Last Friday over at West Coast Wine Country Adventures, Amy wrote a cool post on peppery Syrahs and cool weather climates. (Click the link above for her great post.)
I wondered if growing a Syrah in the same conditions you grow a Zinfandel would also produce a peppery Syrah. After all, Zinfandels are known for peppery flavors. A few weeks back I reported on the Klinker Brick Lodi Zinfandel. I wondered if their Farrah Syrah would be peppery so I picked up a bottle. This bottle of wine was peppery like the Zinfandel, in fact it was almost just like the Zinfandel in every way; it didn't seem like a Syrah at all.
Usually I can detect the Syrah part of a Northern Rhone blend or a meritage of Syrah and another red. The Farrah didn't have any of the Syrah flavor. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the fruit-bomb and would have loved it with a grilled rib-eye steak! It's just that it would have been nice if the wine had been different from the Zinfandel. Maybe if I tasted the two wines side by side I could have seen the difference.
I'll have to try some of the Syrahs that Amy and her readers talked about in the comments portion of her post. If you have a suggestion for a peppery Syrah, please let me know. Meanwhile, I'm going to have to pick up a rib-eye on the way home from work tonight to enjoy with my Zinfandel, I mean Syrah.
Tasting Notes:
2004 Klinker Brick "Farrah" Syrah
Color: Dark purple
Aroma: Zinfandel and green pepper
Taste: Pepper, Zinfandel fruit
Finish: Medium tannins that lingered with the fruit flavors. The alcohol level (15%) left a bite.
3 comments:
It was peppery zins that first got me interested in red wines. I absolutely adore pepper in my wine. I also find it cropping up in different grapes. I recently had a super peppery wine from Minervois. Wish I could get more. I wonder if the Klinker Brick has some zin blended in it. Their web page doesn't say so but you never know.
Greg,
It would be interesting to know if Klinker Brick blended anything in with the Syrah.
You mention that you have found pepper in other wines. Besides Zinfandel and Syrah, I'm only aware of pepper (white pepper) in Grüner Veltliners. What other wines have you found pepper in?
either way in zin or syrah I'm a fan of pepper and spice. I 'll take that over just fruit bomb anytime. Thanks for the mention!
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