Zinfandel & FoodWines/Syrah & The Primrose Path

From the next BP;
Back in the late '60's-early '70's (by crackey), Ridge/DavidBruce/Mayacamas/et al realized that you could make fine to great wine from Zinfandel, theretofore used mostly for jug wines.
In the early-mid '70's, as the Zinfandel producers pushed the envelope to see how far they take the variety; there started to appear LatePicked/LateHarvest/Essence Zins w/ alcohols well above the then norm of 12%-13%, sometimes up above 17% or so. Increasingly, the normal alcohol levels of Zin TableWine was above 14%. This was accentuated by the drought yrs of '76-'77, when 14% alc Zins sorta became the norm.
The wine writing cabal of that day, not unlike today, were an incestuous bunch. Once somebody wrote an original idea, other writers picked up on the same theme.
In the late '70's, these writers were leading a lynch mob against the increasing alcohol levels in Zinfandel. There was article after article, filled w/ rightous indignation and purple prose, as the wine writers of the day, frothing at the mouth, went on the attack of Zinfandel ("Monster Zinfandels with shabby table manners"..thank you, Charlie!!).
And so what happened??? The winemakers listened these guys and started harvesting earlier, dialing back on the alcohol, seeking less extraction. Voila...we now have "food wines"...Zinfandels that were designed to...accompany food. Many of these Zins were thin/anemic/eviscerated (and lower alcohols) renditions of Zin, a shadow of their former selves a decade earlier. It was a dreadful time to be a Zin lover. The Zin market was in the doldrums. It wasn't until the late '80's (with a few exceptions), that the winemakers came to their senses and started making Zin like they used to be. Which has pretty much continued to the present day.
Now there is a new generation cabal of wine writers leading us onto the warpath again. Same ole/same ole. They rail against the intensity & extraction of Calif Pinots. They demand that the winemakers make more "natural" wines. Too many buttery/over-oaked/soft/flabby Chards. And, of course, their favorite whipping boy...the high levels of alcohol...particularly as found in Pinot and..gasp...Syrah. Hmmm...is it starting to show a pattern here??
So, over the last year, there has been a movement afoot among some of the Syrah producers to produce wines that show more elegance/balance/restraint; a reaction against the big/alcoholic/oaked/98-pt fruit bombs that Parker embraces.
This is mostly achieved by planting Syrah in colder climes, harvesting earlier to attain lower alcohols.
Last March, I attended a seminar organized by BobLindquist to publicize Syrah of this type, up in Sebastapol. On the panel & showing their wines were: PatrickWill/Guigal, StevenSinger/BakerLane, KevinClancey/EdmundsStJohn,BobLindquist/
Qupe, WellsGuthrie/Copain, RajParr (ParrSelections), DuncanMeyer&NathanRoberts/Arnot-Roberts,
and JasonDrew/DrewFamily. I thought the wines they showed were, by & large, strong testimony for this "new" style of Syrah.
So...my tasting last night was to focus on Syrahs of this more restrained/elegant style. Alcohol levels ranged from 14%+ down to 11.5%. Most of these Syrahs had, by & large, wonderful aromatics...lots of cracked black pepper, very NorthernRhonish in character; less deep blackberry/Syrah notes and more floral/lilacs/violets character that Syrah can show.
Despite the wonderful aromatics, many of these Syrahs were...just not very pleasurable to drink. Sometimes, the flavors were rather muted and tight. Many had a schreechy acidity to them on the palate; an acidity that made the (fairly modest) tannin levels seem lean/hard/harsh/bitey. I'm not particularly acid-adverse and believe a good/high acidity is an important component of their ageibility. But some of these were actually painful to drink....not a pleasure. On the plus side, I think most of these Syrahs, because of their acidity level, will probably age into something pretty interesting. But, at this point in time, they offered up little pleasure on the palate. Maybe w/ food I would have liked them more...who knows.
So...after that brief laying of the groundwork...my question:
Do you feel that this mob of wine writers/bloggers/tweeters are, once again, like they did in the early-'80's with Zin, leading us down the primrose path with Syrah in their incessant/strident demands for lower-alcohol/more-restrained/more food-friendly style of Syrah???
Talk amongst yourselves. Definitive opinion will be offered up in a few days.
Tom

[quote=TomHill]
So...after that brief laying of the groundwork...my question:
Do you feel that this mob of wine writers/bloggers/tweeters are, once again, like they did in the early-'80's with Zin, leading us down the primrose path with Syrah in their incessant/strident demands for lower-alcohol/more-restrained/more food-friendly style of Syrah???
Talk amongst yourselves. Definitive opinion will be offered up in a few days.
Tom[/quote]

As promised..the definitive opinion:
I suspect that the writers are not going to be able to lead us down this primrose path w/ Syrah. Most of the writers on the Syrah & alcohol subject have simply offered up these "new" Syrahs as an alternative to the Syrahs that get big scores outta Monktown..nothing more. Some of the bloggers & other denizens of the InterNet have been a bit more vitriolic on the subject, but I don't see them as having that much influence.
And Zinfandel is a different beast than Syrah. Because of its uneven ripening pattern and greater spread of sugars within a bunch, it seems to need greater ripeness (above 14%) and performs less well at lower ripeness levels (though Louis M. Martini might argue that point from the grave).
I think Syrah is probably more reflective of terroir and more receptive to a diversity of styles than Zin (though many writers argue that this diversity of styles is what is bogging down Syrah in the marketplace..I think that's bull-puckey). And I think most Syrah drinkers are more receptive (read..smarter) to a diversity in style than the Zin drinkers.
So...no....no primrose path for the Syrah winemakers I feel. I enjoy this diversity in Syrah styles and fully embrace it and look forward to taking many more data points. The marketplace will be the ultimate decider.
Tom

Tom,
I'll take up the question. First of all, I'm going to challenge your assertion that Zin has remained stylistically the same since the late '80s and that that style is the same as we had in the late '70s. Yes, Zin has always produced high alcohol wines, but with the emergence of Turley and its later imitators, we saw alcohol levels increase and the whole package increase in volume, sometimes with a little residual sugar thrown in (remember those "late harvest" Amador Zins of the '70s? The ones with 16% ABV and noticeably sweet aka stuck fermentations). I agree that those "food wines" of the early '80s weren't very pleasant, but I think that vineyard practices have progressed noticeably since then such that you can get ripe grapes that have lower sugar levels nowadays.

Secondly, while I haven't had all those Syrahs you mention, I have had a fair number of Bob Lindquist's and Steve Edmunds's (as you know) and, like you, have been a long time fan of theirs... but not from the very start My experiences haven't brought to mind those screechingly acidic and thin wines of yore; rather, I have enjoyed those lower volume Syrahs tremendously. While I haven't had a Copain Syrah, I like very much what Wells Guthrie is doing with Pinot Noir and I suspect that I'd like his Syrahs, too. As I almost always consume wine with food, this too may color my views on the matter. But, even if they aren't pleasant in their youth, what's wrong with having to age a wine for a few years? It's not as if the world is devoid of wines to drink tonight, is it? I know from your own notes that you've got a significant cache of older CA Syrah, so what's the problem if you can't drink current release Syrahs right now? Seems to me that you're just stirring the pot a bit, young man!

Mark Lipton

Tom,
I'll take up the question. First of all, I'm going to challenge your assertion that Zin has remained stylistically the same since the late '80s and that that style is the same as we had in the late '70s. Yes, Zin has always produced high alcohol wines, but with the emergence of Turley and its later imitators, we saw alcohol levels increase and the whole package increase in volume, sometimes with a little residual sugar thrown in (remember those "late harvest" Amador Zins of the '70s? The ones with 16% ABV and noticeably sweet aka stuck fermentations). I agree that those "food wines" of the early '80s weren't very pleasant, but I think that vineyard practices have progressed noticeably since then such that you can get ripe grapes that have lower sugar levels nowadays.

Yup...would tend to agree that today's Zins are quite a bit different from those Zins of the late-'70's. I think the vnyd practices have been a big difference. They can get 15%-16% Zins nowadays w/o the
overripe/raisened/pruney smells/flavors that were common for those wines back then. The Turleys and Carlisles are great examples of that.

Secondly, while I haven't had all those Syrahs you mention, I have had a fair number of Bob Lindquist's and Steve Edmunds's (as you know) and, like you, have been a long time fan of theirs... but not from the very start My experiences haven't brought to mind those screechingly acidic and thin wines of yore; rather, I have enjoyed those lower volume Syrahs tremendously. While I haven't had a Copain Syrah, I like very much what Wells Guthrie is doing with Pinot Noir and I suspect that I'd like his Syrahs, too. As I almost always consume wine with food, this too may color my views on the matter. But, even if they aren't pleasant in their youth, what's wrong with having to age a wine for a few years? It's not as if the world is devoid of wines to drink tonight, is it? I know from your own notes that you've got a significant cache of older CA Syrah, so what's the problem if you can't drink current release Syrahs right now?

I would have to say that the WindGap/A-R are the extreme end of the stylistic spectrum in Syrah. The acid levels I just found (young) a bit too screechy. I don't find those acid levels in Bob's nor Steve's wines when young;
they're a bit towards the middle of the spectrum than the WG/A-R are. But I'm pretty confident the WG/A-R will evolve into something pretty interesting.
Back in the early '70's (by crackey....old Kansas expression that's accompained by a big slap to the side of one's thigh and a kind of cackle), back afore the Z-H days; my main criteria in choosing Alsatian Rieslings
to age was the higher the acid, the more painful they were to taste; the better they'd be w/ age. Stood me in good stead over the yrs.

Seems to me that you're just stirring the pot a bit, young man!
Mark Lipton

Gasp.....Mark...I can't believe you accused me of such. Why the last thing I'd think of doing!!!!
Tom