SYRAH HISTORY AND MAGNIFICENT MONTEREY

From a 1998 article written By Doug Meador,
Winegrower, Meador Estate Wines,
and Author of The New Viticulture

Only a few short years ago (1974) Walter Schug - then winemaker at Joseph Phelps - saw the potential in a tiny portion of one of Christian Brothers' Napa vineyards. Brother Timothy was kind enough to part with some of those grapes he called ''Syrah "(1). Thus, the first modern, straight ''Syrah'' labeled wine in California was produced from that vintage. Those grapes previously went into a blend and - sadly - the blocks have all been long ago torn out. That block was not ''pure''.

Comes then the next mqjor player in the Syrah drama - one Gary Eberle of Paso Robles fame (and offensive tackle of Penn State fame). Gary was a member of the ''great'' class of graduate winemakers from Davis. Among them was an Australian. At their informal gatherings said Australian kept bringing bottles of some southern red wine he called ''Shiraz'' (Syrah in Australian). Gary(2) became enamored of the wines eventualfy and studied the variety intensivefy. Later (1973) in the real world - Gary was tasked with pioneering, to a large degree, the Paso Robles area with the large ''Estrella Vineyards"project. Given the moderately warm Paso climate, Gary was adamant that some Syrah be planted. He prevailed - it was. In conjunction with, and help of, the late Curt Alley, Gary was able to acquire some wood from a non-released test vine referred to by Alley as the "Chapoutier" clone of Syrah. At that time Chapoutier had only the one vineyard above TAIN in the Rhone Valley so we assume the vine came from there. Gary gave me the wood to expand out for him - that is, grow in pots as ''mother vine", then cut green runners into segments, mist - propagate those snippets into viable individual plants growing in small pots and return them to him - for a fee, of course! And thus, in 1974 Estrella was the first major modern planting of the Syrah grapevine. Gary Eberle was the single driving force behind this planting and the visionary who recognized the variety's potential.

To the extent that Americans thought about Syrah - which was nearly nil except for Schug and Eberle - it was construed as a warm climate grape variety. This was because the Rhone Valley, Cotes du Rhone, Chateauneuf du Pape, and the southern areas to the Spanish border and even in the area of Toulouse were its home and those were viewed - superficially - as hot.

Eberle's fixation attracted my attention. In Monterey we are much colder than Paso Robles and we have a driving cold wind nearly every day directly off Monterey Bay (Pacific Ocean). The winds were shredding the leaves of some varieties - particularfy a block of California Petite Sirah I had. I thought about the Syrah off and on. One day it occurred to me that Syrah's finest performance historically (at least - reputation) was in the Rhone Valley itself and the Rhone has a very famous, sometimes violent, wind called the "Mistral". Thought: this grape variety had evolved in this wind. Perhaps it was ''wind tolerant'".

The second subsequent thought was the source of the Mistral. It didn't blow up the valley from the warm south! It blew down the valley - beginning in the Alps. It is often a cool wind!

From these two thoughts of mine came the conclusion that Syrah MIGHT - just MIGHT - be amenable to Monterey's "Mistral" which was hard and cold. Testing had to be done it was clear, it happened in 1974 at Ventana. A trivial few vines had made it into the ground - culls - and a few survivors were transplanted in 1976. However, these were subsequently removed (damn!) in favor of clonal "purity". In 1978 at Ventana we put the first serious planting of Syrah in the ground and it wasn't until 1989(3)that the next planting developed in Monterey County. Now many more wineries in Monterey are committed to growing Syrah. Our vines in Ventana are now over twenty-two years old.

In 1977 I contacted the Foundation Plant Material Service (FPMS) - our repository of varietals at University of California, Davis - and inquired about Syrah. In the interest of wide-spreading of plants, commercial nurseries have first call on plant material from FPMS - growers only second if any remains of a year's harvest of wood. No nursery had asked for any wood from the FPMS' released selection of Syrah (called Shiraz / Syrah by FPMS as it came from Australia). It was certified clean of known viruses within the limits of then current testing capabilities. However, no commitment could be made to me until nursery "season" was over. I could have all the wood as no nursery had requested any. We still have the 'Purple" tags which were attached to the bundles - purple tags designating wood taken from the "mother" plants.

So it was, in 1978, that I had enough wood to graft over certified Cabernet vines of 1.5 Acres of old-style vinryard (518 Vines/Acre). These vines were immediately adjacent to my block of California Petite Sirah.

The Syrah vine absolutely LOVED it here! Vigorous, wind-tolerant, ripe fruit, beautiful flavours, easy to farm - a dream for a winegrower. The California Petite Sirah? Shredded leaves, prone to mildew and botrytis, difficult flavours, hard to ripen, etc., etc. Not a dream - well, maybe one kind of dream.

Oh - it wasn't all pure joy. There is a learning curve on how to farm it here and there are some difficulties but all within normal farming difficulties. We are still learning.

At Ventana we made many "test" wines commencing in the early eighties. These were lovely rascals though mainly for "learning" and for show and tell. Subsequently, River Run Winery worked with me over the years making many gold medal wines from the grapes beginning, I think, in 1985. In 1988 I was so enamored of the grape that I cast all caution to the wind and said "no guts no glory" and decided to increase my production 100%. I planted another 1.5 acres! Heroism is hell. Later we planted about 12 more. Ventana is providing serious wines from these as the vines mature.

We just recently released our 1997 Syrah which we made 1400 cases. This wine shows a unique Black Pepper and Spice quality that is inherent in Syrah grape from Monterey County. Watch for this new vintage!

I am of the opinion - and have been for a long while - that the Syrah may become Monterey's first truly great red grape. In our cold climate it tends to retain a charming "black pepper" component that it loses in warmer climates. We shall see.

The exploratory development period is over and expense occurred. Today, 1998, we see the grape becoming more widely planted throughout our county. For some years now vineyards have been producing and a few commercial wines being made. Ventana has provided wood for grafting to winegrowers. Wineries of Sonoma and Napa and elsewhere are paying outstanding prices per ton for this Monterey County red grape. The demand far exceeds our region's current supply. I believe that this grape - from throughout California - will become a VERY important variety for the American market. The flavour components are appreciated by our people, it matures sooner than Cabernet, it has a rich softness in its texture, and it develops grace with age. Besides - it tastes good.

But it will be in the cooler growing areas that it will achieve its greatest potential - in most years. Some years - it will not. And in Monterry it has demonstrated that sometimes - sometimes - it is truly a grape to behold

1) Verbal to me from Walter Schug
2) Verbal to me from Gary Eberle
3) Verbal statement by Rich Smith on year of his first "few vines"


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