How long should we age Syrah? Let’s try a 22+ year old New World Syrah to find out.
Aging Syrah
Continuing my posts about aging different varieties/regions of wines, this time I want to explore Syrah. As with all wines, it always depends on your palate and pairing along with the producer, terroir, quality and provenance.
As far as Syrah, the climate and style of the producer matters a lot. Warm climate Syrah is often higher alcohol, lower acid, rounder and darker as epitomized in South Australian Shiraz. In contrast, cool climate Syrah, which can also include New World coastal Syrah you can find in Chile, California and other parts of Australia like Western Australia, tends to be more earthy, herbaceous, tannic and acidic with less overt, dark fruit. It also depends on how much whole cluster and oak they use. On this end of the spectrum are Northern Rhone Syrahs, who tend to use more whole cluster and less new oak. The latter of these two general types of Syrah is better known for aging too, but of course there are warm climate, high-end Syrah/Shiraz that are made to age too like the iconic Penfolds Grange from South Australia.
Most of my experience with 10+ year old Syrah has been Old World, cool climate Syrah. The best was a 15 year old Hermitage, the top appellation in the Northern Rhone. The best and classic Northern Rhone examples require at least 10 years of age and develop for 20-30+ years. On the other hand, I normally drink New World, warm climate Syrah younger for its primary lush fruit.
When I found this 2003 Washington State Syrah for $26, it was the perfect opportunity to find out how well a warm climate Syrah can age. Most important for aging wine is that the wine was balanced and interesting when young, so I double checked its ratings earlier in its life and found this old video from wine Youtuber Gary Vaynerchuk in 2007. He gave it a 94. Although he noted it was explosive with dark fruit, as you would expect from a warmer climate, he also mentioned it had some Southern Rhone Chateauneuf du Pape qualities, which is an appellation that can be delicious young but also age at least in the midterm.
Tasting Notes
2003 Cougar Crest “Reserve” Walla Walla Valley Syrah
Walla Walla is a warmer climate region in Washington State, but it can also get quite cold at night. Not sure how this was vinified in 2003, but they do use some Hungarian oak these days. Nose is quite evolved. Mushroom and leather with some dark fruit in the background. Can’t tell any particular variety from the nose except that it’s dark fruit. The palate is still really fruity but still fresh with medium acid. And the fruit tastes pure. Nothing synthetic. A tiny bitter note towards the end. This is more on the modern and ripe side but the fruit is still so pure and fresh without being masked by oak. Now, perhaps this was even more explosive and fruit driven at a younger age if that’s what you want, but I like the balance of tertiary notes from aging with primary fruits and subtle secondary oak notes sprinkled in. As always, it depends on your palate, mood and pairing, but this shows that explosive, fruity Syrah can also age and develop. 93