que syrah syrah

born in aix-en-provence in 1975, matthieu barret is a young and enthusiastic 7th generation vigneron. matthieu studied in burgundy before returning to cornas in the northern rhône valley in 1997 to join his grandfather. it was while in burgundy that matthieu discovered his proclivity with organic viticulture and with living ecosystems. in the early 2000s, matthieu started organic viticulture in the vineyard, but not content with his end result, he also radically changed his vinification process by using less barrels and replacing them with concrete eggs. his ongoing evolution and pursuit of purity and expression continue to dominate his cellar. today, he practices biodynamic viticulture with a focus on low yields and extraordinary quality. matthieu is known to his friends as ‘petit ours brun’ (little brown bear), hence the bears on many of his labels! his wines hold a special place in our hearts, probably somewhat because of the adorable bears, but also because he is crafting some of the purest and most honest wines in northern rhône. this 100% syrah is savory and medium bodied with a core of dark fruit and notes of olive tapenade, cured meat and peppercorn. 

thomas & marilyn stolpman discovered a great viticultural site hidden in the hills of california’s central coast – a rare limestone outcropping unobstructed from the pacific ocean wind. this unique land is ideally suited to grow syrah and roussanne grapes.  when tom purchased the land, he was determined that his dream of owning a vineyard would not be on the backs of people being taken advantage of.  he asked vineyard manager ruben solorzano to employ vineyard workers year-round to provide a steady job, a career, and raise their families with security. ruben took tom’s idea a step further: he wanted crew members to learn the lifecycle of the vine to become more engaged, and so started a training program in which he gave one cuadra - a small vineyard block - to his team so they would take responsibility for their land, becoming a farmer rather than just the worker.  beginning with the 2009 vintage, the stolpmans expanded the cuadrilla program to blend in more wine from the vineyard in addition to the training cuadra.  today, 10% of the vineyard’s production goes into the blend, and the profits are returned to the crew members.  this wine is a blend of mostly syrah with grenache, mourvèdre and sangiovese (rhône meets tuscany) and is ripe yumminess with deep, ripe red fruits, bold, expressive, and rotund all while maintaining a nice kick of freshness and fun. 

there are few names as revered in the northern rhône as the name graillot. in 1985 the legendary alain graillot started his domaine in his home in crozes-hermitage working with jacques seysses at domaine dujac. each year his devotion to the art of making delicious syrah has been rewarded with an ever growing and highly dedicated following around the world. and while it should be daunting for the child of such a luminary to follow in the footsteps of such a giant, alain’s eldest son maxime not only continued the graillot legacy but blazed his own trail in winemaking excellence. maxime trained under his father and since 2004 has his time between his father’s domaine and his own namesake winery, adjacent to those of domaine alain graillot, in the heart of the original saint-joseph and cornas. he converted to organics, making sure to soils were constantly ploughed (allowing the roots to dig deep into the gravel) and banned the use of herbicides. the results were incredible from the start. maxime’s wines are similarly exuberant and expressive as his father’s but perhaps with a bit more fruit power behind them – possibly from using less whole cluster (30% versus 100% at domaine alain graillot). they possess an effortless grace and charm that has become a staple of the graillot style. equinoxe is made from 100% syrah fruit grown on the granitic soils of saint-jean-du-mozols. it’s mineral-accented maxime graillot domaine des lises equis crozes-hermitage dark fruit and floral notes are energized by a jolt of spicy black pepper.

this is one of our fave house syrahs! although a native of chavanay (next village to condrieu), julien is not from a winemaking family. after wine college, he travelled widely, producing wine in both the roussillon and spain, and worked for highly respected vignerons like cuilleron, gaillard and pierre-jean villa.  julien and his wife returned to chavanay, and in 2010, started crafting a range of micro-négoce wines (purchasing grapes from local sources). as the name indicates, the grapes for this syrah come from the left bank of the rhône river, the ‘other’ river. this wine is a real expression of the northern pure syrah, meaty, savory and peppery with very crunchy ripe red fruits and nice concentrated body.