It's Official, Syrah Is My Favorite Grape. For Today At Least.

I have had several people ask me recently what my favorite grape is; what do I prefer to drink? I always have answered that I don't pretend to know enough about wine to even begin to answer that question. And honestly in the first two and a half months of The Vino File I have found wines that I really like made from nearly 30 different grapes. I think also I am compelled to feel that I should appreciate 'well made' wine of all types and not get biased by a particular grape varietal or style of wine. Well, I think I found some bullshit in my false sensibility. They say you are what you eat, which is gross if you think about it, but with wine I probably am what I buy. See, I have tasted lots of wines at tastings, at the wine shop, at parties, and enjoyed many of them. But every time I actually pull out my Visa and buy, there is a good chance it is a Syrah. I'm not sure why except that I love the sensory experience that they offer up, from the gamy, smokey, big fruited nose, to the robust, spicy, complex tastes. So the announcement is made: I'm biased towards Syrah. This is not to say that The Vino File will have any renewed focus on Syrah, just to answer a question that I have received a lot lately. Oh, and I reserve the right to start buying lots of anything else in the immediate future, as I see fit (I think Zinfandel is on the horizon).

The 2003 Sawkar Family Vineyards Sonoma Mountain Reserve Syrah was included in a recent shipment of under $25 California wines from The Wine Garage in Calistoga. Of interest to me was that the winery owner and assistant winemaker is Dr. Raghu Sawkar, a former vascular surgeon from Ohio who moved to Napa with a dream of producing great wine. Dr. Sawkar is one of the few Asian winemakers in California, and one of even fewer Indian-American winemakers. He has maintained an interest in his Indian heritage, as shown in the Vineyard's lotus flower logo, and his involvement in increasing wine availability in Indian markets (which has not proven an easy task.) In fact, Sawkar shares winemaker Kerry Damsky with an Indian producer, Sula, while he himself maintains the vineyards and produces the fruit for their wine.

This syrah was a dark garnet red, but slightly translucent. Grown on Sonoma Mountain it was representative of a colder climate syrah giving a nose of lead, plummy purple fruit, some smoked meat action, and initially quite a lot of tobacco/cigar. The wine gave off a slightly salty smokey meat on the front, with some very nice cigar and berries mid-palette. It ended with a herbal and cherry finish and left quite a long, minerally finish with just a touch of chocolate. The body of the wine was just a little bit thin, but it had a distinct structure that made it stand apart from other syrahs I have tasted in the last couple of weeks. D, who usually shys away from wine judgement beyond 'I love it' or 'its just not for me' said that it tasted of 'burnt mountain' which I, knowing D, knew to be a big compliment for the wine.

Zack was intrigued by the meatiness of the syrah

As the wine opened up over the evening (paired with BBQ hamburgers and some amazing guacamole) it got fruitier and spicier but actually lost some of the complex layers of meat and smoke that it originally offered. In an overall evaluation of the wine I give a 3.5 out of 5. It offered a lot when opened, but I think as a 7 year old wine it is on the tail end of its peak drinkability. I suggest if you have one, or find one, you pop it and drink it down. Sawkar wines are in very small production, but a quick call to the winemaker (who answers the phone himself) indicated that you can order them directly, by mail, or from The Wine Club in San Francisco. I think it is a worthwhile wine, from a unique producer, and recommend it for a late spring BBQ.