THE VERDICT
With wines from Chile, Argentina and Brazil earning top scores, there is quality and consistency in South American Syrah – though still potential for the category to grow, too, reports Julie Sheppard
Chile dominated this South American tasting, accounting for 70% of the wines tasted. While Argentina has the most Syrah vines planted, there were only 18 Argentinian wines submitted. Nonetheless, the results showed the potential of Syrah across the continent, with Outstanding wines from Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
Alistair Cooper MW noted: ‘When South American Syrah is good, it’s certainly as good as Australia and New Zealand.’ Dirceu Vianna Junior MW agreed. ‘A few wines right at the top could rival any wine from anywhere. But in the middle there were also a lot which were exuberant, rewarding, easy to drink – and very consistent.’
‘These were intriguing wines, which engendered discussion – and that’s what Syrah should do,’ mused Peter Richards MW, adding: ‘There were corresponding lows to some of the highs, but it’s a grape which clearly has a lot of diversity in style, and quality. South America is a big place and it’s great to see it fulfilling that diversity.’
So is it safe to assume that Syrah belongs in South America? ‘Yes – but it needs specific sites, it needs the right winemaker and it needs the right climate,’ said Richards. ‘There are probably quite a few places where it is that it shouldn’t be, but when it is in the right place, it’s so exciting.’
‘We saw that the right place is certainly coastal Chile. Leyda looked pretty smart and Paredones was really impressive,’ added Cooper. ‘On both sides of the Andes the effect of altitude on Syrah is important: cooler sites really do favour quality Syrah production.’ Vianna Junior agreed: ‘In Altamira in Brazil, for example, where people are planting Cabernet Franc; maybe they should be looking at Syrah.’
Chile in charge
Chile is certainly leading the way for Syrah in South America – our tasting demonstrated this, with a spread of wines from different regions including Colchagua (11), Casablanca (8), Maipo (8), Leyda (7), Limarí (6) and Cachapoal (4), alongside Aconcagua Costa,
Elqui, Rapel and San Antonio.
This diversity pinpointed the regions that Syrah fans should look for on wine labels. ‘We have the Elqui styles emerging and the more coastal Casablanca, San Antonio, Aconcagua Costa,’ noted Richards. ‘These are quite distinctive styles; more Rhône-y. Obviously they’ve got higher alcohol and sweeter fruit, [but] it’s a relatively distinctive style on the global stage.’
Chile is also a winning quality choice for shoppers, here producing nine Highly Recommended wines and 40 Recommended. ‘You’re safe to reach for a bottle of Chilean Syrah,’ concluded Vianna Junior.
While progress has clearly been made, the tasters were keen to put this into perspective. Cooper noted that significant plantings of Syrah in South America only began in 1996. ‘In its current guise, it’s less than 25 years old, so it’s impressive, actually, how far they’ve come,’ he said.
The winemaking journey is only just beginning, however. ‘Today we saw a move towards a lighter touch, to people reining in the extraction and not thinking that Syrah has to be a powerful beast,’ said Richards. ‘It can be food-friendly, or it can be an unassuming wine. I’d love to see South America do more of that, because that’s an area where it can make properly distinctive styles.’
Vianna Junior was keen to see more experimentation: ‘I don’t think Syrah production has evolved as much as it should in the last 10 years. They’re not taking risks. I don’t see, for example, use of stalks, which they are doing in Australia and New Zealand. Maybe they’re too shy,’ he added.
‘We need more passionate Syrah lovers in South America taking this on,’ agreed Richards. ‘In the same way there are Pinot obsessives, we need Syrah obsessives to really grab this and go for it. We found a lot to love in these wines and would urge producers to keep going, because South America is already making some world-beating Syrah!’ 79 wines tasted Chile 56 Argentina 18 Uruguay 3 Brazil 2
Exceptional 0 Outstanding 4 (2 Chile, 1 Argentina, 1 Brazil)
Highly Recommended 15 (9 Chile, 5 Argentina, 1 Brazil) Recommended 53 (40 Chile, 11 Argentina, 2 Uruguay) Commended 3 (2 Chile, 1 Uruguay) Fair 2 (Chile)
Poor 0
Faulty 2 (1 Chile, 1 Argentina)
Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest- release, single-varietal (85% minimum) Syrahs from any South American region