Confession time…

In my days of wild and misspent youth, I had a penchant for bad boys. You can imagine the joy and delight my parents felt whenever I would bring these treasures home.

If he was emotionally unavailable I was hooked. If he was tattooed - great. If he looked like he had an arrest record - fantastic. If he actually had one - even better! I could practically hear the wedding bells ringing!

Thankfully I’ve outgrown that phase, and am currently with the most intelligent, kind, handsome and hilarious man who also happens to be incredible at detecting natural wines because he is very sensitive to sulfites…. But I digress.

You’re probably reading this wondering… Okay, thanks for the overshare, but what does this actually have to do with Syrah?

Syrah is the bad boy of grapes.

I will say this until I am blue in the face: the easiest way to describe a grape - because grapes are living things after all - is to describe a grape like a person.

I don’t know what it is about doing that, but I’ve always found it easier to understand when somebody says, “This wine is elegant and voluptuous like Sofia Loren,” versus, “This wine has an outpouring of cassis, with an erotic explosion of opulent raspberries in your mouth, succulent tannins, and a luscious iron core.”

I just think it’s more concise - and arguably less creepy - but maybe that’s just me.

When I say Syrah is a bad boy, I mean it is a grape that has a quality of rugged darkness. There’s an unbridled intensity and a brooding - almost tortured quality - to this grape.

Syrah and bad boys (or girls) have one thing in common - it’s the factor that makes them so attractive. Complexity.

There’s also an element of danger.

With Syrah, expect a smokiness of a cigarette. A dusty quality that one would associate with dirt being kicked up by some Doc Martins. And of course there’s the aroma leather which brings images of motorcycle seats or dare I say it…. Whips and chains. Syrah is a kinky little grape if you get my drift.

You will probably run into two types of Syrah in your travels — Warm Climate Syrah and Cool Climate Syrah. Let’s break it down.

COOL CLIMATE SYRAH - THE KURT COBAIN OF WINES

Expect a wild wine with plenty of angst.

Cool climate Syrah is often found in regions like the Northern Rhône in France. There are also some producers in California that do wines in this style. A few of which are based out of Sonoma and Napa. You can also find some cool climate Syrahs in Washington.

It is significantly more herbal than its warmer climate counterpart. It is a really rugged wine — with elements of licorice, menthol, and bacon even.

Instead of plums, cool climate Syrah has more savory aromas - like black olives. If you do get fruit, you’ll be teased with slightly ripe blackberries - not some sugary sweet blackberry jam. This is definitely a wine for those who like meatier flavors. If you love walking through Eucalyptus groves, have lavender scented bath products, and like your wines a bit dark and brooding than cool climate Syrah is the wine for you.

These wines aren’t the type of wines you can just party with and casually drink. Instead of a pleasing roundness and generosity, these wines are angular, multidimensional and sometimes a bit unapproachable at first.

**Banks throwing some serious Cool Climate Syrah vibes**

I love cool climate Syrah.. Perhaps it’s because I was a bit of a goth in my early years and cool climate Syrah just sort of speaks to my inner tortured soul.

If you listen to artists like Banks, Fiona Apple, Billie Eilish, Tom Waits, Nirvana and appreciate the darker sensibilities of things, cool climate Syrah will probably resonate with you on a deeply molecular level. Drink it to feel seen.

WARM CLIMATE SYRAH - MORE JAMES DEAN

So you like wines with drama…. but not THAT much drama, right?

You don’t mind a little bit of complexity, but you don’t want some super intense, brooding, darkly formidable wine. You’re looking for something friendlier, generous, and a little more approachable.

Perhaps when you feel like listening to dark and brooding music you listen to bands like The Strokes, The Arctic Monkeys, or… Arcade Fire?

For those who live in Los Angeles, Warm Climate Syrah versus Cool Climate Syrah is like Silverlake versus Highland Park. Gritty, angsty, edgy - LITE. You can find warm climate Syrahs in places like Australia, South Africa, and Paso Robles.

Warm climate Syrahs have a lot more generosity. These wines are rounder, and offer up a lot more fruit flavors like ripe plums, blackberry jam, and the ridiculously ripe blueberries you find at farmer’s markets.

You can expect loads of cocoa, vanilla, espresso, and even allspice in these wines. So for all you bakers out there who love a good blackberry pie, Warm Climate Syrah is the perfect wine for you.

Warm climate Syrah is the perfect wine to bring to barbecues, and it is pure perfection when paired with a juicy steak or a pulled pork sandwich.

YAAAAASSS…. ALCOHOL!!!

Here’s another fun fact of warm climate Syrah - it has TONS of alcohol. Because the grapes are typically harvested at higher brix - aka sugar - levels, you can expect some of these wines to top in at 14-15%.

So for the next time you’re having one of those super involved, low-key awkward, intense family reunions that happens to be a backyard barbecue, bust out the warm climate Syrah, serve your grandma a couple glasses of this stuff, and get the party started!

And now, without further ado, let’s get into the:

PICK OF THE WEEK: Matthieu Barret ‘Petit Ours’ Syrah 2019 $24.00 @ Stanley’s Wet Goods

We’ve already discussed at length how in wine textbooks people always compare Syrah to James Dean or the Marlborough Man. It’s rugged, “manly,” smoky, meaty, and you do not want to f***k with it. I’ve already discussed at length how Syrah is the “bad boy,” of grapes.

As for me, I like a delicate expression of Syrah. I know everybody says Syrah is supposed to be, “manly,” or whatever the hell that means. It’s almost like they’re looking for Clint Eastwood or Hulk Holgan Syrahs. And if those are your thing, that’s cool – you do you.

I guess I like my Syrah like Tom Brady or Jared Leto. I prefer a Syrah that’s not afraid to be sensitive, elegant, and restrained. Maybe it meditates out in Joshua Tree. It may even cry a little bit from time to time. But it’s chill. Anyway, that’s the kind of Syrah I like.

Mattieu Barret Petit Ours Syrah is not gonna be some knock you on your ass Syrah. So, if that’s what you’re into, this is not it. It’s not some heavily concentrated, vanilla-laden oak bomb. Honestly at the under $30 price point, I struggled finding Syrahs that weren’t over-oaked, high-octane, fruity concoctions that were frankly just not my cup of tea.

That’s where this Syrah comes in. If you’re into a Syrah with a quiet, brooding intensity or a Syrah that is extremely powerful but in an understated way – Petit Ours is a Syrah you should be drinking.

The nose on this bad boy was rad. Especially for the price point. The second I took a whiff of this gorgeous Northern Rhône Syrah, I immediately picked up on black olives and dried herbs. It was savory and had this dusty, leathery scent with just a kiss of sassafrass that was right up my alley. I even picked up on some sage, which is totally common with Northern Rhône Syrah. I find it super attractive. Anyway.

On the palate you get loads of black fruits. Freshly picked blackberries, still some of those olives which add this really beautiful savory component to it. It’s light, effortless, and easily drinkable. There’s this very clean, sleek, graphite-like quality to it. Folks in the biz would call it, “mineral-laced,” because you can pick up on a subtle stone quality to the wine. I find that appealing. The tannins aren’t too wacky or out of hand. And this wine has got plenty of charm. So if you’re newer to Syrah and want to explore this varietal, much less expressions of it from the Northern Rhône, I highly suggest this wine.

QUE SYRAH, SYRAH