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Blog » Syrah
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Bona Fide Cornas: Domaine ClapeA visit to the Northern Rhone on my birthday started by hitting the road from Burgundy at dawn. The anticipation for the tour's next stop was all the fuel I needed: Domaine Auguste Clape.The style here has consistently pushed for maximum ripeness, picking at the last moment before the ominous fall rains begin. These fruit-forward Cornas from porous granite soils endow tremendous structure but with a pleasurable side of lusciousness. It's often argued that of the Big Three, including Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, Cornas offers an up-front approachability thanks to its southern and warm amphitheater setting. However, the savage scorched earth quality where Cornas derives its name is the foundation of this fabled domaine, and Clape captures all of that wildness.Clape's vineyards in Cornas span over ten parcels, including Allemand's Reynard and Chaillot and Nöel Verset's Sabarotte. This dizzying array of terroir plays a huge role in many decades of success. The wines are produced most traditionally with 100% whole cluster fermentation and aging in old barrels, with the two Cornas cuvées seeing 22 months in large foudre. When the opportunity arises to open Cornas with many decades on it, Clape is simply bulletproof. These young wines should not deceive you by their infancy's charming nature––they will go the distance to be enjoyed by generations to come.
Finding adequate words to place Auguste Clape in the context of Northern Rhone's history is difficult Auguste started bottling under his name in 1955 and stopped all négociant sales in 1968. Sadly, the day after I visited his son Pierre-Marie, he passed away at 93. Auguste pioneered the Northern Rhône in the company of Noël Verset and Raymond Trollat. -
We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat: Maison Stephan SyrahWe reserve our biggest boats for the most prime catches. Today that means Jean-Michel Stephan's first-time cuvée from Syrah vines planted just outside Côte Rôtie's zone. This 100% Syrah, labeled Vin de France, was the most transcendent find for us in a long time. At $39 per bottle, this wowed us for its Côte Rôtie-like concentration of blackberry fruit, roasted meat notes, with loads of lavender and black pepper––the intensity we're accustomed to finding in bottles well over $75.
Maison Stephan's Syrah comes from just one hectare of vines in Ampuis and Chasse-sur-Rhône. As is the norm here from a Marcel Lapierre disciple, Stephan relies on carbonic and semi-carbonic fermentation with native yeasts and zero additives. Unfiltered and unfined without sulfur. Aging six months in stainless steel means this 2022 harnesses the primary fruit from the sunny growing season and has a fresh streak on the finish that screams granitic minerality.
We see this as an ideal option for holiday feasts with chicken, pork, beef, and lamb, and it will also be brilliantly served with a slight chill once we enter spring and summer 2024. We love Syrah, and this is our value champion of 2023. -
Quintessential California Syrah: PiedrasassiSanta Barbara's cool-climate wines have growingly become one of my obsessions. For me, the most integral name in the array of labels is Sashi Moorman. His Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Gamay are among my favorites, but his first label, Piedrasassi, offers downright delicious and complex reflections of Syrah.
Piedrasassi harnesses savory, bright, and superior aromatics while never shying away from the innately luscious qualities that define California Syrah. They nail the roasted meat, violet, and black pepper trifecta at each price point. The P.S. bottling, sourced from a handful of Piedrasassi's single vineyards, is the perfect introduction to their philosophy on cool-climate Syrah, and the vineyard-designate bottlings best exemplify how these wines continually develop in bottle over many years.
Sashi vinifies and ages as naturally as possible, excluding sulfur at fermentation and only utilizing native yeasts. Whole cluster inclusion and aging in larger 500-liter barrels ensure the lively, crushed rock virtues that make Northern Rhone Syrah so unique aren't lost here in Santa Barbara.
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Blog May 29, 2024Bona Fide Cornas: Domaine Clape
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Blog November 09, 2023We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat: Maison Stephan Syrah
