Syrah and Grenache Flashcards
About Syrah/Shiraz:
- Small, with thick, darkly colored skins
- The wines are deeply colored
- Medium or high levels of tannins
- Medium acidity
- Full-bodied
- Black fruit (blackberry) and dark chocolate character
- With age, the best develop animal and vegetal complexities (leather, wet leaves, earth)
Syrah and climates:
- Wines from moderate regions, may be accompanied by hints of herbaceous-ness (mint, eucalyptus), smoke meat and spice (black pepper)- In hot regions, there are more sweet spice notes (licorice, cloves)- Does not ripen in cool climates
About Grenache/Garnacha:
- Large, thin-skins, less color
- High sugar levels
- Low acidity
- Low tannins
- Full bodied
- Typically red-fruit character (strawberry, raspberry) with spicy notes (white pepper, licorice, cloves)
- With age, the spicy notes evolve into toffee and leather.
- Need a hot climate to ripen
Grenache/Garnacha in Rosé wines:
- Easy to make rosé with their thin skins- Used widely for rosés in Southern Rhone, southern France, southern Spain- Full bodied- Dry- Low alcohol- Red fruit flavors (strawberry)- Some are light-bodied and fruity, with med sweetness- Most are best consumed while young and vibrant- Very few benefit from aging- Some aged in oak, gives it an orange hue, dulls the fruit and adds savory complexity
Combining Syrah and Grenache together:
- Adding Grenache to Syrah can result in a wine with more alcohol, lower levels of tannin and acidity, and adds a dark fruit character.- Adding Syrah to a Grenache boosts the level of color, tannin and acidity, and adds a dark fruit character.
Southern Rhône style Syrah-Grenache blend:
- Include several other varieties (Mourvèdre and Cinsault) contribute to the character of the wine
- Others used because they give high yields and are cheap or easy to grow.
In Australia, a Shiraz-Grenache blend:
Frequently: - Full-bodied - Fruity red - Very soft tannins - Ideal for serving lightly chilled South Australia: - Full-bodied - Intense and complex - Includes Mataro (Mourvèdre). - Known as GSMs
What are the appellations and geography like in Northern Rhône? What are the wine characteristics?
- Finest wines grown on steep terraces and expensive to produce
- Sunlight and good drainage provide ideal conditions for the production of powerful, complex, age worthy wines
- Côte-Rôtie AC: rare and expensive
- Hermitages AC: rare and expensive
- Crozes-Hermitage: larger appellation that includes some flatter sites. Generally less intense and less complex than those of the other sites but prices are lower. Wines often display the black pepper flavors and tannins and acidity found in Syrah wines from a moderate climate.
What is the geography like in Southern Rhône? What is it blended with?
- Vineyards stretch far away from the Rhône, covering wide, stony plains. - Hotter and drier here than in the northern Rhône.- Conditions ideal for Grenache.- Usually blended with other varieties, such as Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault.
What are the appellations of Southern Rhône and the wine characteristics?
- Côtes du Rhône is the main appellation.
- Côtes du Rhône Villages are the better vineyard sites.
- Yields, choice of grape varieties in the blend, and winemaking techniques and styles and quality vary considerably.
- The cheapest wines tend to be medium-bodied, with light tannins and a simple juicy red fruit and peppery
- spice character.
- The best could pass for Châteauneuf-du-Pape in terms of body, complexity, intensity and length.
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape: commune with its own appellation and most famous.
- Some are 100% Grenache, most add some Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault, very few use all 13.
- Typical CDP is full-bodied, with med tannins and low acidity and an intense, complex character that includes red fruit (strawberry), spice (pepper, licorice), and animal (leather) notes.
What are the premium Grenache regions in Europe?
Spain
- Garnacha is the most widely planted variety in Spain.
- Priorat: reaches its highest expression in the deep-colored, powerful, full-bodied wines here, where it is usually the main component of a blend
- The best are high-quality, complex wines that sell at high prices
- Rioja: can be used as part of the blend with Tempranillo and other varieties (though rarely seen in the best wines of this region)
- Navarra and Rioja - the best rosé wines alone or the main component
About Shiraz and Australia:
- Compared to the Syrah wines of Northern Rhône:
- Fuller-bodied
- Softer tannins
- Less acidity- Hot climate:
- Intense black fruit (blackberry, plum), sweet spices and notes of black chocolate.
- Use of oak: smoke, vanilla, coconut flavors
What are the most famous Shiraz regions in Australia?
- Hunter Valley
- McLaren Vale
- Barossa Valley: these are particularly powerful
- Conditions of McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley are particularly well-suited for Garnacha.
- Victoria (Heathcote): moderate conditions
- Western Australia (Margaret River): moderate conditions
- South Australia (Coonawarra): moderate conditions
Shiraz from these moderate regions is more peppery and can be less full-bodied than that from the hotter regions. - Also in South Australia, some of the best wines are multi-regional blends. Blending allows for a more complex whole.
- Generally these regional blends say South Australia on the label.
Aside from Spain and Australia, where else is Shiraz grown?
- South Africa: deep-colored, full-bodied wines with atoms of dried fruit (raisin, prune, fruit cake), smoked meat and oak.
- CA and Washington State: full-bodied, dark-fruited Shiraz- NZ (Hawke’s Bay)
- Chile (San Antonio) showing promise for more elegant, fruity styles with some peppery spice
What are the bulk-production regions for inexpensive Syrah and Grenache?
France:
- Côtes du Rhône appellation
- Provence, Languedoc and Roussillon: Grenache and Syrah are widely grown for use in appellation wines. Made from a blend of varieties.
- Minervois and Languedoc: the main varieties in the blend are often Grenache and Carignan (the latter can give tough wines with high levels of acid and tannin)
– Syrah and Mourvèdre are used to improve the character of the better wines
- IGP Syrahs from the south of France
Spain:
- La Mancha and Vladepeñas: Grenache-led winesAustralia:
- Riverland, Murray-Darling and Riverina: inexpensive Shiraz: wine labeled South-Eastern Australia
