Just for fun, I have been thinking about Syrah producers I love. I decided to share my list with you.
Now, this is a snapshot of current producers. Not every domaine is like Domaine Denis Mortet and makes better wine after the proprietor is dead. Therefore, this list does not contain people who made great Syrah in the past. Noel Verset and Gerard Chave are prime examples of this.
This is a personal list, but I will accept submissions in the comments. If I deem them worthy, or they get enough acclaim with convincing arguments for their inclusion, I will add them to the list.
Some of the Syrah producers I love have not been reviewed on Elitistreview, because I cannot review everything I try. Where I have a review (or more than one), I will link to a representative one that you can read by clicking on the producer name.
So, here we go, in alphabetical order, Syrah producers I love:
Thierry Allemand – Cornas, France.
Franck Balthazar – Cornas, France.
Domaine Julien Barge – Côte-Rôtie, France.
Mickael Bourg – Cornas, France.
By Farr – Geelong, Australia.
Domaine Champet – Côte-Rôtie, France.
Domaine Clape – Cornas, France.
Clusel-Roch – Côte-Rôtie, France.
Domaine du Colombier – Hermitage, France.
Domaine Duclaux – Côte-Rôtie, France.
Dumien-Serrette – Cornas, France.
Mac Forbes – Yarra Valley, Australia
Guillaume Gilles – Cornas, France.
Domaine Pierre Gonon – St Joseph, France.
Henschke – Eden Valley, Australia.
Domaine Jamet – Côte-Rôtie, France.
Domaine Lionnet – Cornas, France.
Lismore Estate – Greyton, South Africa.
Mullineux – Swartland, South Africa
Porseleinberg – Swartland, South Africa.
Donovan Rall – Swartland, South Africa.
Ridge Vineyards – Sonoma County, USA.
Domaine Rostaing – Côte-Rôtie, France.
Duncan Savage – Cape Town, South Africa.
Domaine de Tunnel – Cornas, France.
Domaine Vernay – Côte-Rôtie, France.
Les Vins de Viennes – Côte-Rôtie, France.
The tallies:
- France – 17
- Côte-Rôtie – 8
- Cornas- 8
- Hermitage – 1
- St. Joseph – 1
- South Africa – 5
- Australia – 3
- USA – 1
That’s a pretty good list Davy. I’d add Domaine Pierre Gonon. Gonon is making the best St. Jo at the moment and his wines are serious syrah in their own right. I had the 2015 last week and it was beautiful if just a touch too young for prime time.
I think by reputation alone, Gonon will be added in a moment!
I go by reputation because the one time I have tried his wine, I was so paralytic I have no memory of the wine at all – what a badly behaved person I am! 😉
Faurie would have been a contender too, but Rousset is now making the wines. So Faurie gets excluded on your criterion of the winemaker being a current producer.
Faurie has retired, no? If so, his name is not on the list, and he is not coming in.
Ah I came here to say Faurie. Graillot should be included though? The 96 Guiraude I tasted last year was stellar.
The only straight Syrah from Ridge I’ve tasted was far on the wrong side of the feral / fecal line. I can’t quite believe I don’t have any…
I don’t think Alain’s son makes as good wine as his painfully missed pere.
I have only had two Ridge Syrahs, both of which were really tits! One was ten years old and had aged very gracefully indeed.
Why are there so few US producers on this list? I simply have not tried that many.
The US has a ready and eager home market willing to pay top dollar for top local wine. By the time those wines have had their prices further boosted by the costs of exporting to the UK, then had the punishing rates of alcohol duty and sales tax added to them, they are priced extremely highly over here and represent very poor value compared to top European examples.
As they are so expensive here not many people buy them when they are on the market here, so almost no one bothers importing fine US Syrah to the UK.
I have heard many great things about US Syrah, but they are simply not on the market here for me to go out and buy. I wish it were not the case, as I like trying fine wine from around the world but, alas, beyond a very few Zinfandels there is almost no US wine on the market in this country. It is a real shame.
Now, if someone wanted to send me some… Ah, I would still have a huge bill for duty and sales tax on anything that were sent to me, so this isn’t a *great* plan…
Vins de Vienne – we liked the Grandes Places 2015; I think Pierre Gaillard is one of the three winemakers.
Also Dom. Bott in Seyssuel? Good stuff.
Vins see Viennes are in the list for that one wine alone, along they make other good Côte-Rôtie. Gaillard is a partner in the venture, but Vins de Viennes has its own winemaker.
I do not think Bott are good enough to make it into this list, either for their Côte-Rôtie or their Seyssuel.
What about Bernard Levet? I don’t think his daughter Agnès is making worse wines than he did.
I have had a few good Levet wines, but most of them I have tried have been horribly Brett-y. Given the effect this has on the ageing of wines and, far more importantly, the effect it has on the flavour of wines, that rules them out of a list of my favourites.
Great list Davy. I’d also add Jasmin in Cote Rotie. Great fruit purity.
I have not had much Jasmin in recent years, this is something I need to correct.
I am glad no one has suggested Guigal! They are some of the least authentic Syrahs that exist, almost as bad as the hellspawn Frey’s efforts!
Guigal’s syrahs could be from anywhere. Such is the over-oaking. So I totally agree!
Abso-tmesis-lutely! Oak and Syrah are not natural bedfellows, especially if you want a wine expressive of its origins.
Guigal also seem incapable of coping with rising temperatures in the Rhône, either that or they feel the need to become even more Parkerised – their alcohol levels are going berserk! Someone gave me two bottles of 2019 Guigal Hermitage, just the basic stuff (that used to be such a fine flag-bearer for the appellation); printed on the label, in very small type, was “15.5%”. I guess they would have tasted foul. I have to guess because I sold them…
A 15.5% Hermitage is faulty.
It’s certainly undrinkable!
Can you imagine the headache after half a bottle of that?
The 2020 Crozes Thalabert from Frey was either 14.5% or 15%, and that’s faulty for Crozes.