ONLINE TASTING: Syrah of the World Comparison Tasting

PLEASE NOTE: If you book after 12pm on Friday 13th May, tasting kits are not guaranteed to arrive in time for the live event. They will be posted out as soon as possible. As a reminder, anyone registered for this tasting will also have access to the tasting recording (from the next working day), so if you are worried about not receiving your kit in time, rest assured you will be able to watch the recording at any time that is convenient for you.

This is the fourth in our exciting series of grape variety tastings showcasing some of the best examples across the world of wine of a given variety. On this evening, we will be tasting eight fantastic expressions of Syrah/Shiraz with two exaomples from France and then six from further afield including South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, California, Washington State and Chile. As always on these tastings, wine school founder Jimmy Smith will be including full WSET examiner’s tasting notes.

Rather attend an in-person tasting? We are also hosting this tasting in-person on: Wednesday 22nd June at 7pm!

Syrah

The grape is known in the Rhône as Syrah and may well have been grown there since Roman times. It is certainly well-adapted to the steep terraces by the side of the river Rhône around Ampuis for Côte Rôtie and Tain for Hermitage, in each case on vineyards carefully angled to make the most of the available sunshine. For this northern bit of the Rhône can be so much cooler than, for example, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 150 km to the south.

The trademark flavour of French Syrah is black pepper (aroma: rotundone). A good Hermitage certainly has this in spades, but can mature into something more redolent of leather and, in very ripe years, spice. Côte Rôtie is different again. Traditionally it was the stereotypical female to Hermitage's very obvious masculinity – indeed a small proportion of heady white Viognier grapes were used to perfume and lighten the blend. Today, you can still find these delicate, very fine reds in Côte Rôtie. In the southern Rhône, around Châteauneuf-du-Pape in appellations such as Gigondas and Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages, Syrah plays an important though usually subordinate role, typically adding structure to the dominant Grenache grape and other local specialities such as Mourvèdre – for Syrah grapes are relatively small and high in colour and tannins. There are signs that Syrah is falling out of favour relative to Mourvèdre in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Apart from this great swathe of south-eastern France, Syrah's other important dominion is Australia, where it has been known as Shiraz for generations. If black pepper is the French trademark, dark chocolate is that of Shiraz produced from one or, more often, some of Australia's hotter vineyards. Barossa Valley Shiraz can be positively unctuous – so rich in fact that some producers deliberately add tannin to give the wines backbone.

Tasting Date: Wednesday 18th May 2022 at 7:30pm (the tasting will last approximately 1.5 - 2 hours)

TASTING FEE STRUCTURE:

For this special two-hour tasting, a wine tasting kit is included in the listed price which includes a 50ml tasting sample of each wine. Note: Tasting kits will be despatched to attendees within the week leading up to the tasting. 

Tasting kit delivery can be made to anywhere within the UK. Deliveries may be available to other European destinations for an additional cost - please email us at info@westlondonwineschool.com if you are interested in receiving a tasting kit to a destination outside of the U.K.

DON'T WANT TO RECEIVE A TASTING KIT? We understand that not everyone will want to receive the wine samples, and would rather just register to participate in the online evening without the wines. That is absolutely fine! The fee to just register for this evening without receiving a tasting kit is £10. Just enter the promotional code: 65REGONLY when checking out to ensure you just pay the registration cost. 

TASTING FORMAT:

Jimmy Smith will host this exclusive tasting live at 7:30pm on Wednesday 18th May 2022. This single-evening tasting will be approximately 1.5 - 2 hours in length. 

Unable to commit on the evening? No problem! Anyone registered for this tasting will gain access to the video recording of the live event, so you can always revisit any of these at anytime in the future - whether its because you missed participating in the live evening or if you want to revisit the presentation at a later date.

Wines Included in Tasting Kit (8 wines):

• Scions of Sinai ‘Swanesang’ Syrah, Helderberg, South Africa, 2020
• Trinity Hill, Hawke’s Bay Syrah, New Zealand, 2019
• Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Shiraz, Frankland River, Australia, 2018
• Les Jalets Crozes-Hermitage, Paul Jaboulet, 2018
• Farconnet Hermitage, Sélection J L Chave, 2015
• Gramercy Cellars Lower East Syrah, Washington State, 2017
• Joseph Swan Estate, Trenton Syrah, Russian River, 2011
• Underraga ‘TH’ Syrah, Valle de Leyda, Chile, 2019/20

RATHER ATTEND THIS TASTING IN-PERSON? We are hosting this same tasting again at our flagship venue in West London on Wednesday 22nd June 2022 at 7:00pm.