stories of the origins of Syrah. Stories about the grape originating in Persia, or that the Romans planted the fruit in Vienne (now known as Côte Rôtie).  Some of the more romantic stories include the vine being planted on a hill by a lone monk, on his way to the Lérins Abbey by the sea. The little chapel dedicated to St. Christopher on the hill of Hermitage lends some credence to the story that a hermit, Gaspard de Sterimberg, planted the vine as he returned from the crusades in the 13^th century. But, recent research indicates the grape is a native of the Rhône valley, in France. DNA research has determined that Syrah is an offspring of two ancient varietals: Dureza, and Mondeuse Blanc.

Hermitage

Syrah is the red wine grape that rules the Northern Rhône Valley, in France. Syrah Grapes are the only red grape allowed by AOP rules in the appellations.  In the small appellations of Côte Rôtie, Hermitage, and Cornas, Syrah grows on often steep, dry slopes and terraces to produce densely concentrated wines whose longevity and complexity in maturity rival the finest wines of Bordeaux.

While Syrah is usually associated with the Northern Rhone, it is increasingly important in the southern Rhône Valley where the grape provides structure, color, and aroma to the Grenache-based wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas, as well as the vast Côtes du Rhône designation.

Old Vine Shiraz - Barossa Valley

It is likely that more wine drinkers know Syrah by its Australian name, Shiraz. Shiraz is the same grape as Syrah, and was imported by Australian settlers in the 1830’s. The Australian approach to Shiraz is more diverse than it is in France. The grape is used to produce everything from fortified, Port-style wine (“stickies”), to red and pink sparkling wine, and mass-produced "critter" wines.  Now, the name “Shiraz” has been associated with a crisper, fruitier style of wine. It is not uncommon a winery to label one wine a Syrah and the other a Shiraz, dependent on the style.

At Eberle - one of the original Rhone Rangers

Outside of France and Australia, Syrah has met with great success, the most notable area being in the United States, but particularly in California. The first plantings of Syrah in California took place in the Napa Valley in 1878. The big jump in California production took place in the late 1990’s, when the “Rhône Rangers”, in the Central Coast, stimulated interest in the variety. By 2000, more than 90 wineries had joined the movement throughout the United States, but mainly focused on California’s North and Central Coasts.

One of the factors influencing the interest of Syrah plantings around the world is the relative ease with which the grape grows. It is a vigorous vine, and needs trellising and training for the best returns. The yields go hand in hand with quality. Lower yields produce concentrated, long lived wines, but even at high yields, Syrah retains some of its character and can make attractively fruity wines.

A quote often used by grower is, “Syrah likes a view”.  This is very evident in the traditional growing area, where the vineyards are planted towards the top of hills.  Due to erosion, there is less soil at a higher altitude, causing the vines to produce fewer grapes. Lower yields tend to produce more concentrated wines. 

Syrah wines display medium to high tannins (although they are typically ripe and smooth, not abrasive like younger reds can be), moderate acidity, medium to full body, with rich round flavors. Depending on the quality of the fruit, they can range from brawny to soft. The concentrated pigments lead to very deep-colored and concentrated wines that, in youth, typically display opaque, inky-purple or black cores. Wines produced from high-yielding vines, however, may lean toward ruby cores, even in youth. 

Photo courtesy of Wine Folly.

On the nose, the finest northern Rhône Syrah offers a rich mix of black and red fruits, especially raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, plum, and blackcurrant. For such a dark red wine, it is somewhat surprising to find that the fruit aromas are often accompanied by floral notes of violets and carnations.  Additionally, vegetal aromas of tobacco, black pepper, licorice, cloves and rosemary, can be found in quality examples. For many tasters, it is the savory side of Syrah, produced through the interaction of wine and barrel, that provides the most telltale signs for Syrah…bacon, or meat. Warmer climates bring out the mellower flavors of plum, while cooler temperatures spice up the wine.

New world  versions of the grape tend to emphasize the primary fruit aromas of raspberry, blackberry, and plum in a fruity style, which many "sweet" wine drinkers enjoy.  Australian Shiraz often adds a suggestion of chocolate and mint or eucalyptus on the nose. With age, it can take on an appealingly gaminess and leather bouquet, along with an almost chocolate-like character. 

Syrah has the ability to age and evolve for years or multiple decades in the best cases.  Hermitage and Côte Rôtie have the reputation for the slowest maturing of the Rhône wines. Other regions of the Rhône are at their best between three and eight years. The blended wines of the southern Rhône need less time than the north, and most Shiraz-style wines are meant to be drunk within three to five years. The exception to Shiraz is Grange, which can take decades to mature.

Cassoulet

Syrah is one of the most versatile wines to pair with food. With its fresh fruits, spice, rich character coupled with the wide variety of styles, it is the perfect wine for all types of game, duck and chicken. Syrah also makes a great wine and food match with braised dishes and stews. Syrah is for many people the only wine that works with winter dishes like cassoulet, and grilled meats.  Cheese Pairings would include Cheddar, Edam, and Gouda.

So, who produces your favorite Syrah/Shiraz?

Dinner in South Africa...or was it?

It’s a new year, and what better way to kick it off, than to gather a group of friends, and indulge in the cuisine of South Africa. Followers of this blog know that about every three months, we gather a group together, do some research on a regional cuisine, then create a dinner and wine pairing.

“Cuisine of South Africa” you say? What exactly is that?  To say the least, South Africa has a variety of cultural influences. There are the indigenous people, who would relish a dinner that started with fried caterpillars, and had a main course of crocodile. But, most of the modern cookery emerged through varies waves of colonization from Europe, and the cuisine of their slaves/servants. The Dutch East India Company had a huge influence, as they increased the trade between South Africa, Europe, and India. The slaves came from the east and worked mainly as farmers or fishermen. They brought with them various spices that added flavor to commonly bland Dutch and English dishes.

This night, we chose to focus on the cuisine of the Cape Malay people (slave/servant). The foods have many characteristics of Indonesian and Indian cuisine. Many of the foods are crosses of Malay and European cuisine. Curry, raisins, and multiple spice blends found their way into all dishes, with the exception of dessert. The challenge for pairing wine was to determine the dominant flavor profile for each dish, and choose the appropriate wine. And, since the wines had to come from South Africa, the challenge was complicated….there are limited suppliers of South African wine in our area. The only choice was to purchase wines online, and choose based on winemaker profile notes.

Our first course was a fried dish, known as Samoosas.  These are traditionally an Indian snack of potatoes, meat and peas, wrapped in dough, and fried.  Our version took a little more modern approach, in that we used phyllo dough, and baked the triangle-shaped pouches. There were no less than 14 spices blended with the beef, onion and garlic mixture. We served this with a dollop of Major Grey Chutney. My first pairing thought was a sparkling wine, due to being fried (even though we baked them). I wanted something heavier, to hold up to the beef and spices, and I wanted a slight amount of residual sugar to hold up to the spice, and the sweetness of the chutney. Ultimately, I went with Solms-Delta - 'Cape Jazz' Sparkling Shiraz NV.

For our second course, and first sit down meal of the evening, we had a South African Butternut soup. This simple soup recipe is highlighted by the sweetness of the butternut squash, the hint of heat from the chili pepper, and the richness of cream (which was artistically added to the top of the soup prior to serving). I could have gone in all types of directions with the wine for this course. Again, the focus was to stay within the region for the wine, which many left Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc (known as “Steen”) Chardonnay, and Riesling. Due to the body of the dish, and went with something a little heavier, and chose Muratie - Isabella Chardonnay 2012. This Chardonnay had a nice creamy texture that worked nicely with the soup course.

For our main course, our hosts prepared Bobotie (a South African version of Shepherd's pie). Bobotie is like meatloaf with raisins and with a baked egg and cream topping. This was served with yellow rice, a cucumber-zucchini salad, and a side of mango chutney. Talk about filling! The fresh salad and lightly spiced yellow rice were a nice accompaniment to the heavy meat course. For the pairing, my immediate thought was to go with the local specialty: Pinotage. But then again, a nice Syrah could do well too. The compromise….have two wines available for the course. I chose the Diemersfontein 2012 Reserve Pinotage from Wellington, and the second wine was De Trafford 2007 Blueprint Shiraz. After trying both wines, the wine of choice for this meal was definitely the Pinotage. This classic South African grape is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault. It has become one of the signature grapes of South Africa.

Our final course (not that we had much room left) was a milk tart. The pressed flour crust was rich, and the sweet milk, wasn’t overly sweet. After my last blog, I had to find the other dessert wine from Constancia. I had already found the Klein Constancia "Vin de Constance", for my blog, so the challenge was to find the Groot Constantia Grand Constance for this dinner. I was able to locate a 2010 vintage (375ml bottle), which cost a whopping $58 (before taxes and shipping). The eight of us finished this bottle off!

In case you are wondering, I was able to find a nice selection of South African wines online, through www.cape-ardor.com. Some of the required spice mixtures were also not available in our area, so with a little bit of research, we were able to grind our own spices to create the needed blend.

As with all our wine pairing dinners, the idea is to have fun, learn about new cuisines and cooking techniques, and share with friends. I hope this quick recap will inspire you to create your own “gourmet tasting group” and share your experiences. Bon Apetit!

Best Wines for a barbecue

The official kickoff to summer has always been Memorial Day. I have written about summer wines in a previous post, but we have never gone over the best drinks to have on hand for a barbecue (or BBQ). If you haven't pulled the barbecue out of storage, dusted it off, loaded the propane (or stocked up on the charcoal) then this weekend is the time to do it.

I would guess that most of you throw hamburgers or hot dogs on the grill, and down that with an ice-cold beer. Not a bad pairing, but what if you are not a beer drinker? What wines go best with foods grilled over the coals?

If you look back at my article on food and wine pairings, there are a few tips to help you out:

Grilling adds a bitter charred taste to foods. We can take two different approaches to bitterness, 1)match that bitterness with tannic wines, or 2) we can contrast that bitterness with fruitiness.

Some of the more tannic wines are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Zinfandel. Notice they are all reds, as white wine does not contain tannin.

When we are looking to contrast, fruity wines can run all over the place. For reds, Gamay is definitely a fruity wine, as are some Pinot Noirs, but they are lighter wines, which might be overpowered by heavy meat dishes. Both Zinfandel and Syrah (particularly Australian Shiraz) can be fruity, with some tannin. White wines can also be fruit forward, but again, a delicate white wine might be overpowered by the meat. I would look for something with a bit more body, that can hold its' own against grilled foods. Riesling is always one of my "go to" wines, particularly for pork and sausages (the fat needs to be cut with some acidity, and Riesling does the job). You can also go to a Chardonnay, or maybe even a Chenin Blanc for Chicken. And...don't forget the Rose! One of my favorite summer wines, that pairs with most everything is a dry rose.

Beware of the barbecue sauce. Remember to add it to your meat towards the end, so it doesn't burn, and if it is spicy, choose a wine with lower alcohol, as the spice and alcohol combination will accentuate the heat.

My top choices for best wines to have on hand for the barbecue:
1. Zinfandel. Go for a lower alcohol (if that is possible) that is younger but with some tannin.
2. Syrah. Go for an Aussie version that is more fruit forward.
3. Rose. I like Bandol, Tavel, or some of the Roses coming out of California (usually Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre or Pinot Noir based)...sorry, not a big fan of the Zinfandel based roses.
4. Riesling. I love a dry version from Alsace, France, or a dry Auslese from the Mosel region of Germany. This is a great pairing with sausages, brats, or hot dogs....and even some pork dishes with fruitier sauces.
5. Beer. How can you go wrong with beer?


One last tip...if your BBQ technique includes marinates, dry rubs and sauces...don't open up your best bottle of wine. Great bottles should be served with simple foods, where the wine can be the star. With barbecue, we want the wine and food to work with each other. Overpowering spices, will over power your wine, and isn't the ultimate joy,  the blending of the two?

What are your favorite/best wines with BBQ?