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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CHARDONNAY "THE GREAT GODDESS"

By J. Douglas Meador
Author of The New Viticulture

From the beginning in Burgundy, France, Chardonnay has spread to become one of the most widely planted varieties in the world - both in terms of distance and acreage. In France alone the acres in 1958 were 17,580 and by 1988 were about 60,000! The growth of acreage in California has been phenomenal - most of it planted in the last ten years! In 1966 there was only around 200 acres of it in America (all California) with the predominant grower/producer being Wente Brothers. According to one report, the U.S. is over 100,000 acres today! In 1999, it was the most grown white grape in California.

The predominant wine style through the seventies and on into the eighties was no ML fermentation and all stainless steel production. Karl Wente introduced stainless steel vessels with temperature control and oxygen elimination to the American industry - a (perhaps, "the") major contribution to White wine production and ultimately causing a revolution in World white wine consumption. Prior to this innovation most (not all!) whites of the world were somewhat oxidized and displayed little or no fruit - a function of warm or hot fermentation, open tops and failure to understand the effects of oxygen. Naturally cold areas did produce lovely whites and were justly famed. Subsequently, with Karl's approach, long cool fermentations under gas resulted in fresh, fruity wines the likes of which had not before been seen (except a few in Germany - the initial developers of the technology) and became possible widely. Gorgeous natural smells and flavors of the grape previously "blown off" were now retained in the wines. The World went into a frenzied reaction / love affair with whites - reversing the long standing ratio of consumption of 60% red to 40% White and Rose - a ratio that is only now returning somewhat.

In its home area of Burgundy, Chardonnay at its best has long been famous - but only at its best. General White burgundy suffered often from poor winemaking and growing. But the "best" was expensive - relatively speaking - then and now. Small lot production fermented in new French oak barrels always costs. It is inherent in the cost of labor and in regularly replacing barrels with new.

Site or location was a prime factor in the "best" wines. These specific sites became famous over time and their prices soon justified and supported the more expensive winemaking procedures - leading to even greater fame. Villages even attached the names of great vineyards to theirs (Chassagne-Montrachet, etc.).

In the hands of the Burgundians the marvelous marriage of the Chardonnay grape (as they grew it) with the oak of the barrel (as they made it) with the procedures (as they developed them) was evolved.

Elsewhere, the marriage did not occur. Chablis, for example, was fruit character focused. New oak was not favored there. In fact, old neutral barrels properly cared for were greatly prized. Pouilly-Fuisse and St. Veran were a later phenomena and tank-fermenting is the norm - not new oak taste and aromas. These probably fall more into modern marketing effects than historical fame.

In the United States - California - the development commenced in the sixties with francophiles at Hanzell first importing a few new French barrels for barrel fermentation (sirugue). Subsequently, at Mt. Eden, Dick Graff (also a complete Francophile) commenced importing a few new barrels (sirugue) both for there and subsequently for Chalone which be bought in 1966. When I say a 'few" I mean a "few". In perhaps 1973 or 4, I was in Chalone's "Winery" - a long (perhaps 50 feet) narrow converted chicken shed with barrels stacked two-high along one side - and Dick showed me with great pride, his few "new" barrels of the year.

The French cooper (barrel-maker) for Hanzell, Chalone and Mt. Eden was Yves Sirugue of Nuit-St. George, France and was represented here by an American - as a sideline hobby. After participating in buying a few barrels for a couple of years - in early 1979 I asked about purchasing a complete container-load of barrels myself. According to the shocked agent(1) that had never been done before by an individual or entity and after recovering - moved me to the top of the shipping list for timing. My order would come first. Remember, then French cooperages were small supplying only their local wineries. They had not experienced any impact from Americans. Of course, this one order pushed everyone else back - far enough to possibly create problems at harvest. Dick called me - irate that I had moved ahead of him - the mentor. We easily worked it out though - if there was a delay in his he could have from mine and replace them from the later shipment. Until Dick's call I had no idea the effects of my order on others.

The 1978 and 1979 Ventana Chardonnay had a tremendous impact and were the "darlings" of the judgings and the media. Recently at least one prominent winemaker asserted the 1979 Ventana was the best Chardonnay yet produced in California. Another, in a Wine Spectator interview, asserted that those were his role models - he "has to make wine like that."(2). However, dramatic as it was, it was still produced "California - style" - i.e. - no malo-lactic fermentation.

The University of California, Davis, taught generations of American winemakers to never allow M-L bacteria into white wine and if you did you would go to somewhere around Dante's eighth level of hell. With their focus on hot Central Valley fruit they were no doubt correct.

In the mid-seventies Ventana commenced exploring M-L on coastal cold climate Chardonnay. Andre Tchelistcheff steered my direction initially though his papers has been on red - a then established practice on the coast. One "reality" problem was high-acid juice, a cold climate situation. Another "artistic" problem was "how did the French achieve butteriness and toast". The "butteriness" component was a function of M-L. We demonstrated this to other winemakers in 1978 and 1979 when we did side-by-side fermentations of the same juice - non M-L and M-L'd. The "toast" aspect was demonstrated by Dick Graff as a function of "stirring" - i.e., yeast autolysis. Dick had brought this from Burgundy - "battonage". The first commercial M-Led Chardonnay was the 1980 Chalone, the second, the 1981 Ventana Crystal Chardonnay.

Thus by 1981 the technical knowledge for the production of modern California Chardonnay was in place and was demonstrated to the winemaking community. A not small aspect of the matter was that those commercial wines were produced and marketed by wineries of some repute. It has been stated to me by a few winemakers of the time that they knew of M-L effects but were not permitted by owners to use the process. Thus - the fear factor was diminished and the door opened. It should be noted that the fear factor was not unwarranted - early on there was some risk in the process until it became more understood, the price of Chardonnay grapes was very high and the type / style of the resulting wine was different.

1) Memory continued by agent 5/3/00
2) Cecil Deloach


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