Denver Examiner wine columnist rips Asimov for Syrah piece

WINE TALK
21

sounds like what happened in AUS is happening in WA/CA but sales of CA have never even come close to AUS at its peak in 2001-2002-2003.

22

So let me get this right… the Denver columnist is wrong to personally attack Asimov, but it’s fine for you all to personally attack the Denver columnist? Do any of you actually think before you write this stuff?

23

Cronyism.

24

Here Randy Caparoso is arguing that high abv Zins are one of the world’s great food wines. To each his own, but to me this is on an aesthetic par with singing the praises of McMansion sub-divisions, Lincoln Navigators and deep-fried Twinkies.

Examiner is back - Examiner.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

25

Rockss and Fruit: Robert Parker I know you love CDP but . . ." onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

26

Never let truth get in the way of dogma.

27

Pat and Rick,

Granted, I got carried away. Calling myself out.

28

Both articles seem fine to me.

29

I don’t agree with him, but he gives a detailed (though rambling) set of examples of what he likes. There’s enough specifics there that you get a good feel for what he likes and that’s important - it lets people say “Yeah, I’m like/not like this guy.” To the degree he comes to be viewed as an authority by newer wine drinkers I don’t like some of the dogmatic statements, but most of it is clearly his opinion. You can’t stop people from taking an opinion as gospel… look at how people view Parker or even WS.

30

I’m really not too familiar with Eric but I’ve had the pleasure of debating and corresponding with Randy ever since he was a principal in a major chaain restaurant and have always found him to possess 2 strong opinions; the belief in his palate and a strong desire to help educate the masses in wine appreciation. Having read both articals I can find no fault with either. Wine is so subjective it’s impossible to pidgeonhole a varietal or producer. Over the years my rastes have swung like the Golden Gate in a hurricane but I’ve defended my current stand vehemently. Really don’t see what the big bruhahha’s about. VB

31

The proof is always in the pudding. I have had unpleasantly alcoholic cab franc from the Loire at 13% alcohol. I have had wonderfully brisk grüner veltliner from the Wachau at 14.5%. Syrupy or hot mouthfeels don’t only depend on alcohol levels, but also on such elements as acidity (of course), tannic structure, dry extract and (perhaps most importantly) overall balance.

I’m an interested party, of course, so here’s the disclaimer. I make syrah-dominated blends 600 miles south of the Côte Rôtie. Every one of my nine vintages to date has had alcohol levels north of 14%, sometimes north of 14.5%. Yet I am still waiting for any half-decent taster to call one of them “jammy” or “syrupy”.

32

Randy is far from an amateur, far from a blobber, and though we may not always see eye to eye on wines, he’s a sharp dude, been ITB for 30yrs, writes for Somm Journal as well as other pubs (in print and online). Randy is also friend (even if he isn’t a huge fan of a lot of our juice)

Though I personally like more of Asimov’s picks (though I was baffled by a few), Randy is in his right to defend the Syrah producers and styles he loves that are the antithesis of what Asimov is celebrating.

33

I’m w/ Verne on this article/issue. Much ado over nothing.
The striking thing in Randy’s article was “The big syrah push in West Coast vineyards didn’t take place until the mid-1990s…”. I just wonder
where he’s been. The Syrah push started well over a decade earlier.
Like Randy, I don’t buy Eric’s & Patrick’s claim that Syrah sales are lagging because of the diversity in styles. There are plenty of other varieties
that show a large diversity in style, even more than Syrah…like Zinfandel.
Randy used to be in charge of the wine program for the Roy’s chain of restaurants. I’ve visited w/ him several times out at HdR and he struck me
as quite knowledgeable. My sense is that he probably doesn’t have a cellar loaded w/ SQN/Alban/Jaffurs and took Asimov’s article as an attack
on his palate. Probably it’s nothing more than he’d just returned from HdR and was all jazzed by the Syrah experience and wants to spread the
gospel about Syrah. I didn’t see Eric’s article as particularly an attack on high-alcohol/extracted Syrah, more than I did as a presentation and an
advocacy for another style of Syrah. I think Randy is just overreacting a bit.
I love SQN, I love Alban, I love Peay, I love EdStJohn syrahs. And pretty much everything in between. There’s room very everyone under the tent, IMHO.
I think it’s mostly a matter that many thought Syrah was the next Merlot craze. So there was a lot of planting. Overplanting. And the market is
just simply not in balance right now. Combined w/ the recession not helping things.
Tom

34

I have no idea who he is. I did not post it because of who he is. I read the article, thought it was an unnecessary attack on Asimov so I posted it and asked for opinions. Got them.

It just seems the market in CA cannot face up to what the Aussie market started to in 2007-2008. I do agree with Eric’s hypothesis. I’ve always sold CA Syrah in retail. In around 2005, I noticed a dip, concurrently with so many new producers available. Many of these producers, with some exceptions make the big, ripe, over the top style, which with most grapes, makes them less identifiable as to what they are and more identifiable as to what style they are. The big, ripe, style of every major grape CA produces is what dominates the scene today, although there is a slight rejection by some people. There are other styles but the dominant style is what it is. Denial is the first step on the road to recovery. All CA Syrah should not be in the style of ripe, overblown or in the elegant, Cote-Rotie style, but the trend is definetly towards the riper style, which leads to sameness, which leads to less sales, which I can attest to in my retail experience, which leads to articles by Asimov.

35

You mean does? Right?

36

I invited Randy over here, let’s see if he comes?

37

I liked Eric Asimov’s article, it gave me some wines to seek out and try. Other than as an occasional cocktail, I have no interest in the big fruit bombs that Randy Caparoso seems to enjoy. What I didn’t understand about Randy’s article was his line “First of all, I don’t buy the line about syrah-comes-in-so-many-styles-consumers-are-confused”. I didn’t see that at all in Eric’s article. Eric seemed to be trying to alert buyers, particularly consumers like me who have grown tired of the big fruit bombs, that there are alternative styles and choices out there and not to give up on American syrah. The big fruit bombs are a dime a dozen. Even SQN’s don’t do much for me other than as a novelty. Give me a wine with bacon fat and beefs blood and I’m a happy camper [thankyou.gif]

38

And oak obscures Syrah. Look at what has happened in Cote-Rotie in the past 10-15 years with Guigal, Ogier, etc. So not all Syrah winemaking mistakes and styles happen in CA/WA/AUS Picking up a random bottle of Cote-Rotie is not what is was like 20-30 years ago and that is because of oak and high-ripeness. The best La La’s were in the late 60’s and then the batch of '85, '88, '89 '90 '91 and then he started over-oaking them and they tasted like anonymous, ripe, expensive wine.

39

Lyle-

I agree w/ a lot of Asimov’s thoughts too, but if i didn’t, or if the situation was reversed, I might be vocal as well.

I’d take an Arnot-Roberts over an SQN any day, and agree that new oak on Syrah is the devil…

40

Nope, Lyle…doesn’t is what I meant. I suspect he has SQN/Alban/etc in his cellar; but probably EdStJ/Qupe/etc as well.
What I was trying to say is that I doubt Randy took Eric’s article as a criticism of his tastes because he has a
cellar loaded w/ SQN/Alban.
Of course, I have no friggin’ idea what Randy has in his cellar other than, probably, a bunch of Syrahs. For all I know, he
may be a revered member of the AFWE.
Tom