Who’s blending Syrah with Cabernet, and why?

Cellar Rats (ITB)
21

I still wonder why? To me, it seems more like "what are we gonna do with the rest of this [fill in the blank]. But, I guess it’s as simple as …THEY like it, and apparently people buy it!

22

I give you Rombauer chardonnay.

23

Yeah, non-geeks really like to queue up for that one. I think it’s the light RS sensation.

24

Domaine Trevallon (southern France) does a 50% cab - 50% syrah and I think it’s terrific. 100% whole cluster as well (even for the cab fer gods sake). You can tell there are stems, but it’s not dominated by it. And the syrah and cab work well together. It’s more similar to Bordeaux than Rhones…but it’s its own thing really. Needs quite a while for everything to come together tho.

Dave Corey’s Hard Core is the only other wine that I like (that I’ve had, of course) that contains cab and syrah…but Hard Core has a lot of Mourvedre…so not the same thing really.

I’d be sad if Trevallon weren’t made…given that, I guess I disagree with Eric (I mean the real Eric here) about syrah/cab being ill advised. OTOH…if Trevallon is the only example I can’t come up with…I guess I agree.

25

Beckmen has one now - '07 TLB Estate Cuvee (125 cases) - 70% Cabernet, 30% Syrah…probably, as Melissa said, a fight between two alpha males

26

Haven’t tried the Trevallon, but Dave does do nice things with what seem like off-the-wall blends. In fact, I can actually taste the Cab in his blends. [cheers.gif]

27

Eric,

If I remember, I’ll bring a Trevallon to HdR this year. I’ve got a bunch of 1994’s
purchased on close-out and I’ve be meaning to check in on this bottle as it has been 5 or so years since I’ve popped one…

28

Great, thanks Mel!