A friend recently mentioned he was going to be opening a special bottle he had been saving: a 2010 Grange. When I asked him to tell me more about how he came across this wine, he said, “We have a lifelong friend of my wife’s who lives in Sydney. She bought the bottle quite a few years ago and brought it to us as a gift last year. She didn’t want us to open it while she was here, so I thought we would celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary with it next month. . . . we decided to taste it beside two Syrahs from the Okanagan. Now I have to figure out which Syrah offers the best value. At ten times the price of our top wines, I want to know what makes it so great. There are going to be five of us tasting the wines.”
This is, indeed, a very special bottle. Australia’s Penfolds Grange is a highly respected name in the world of wine, consistently scoring highly year after year and can last for years, often peaking after 12 to 40+ years. It is a powerful, highly concentrated, and structurally complex wine, made from Syrah (Shiraz in Australia) and a small dash of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is described as “. . . having deep, intense aromas of blackberry, licorice, and roasted chestnut. It is full-bodied, with “thick” tannins and a long, complex finish.” The 2010 was aged for 17 months in new American oak. Big wines like this benefit from a long decant time of three or more hours.
Syrah originated in France’s Rhône Valley, where it produces some of the world’s benchmark examples. In the northern Rhône, Syrah is sometimes co-fermented with a small amount of Viognier, which can lift aromatics and texture. These wines tend to be higher in acidity and tannins, compared to their counterparts in BC or Australia.
Syrah has a relatively short history in BC, first being planted on the Naramata Bench in 1990. As it loves warm climates, most Syrah is grown in the southern Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys and is now one of the top five red grapes grown in the province.
BC Syrah wines tend to be big and full-bodied, rich and fruit-forward with dark fruit, spice, and black pepper notes and more restrained with better structural balance than most of their Australian cousins.
BC Syrah wines shine in national and international competitions, often being awarded gold and platinum medals.
My friend asked for recommendations, so I reviewed my tasting notes and selected several top-scoring BC Syrah I’ve encountered over the years. While vintages matter—an outstanding 2009 doesn’t guarantee the same result in 2022—top producers tend to be consistent.
Among the most impressive were:
2016 Second Chapter
2017 Rust Wine Okanagan Valley
2013 Daydreamer Wines Marcus Ansem
2009 Church & State Wines
2020 Deep Roots Winery
2014 Vanessa Vineyard
2013 Painted Rock Estate Winery
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2010 Black Hills Estate Winery
2012 Siren’s Call Wines (Mark Simpson’s wines) now Mythology Vineyard
2009 Cassini Cellars
2009 Le Vieux Pin Winery
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2009 Hillside Winery
I’ll be interested to see which BC wines he selects and hear about the results of the blind tasting.
Syrah is one of the most versatile food wines, pairing beautifully with grilled or roasted meats, barbecued dishes, sausages, stews, and aged cheeses. The best BC examples reward patience and often show their finest character after five to ten years—or longer—in the cellar.
What are your favourite BC Syrah producers?
(All photos – Sam Hauck)
For more on Penfolds Grange, see: