Guide to Canada’s Best Wines 2020 – Syrahs

Announcing Canada’s Top Syrahs

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Category Overview by Michael Godel

Having been anointed the syrah slinger for the Guide to Canada’s Best Wines it occurs to me that the one Canadian category I’ve not really waxed on much about is, in fact, syrah. That makes this short column all the more meaningful and encourages some deep introspection. The time has come to really consider a Canadian perspective in a global context but also our relationship with the most melodramatic of grape varieties. You see syrah is an enigma, more often than not a pitchy, cimmerian, obsidian and dark as night red of meaty, ferric and hematic tendencies. Not always, mind you, and in Canadian winemaking hands it comes out every which way but loose.

What can be said with alleged if unequivocal surety is that syrah crafted in Ontario is surely apposite and antithetical to that which emerges from vineyards in British Columbia. A specific western peppery spice and in many cases unfettered eucalyptus also separates B.C., syrah from California’s rangers, but who would argue that in almost every case it remains unique unto itself. The notable Niagara exception is the Lincoln Lakeshore where some pretty heady syrah can be fashioned from the heat magnifying floor at the foot of Niagara’s escarpment benches and in such close proximity to the lake. While the “double L” is quickly cementing a reputation for northern Rhône challenging syrah there too are some hot spots higher up into the shadow of the Escarpment and also on the flats of the Niagara Peninsula that have recently shown some crack-vivid varietal success.

What we can assert from the WineAlign critics’ recent six-week tasting schedule that included several dozen syrah is how high quality and also highly rated does not come cheap. Only two wines in the top 25 cost less than $30 and both of those (Road 13 and Pentâge) are just barely below that threshold. Ontario accounts for two in the top 10, three in the top 12 and just six total within that magic 25. The Okanagan Valley is the clear winner in this single-varietal category with the aforementioned big, bold, savoury and structured style of syrah. The best value bottles chosen, in my opinion, are CedarCreek Syrah 2018, C.C. Jentsch Syrah 2016 and those two under $30 wines. Quails’ Gate Boswell Syrah 2017 is the outright number one, “massive, thick and deep,” writes David Lawrason, “intoxicatingly perfumed,” says Janet Dorozynski and from yours truly, “seriously meaty…concentrated…and mysterious.” As for the top Ontario example, Tawse Syrah Collection Guy Lafleur 2018 stood above. “The concentration is impressive and acidity plays at the centre position to the flowing fruit on the right.”

Painted Rock Estate Grown Syrah 2017 needs mentioning, what Sara d’Amato calls “well-made and consistently memorable.” John Szabo M.S. adds “a genuine force of flavour.” And it’s about time we get something straight. Niagara’s Kacaba knows Syrah, in fact they should receive serious consideration for the title of Ontario’s top Syrah specialist. Two vineyards (with plantings that date back to 1997) contribute and in these tastings it was their Kacaba Signature Series Reserve Syrah 2016 that really impressed the critics. “This is seriously credible Ontario syrah with an Escarpment’s bite and a mineral feel that’s not just sensorial but very, very real.” As are so many Canadian made syrah, surely one of the country’s most important red varieties, with only cabernet franc, pinot noir and gamay as serious contenders.

Return to the complete Guide to Canada’s Best Wines.

The top 10 Syrahs in Canada: