Syrah, Hold The Pepper.

Syrah is a wine that I don’t open unless I’m in the mood. Typically, Syrahs have a backbone flavor of white pepper, pepper corns or some sort of the stuff that makes me sneeze, which isn’t a flavor I find myself jones-ing for very often.

But occasionally I ‘go there’ and occasionally I discover a Syrah that either lacks the peppery flavor, or the fruit is big enough/layered enough to mute the pepper, and keep it as a quiet, subtle note in the background; like the chef gave the wine just a pinch of pepper. Now some purists may argue that the winemaker is dropping the ball in that case; they’re not making a wine that’s true to it’s expected characteristics.

Whatever. If it tastes good, and enough people like it, who cares. But I digress…

The 2004 Kynsi “Edna Ranch” Syrah turned out to be one of those Syrahs.

Starting with the nose, the pepper was a no-show; just nice aromas of dark fruit and a tinge of licorice. On the palate, I got lots of plums and some berries, a little spicy coffee, some more licorice and then… just a teeny-weeny bit’ of white pepper. I had to search for it, otherwise I might have missed it (which wouldn’t have been a problem). It was a bright burst of fruit in my mouth, but balanced and with a nice finish.

Oh, and Wine Enthusiast gave it 90 points. Apparently someone over there is okay with just a pinch of pepper too.